Striving To Be Brave, Selfless, Smart, Kind and Honest

Recently, I read the book and saw the movie Divergent by Veronica Roth. One thing there is to know about me is... I love Young Adult (YA) Novels!! I always have and always will. I love that YA novels have no boundaries. You can read about vampires (Twilight), shadowhunters (The Mortal Instruments), wizards (Harry Potter), or even about dystopian societies such as The Hunger Games or even Divergent. They explore fantasy, they create their own worlds with their own boundaries and pull you in through real life emotions. How can you read about fictional characters or fictional societies and feel like you are right in the midst of it? The YA authors have found an amazing way of pulling people of all ages into their made up worlds, taking them on a rollercoaster ride of events and emotions, and if done right they never want to get off no matter the ups and downs.

Warning: If you have not read the book and plan to read it, please wait to continue reading. I do not want to spoil anything for anyone.

All of the YA novels I mentioned above have pulled me in to their world and I did not wanted off their ride, I have loved every character, every twist in the story and every moral each had to teach me. But for reasons I am still discovering, Divergent has touched me personally like no other YA novel has. I didn't know how affected I was by this story/this world until I tried to explain it to my mom. I was drawn to tears explaining how I felt, I know that sounds crazy but hear me out first. I was in awe of the relatability of this story. For those of you who have not read this story a quick overview... In the future, after war hit and the world was changed, there was left a society in Chicago guarded from the outside world by a fence. Within this fence, they established 5 factions or groups each symbolizing a value/principle that was in pursuit of overcoming one of the imperfections society had before the war. The factions are: Abnegation are Selfless, they were in pursuit of overcoming selfishness and strive to be selfless in its entirety; Amnity, are Peaceful, they are kind and self-sufficient; Candor are Honest, they believe that dishonesty makes evil possible; Erudite are intelligent, they are constantly in pursuit of knowledge and understanding; and finally Dauntless are Brave, they believe in the ability to acknowledge your fears and free yourself from them. The main character is Beatrice (Tris) Prior who was raised as an Abnegation and discovers she is Divergent. A divergent is an independent thinker, they do not conform, they do not fit into any one category they fit into multiple categories. She has to hide her Divergence from even those closest to her because these free, independent thinkers threaten the system and those threatened get rid of them. She chooses to become Dauntless, where she meets the other main character Four. That is my brief overview, hopefully that helps a little with what I would like to share, but I do really recommend reading the book

I believe if forced to conform and pick a faction most of us would be able to do so. There would be one ideal that would seem more consequential than another. After thinking about it for me that would be Candor, it comes naturally to me to be honest and truthful unfortunately even when others wish I weren't. But like many I see little bits of each ideal in me, some stronger than others. Towards the end of Divergent, Four is talking to Tris, explaining why he has the symbols of all 5 of the factions tattooed on his back and says, "I think we've made a mistake...We've all started to put down the virtues of the other factions in the process of bolstering our own. I don't want to do that. I want to be brave, and selfless, and smart, and kind, and honest." I love the power in this statement and relate to it personally. Especially at this time in my life where I am finding out who I am, creating the person I want to be and being confident in who that is. You still have a lot of searching, tough choices and decisions to make it a long the way. I don't want to just be honest, I want to be peaceful and loving, selfless and willing to sacrifice for others, intelligent and understanding, and brave and fearless. Four goes on to add, "I continually struggle with kindness." Once again most of us probably have a stronger quality and a weaker quality. For me I am continually struggling with bravery and overcoming my fears. There is a saying that "A team is only as strong as it's weakest player." What if the same applies individually? We as individuals are only as strong as our weakest trait/virtue. I see my weakness in this virtue of bravery and see the strength I have already received by overcoming even the little fears, the courage I have acquired through acknowledging my fears and finding the solutions to them or crushing the weak foundations they were established on. I also have come to the understanding that it is unrealistic to be fearless, we can overcome some fears but the goal isn't to necessarily be fearless it is to be brave against your fears. "You can't be fearless, remember? Because you still care about things. About your life." Tris reminds Four of this when Four is disappointed that he still has the same fears he can not overcome. If you care then you will always have something to fear, because you will always be at risk of losing what you most care about whether it is a person or a piece of yourself. Remember, the objective is not to become without fears but to become brave when faced with fear.

Tris through Divergent is battling with herself a bit between the balance of being selfless and being brave. She was raised Abnegation where you are to always be selfless though she felt as though she was never able to be selfless enough. When she joined Dauntless she felt brave but never brave enough. As the story continues there are times when she is selfless and brave, she takes the place of a fellow initiate to have knives thrown at her. Four says, "It's when you're acting selflessly that you are at your bravest." When she is only thinking of another is when her bravery shines brightest. Is that not true for most of us? We would amaze ourselves if we could see what we are capable of when being selfless. Four says, "I have a theory that selflessness and bravery aren't all that different. All your life you've been training to forget yourself, so when you're in danger, it becomes your first instinct." It takes her a while to see the correlation but she finally sees that being selfless and brave aren't totally opposite virtues. Often to be selfless you must be brave and to be brave you must be selfless. Many of the virtues go hand in hand. Many times it takes intelligence to be kind or bravery to be honest, or kindness to be selfless. It is a matter of finding a balance of all the virtues within ourselves and using our strengths to better our weaknesses. If your strongest attribute is to be brave how do you use your bravery to be more intelligent, selfless, kind, and honest?

I feel that we are constantly in search of creating a balance within to create the person we choose to be. Life is so complex, our thoughts hard to decipher, our emotions hard to understand, and our environment impossible to transform to our own utopia. I am on this roller coaster ride of discovery, discovering who I am and what I am capable of. Sometimes we are pushed to our breaking point to discover what we are truly capable of. I have been pushed and pulled until it has felt like I am broken but I was only bent, I am being refined, I am becoming ME. I relate to the Divergent's path of self discovery, choice of embracing and balancing the virtues we hold most dear, and the fight to always be my best independent self.

Divergent is a book that can go as deep as you wish to take it. I recommend hopping on this roller coaster ride and seeing where it can take you.