Many fans, including the hosts of the most recent episode of Hype, refute the idea that Divergent is similar to The Hunger Games. But is it really? And what other previous series could be said to have inspired Divergent?
SPOILER ALERT for events from The Hunger Games, Divergent and Twilight series.
I have recently finished reading Divergent and Insurgent, knocking them out in less than 48 hours. They are excellent, addictive reading and I am as psyched about the movie as anyone. But anyone who says there aren’t blatant similarities to other book series is kidding themselves. Throughout the books, I noticed several similarities to both Hunger Games and Twilight. I am not saying Veronica Roth stole ideas or anything. I am one of the most fervent skeptics of the idea that Suzanne Collins “stole” the idea of The Hunger Games from Battle Royale. But Roth was most certainly inspired by her literary predecessors at the very least.
Shailene Woodley, who will play Tris in the Divergent movie, recently stated that Tris & Katniss are nothing alike. While I disagree with her characterization of Katniss, I agree with the concept of her argument. Katniss and Tris are very different people. Her personality is different (Tris is a lot harder than Katniss and not as scarred by her upbringing), her motivations are different, and even her enemy is different (although the theme of social decay is similar in both series). Yet Katniss’ story and Tris’ (albeit incomplete) story do share some similarities.
Both teenage girls resent their upbringing, are active participants (reluctant or no) in the social upheaval that occurs in the series and are in direct, personal conflict with similar antagonists. The interactions and manipulations that characterize the relationship between Katniss and President Snow, while less cerebral, are not that different from those between Tris and the sadistic, clinical Jeanine Matthews. There are also some similarities between Tris’ and Katniss’ mental breakdowns following the death of their respective family members. Both clearly suffer from PTSD and, in my non-expert opinion, there are huge chunks of Insurgent where Tris comes across as quite mad.
But the more striking similarities, and I suspect the more unwelcome comparisons for Divergent fans, are between Divergent and Twilight. I would like to preface this by saying that Divergent is much better written than Twilight is. That said, I did notice some aesthetic similarities in the writing, particularly between the scene in Twilight where Laurent attacks Bella and the Ferris Wheel scene in Divergent. But that comes down to personal interpretation of the story and I’m sure a lot of readers will have no idea what I’m talking about. The real meat of this issue is the relationship between Bella/Edward and Tris/Four.
In my opinion, one of the reasons so many girls are attached to Twilight is because of Edward’s characterisation as the perfect boyfriend: devastatingly handsome & dangerous yet kind and considerate. These are all, to varying degrees, desirable qualities in a partner but Edward took it to an extreme whereby it comes across as little more than abuse. Edward was totally subservient to Bella’s will, lacked any backbone & never asserted his own needs. Bella always came first, no matter the cost to himself.
While this is not as extreme in Divergent, there are elements of this in Tris and Four’s partnership. This is especially evident in the initial stages of their relationship. Shortly after their relationship begins, Tris accidentally goes meta in a simulation. When she emerges, she lashes out and hits Four in front of the whole class. While this is not a fault in itself, the immediate aftermath is. Tris is sorry and expects to be scolded for her actions, yet Four pretends like it never happened, despite such an egregious breach of their emotional and professional (?) relationship.
This continues on throughout the series. Again and again, Tris acts without consulting Four, even going so far as to lie to his face. In some ways, she’s worse than Bella in that her actions place herself and, by extension, Four in serious danger. Four presents her with an ultimatum, threatening to leave her if she turns into a Dauntless junkie, yet Tris makes no attempt to modify her behaviour and Four never follows through on his threats or takes any action to address this aspect of their relationship.
These problems worsen and are on full display during their confrontation in Jeanine’s office at the end of Insurgent. Tris cannot understand how Four could love her but not trust her, despite her constant steamrolling of his opinion and never giving him a reason to trust her. Four continues to come crawling back to her, making no attempt to fix what is so obviously broken. This lack of trust, consideration and confidence in Bella and Edward’s relationship is the motivating factor for their problems in New Moon and Eclipse and, as a reader, it’s maddening. Meyer managed a deus ex machina in turning Bella into a vampire. The two finally began to see each other as on an equal footing. I doubt Roth can achieve the same quick solution.
While the flaws of Bella and Edward are not as pronounced with Tris and Four, they are there and are a constant niggling annoyance in what is otherwise a very well-written and enjoyable story. One can only hope that Veronica Roth has the foresight to address these issues in Allegiant. There is nothing more irritating as a story element so glaringly obvious but is never addressed (I’m looking at you, George R.R. Martin, with your “Promise me, Ned’s.” Cough up, already).
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