Divergent: the factions

           I'm rereading Divergent by Veronica Roth. I have Allegiant, but I want to reread the first two books before starting it. So while I do, I thought I'd post a little about the books.

           I love the world of Divergent. It is separated into five factions:

Abnegation, the selfless
Candor, the honest
Dauntless, the brave
Amity, the peaceful
Erudite, the intelligent


           The book I own has the manifestos of each faction in the back of the book. It's really neat. Okay, I didn't read all of the manifestos entirely. Candor's was written like an argumentative essay, and Erudite's was a series of lists incorporated into an informative essay. I kind of skimmed those ones, but I did read the others. . .

           Each faction was formed because they each believed there was one solution to preventing conflict in the world (aka: war).

           What is interesting to me is that as you read the opening chapters of Divergent, you realize how all the factions work together throughout the city. How no faction would survive alone. They all need each other.

           Marcus almost acknowledges this in his speech during the Choosing Ceremony.

"Working together, these five factions have lived in peace for many years, each contributing to a different sector of society. . . . Apart from them, we would not survive."

            Initially, Tris sees that last sentence to mean that without are faction, you are factionless and therefore belong nowhere and are useless in society. But I wonder if maybe he meant that without the factions (plural), there is no way to survive. Even if he does not mean this, as the story progresses you can see plainly that their society would have difficulty functioning properly if only one of the factions existed.

           So why does each faction still believe their way is the only way? If they are so dependent on each other? Maybe the factions were first established with the idea that they would each be independent, but that must have failed from the start?

            Maybe it's not so much about what one thing does the world need, as it is about where you belong. That's how Tris rationalizes through the Choosing Ceremony. The question struggling in her mind isn't "what do I believe?" It's "Where do I belong?"