"Faction Before Blood": The Culture of Divergent

 

Four (Theo James) and Beatrice Prior (Shailene Woodley) From the Divergent Trailer

Introduction and Summary

The movie "Divergent" was released on March 21, 2014. The director of this movie is Neil Burger who has also directed movies such as, Voyagers (2021), and The Illusionist (2006). This film is a Dystopian film where society is divided into five factions, Abnegation (The selfless), Candor (The Honest), Erudite (The Intelligent), Amity (The Peaceful), and Dauntless (The Brave). This movie forces us to see the divide between social classes and caste systems. I will dive into the topic of Conformity Vs. Individuality in this film, and also how the main character "Beatrice Prior" is an underestimated woman due to her upbringing. 

The Social Classes and Caste Systems of Divergent

Abnegation Faction as our Government, Erudite Faction as our Knowledge and Dauntless as the Military. Each faction has their own set of cultural roles and morals. Abnegation wears plan, modest grey clothing. They are the public leaders. Erudite wears blue, they are the scientists, teachers and doctors. Dauntless wears black leather, they are known to have tattoos and piercings, they are the police, guards and protectors of the city. Amity wears soft, bright colors and they are the farmers, and counselors. Candor wears black and white, they are lawyers, and judges. Lastly we have Fractionless, they are considered to be the "outcasts" of society. Their main goal in life is survival. "Factionless" is not considered a faction but a part of the culture of the city. A person can become Factionless if they fail out of Dauntless, it's either that or their unfortunate death.

Social Caste can be determined by many things, birth and family, individual status, occupation, and marriage. We can break down the Factions in divergent into their caste systems as Upper Tier/High Status: Abnegation and Erudite. Middle Tier: Dauntless. and Lower Tier/Working class: Candor and Amity. And finally Caste-Less: Factionless. 

The Five Factions: How They are Involved in Conformity Vs. Individuality   

The 5 Factions from "The Divergent Life"

You are born into a faction, Your parents are both in the same faction. Will you choose that same faction once you turn 18, or will you choose individuality? All characters from this movie will have to make this decision in their life time. Most, like in our world, will conform to the expectation of following in their parents footsteps. Our Character Beatrice or "Tris" was born into the Abnegation faction. Her parents were not born into Abnegation, her father Andrew was born into Erudite and Her mother Natalie was born into Dauntless. Unfortunately for Tris, she faced the pressure of joining Abnegation due to her father holding an important position in the Faction. Caleb, Tris brother, is seen as the picture Abnegation child. Although, he breaks all these images when he chooses Erudite during the choosing ceremony. I bring up these factors because they were important when discussing the topic of Conformity Vs. Individuality. While it is not rare for a child to change factions, it is a big deal culturally. "Faction before Blood" is the statement made at testing for faction. You are encouraged to choose the faction that you test into. Unfortunately, most children will choose the faction they are born into because they are raised with that factions morals and beliefs, choosing conformity. When transferring factions, it is considered a big deal culturally due to the fact that it is seen as a betrayal to your family and faction because you are leaving behind their way of life. In transferring, many are received with hostility and seen as suspicious. 

Beatrice Prior: The Underestimated Woman of Dauntless

Abnegation is seen as weak by Dauntless standards because they are non-confrontational and humble, these are not qualities seen in Dauntless. Beatrice is seen as small and fragile, and was treated harshly by her Dauntless peers. Because of her upbringing, and the stereotypes that the other factions have towards abnegation are mostly negative and because they run the Government, some believe they are corrupt. Due to the fact that Andrew Prior was a ruling council member and because of accusations of physical abuse

Beatric Prior (Shailene Woodley). Picture from Vox

against children from other council members, Tris was seen as weak. Additionally, she also failed most of her physical tests at the beginning, leading her to be ranked low with the risk of being kicked out and becoming factionless.  

Final Thoughts

The final take away from this post is that the movie Divergent has many different representations of todays culture and society. While this movie was made and released in 2014, we see plenty of similarities in this movie to our world. With their world being broken up into social and caste systems. The involvement in Conformity Vs. Individuality and how women can be seen as smaller and lesser because of their gender. I believe this movie is a great representation of how the world is and can be in the future.