The Narrator

The narrator of Divergent is Tris, so obviously, she would be a reliable source of information because she tells her experiences to the reader as they happen. Sometimes she doens't completely reveal all of her thoughts if they make her feel uncomfortable, which helps us understand her personality better. But overall, she allows us to live her experiences with her.

This idea is demonstrated all over the place. For example, on just a random page in the book, it says, "A weight in my chest lifts. I didn't realize it was there until it was gone, and I didn't have to feel it anymore. I smile, and a tingling spreads through me. First. Divergent or not, this faction is where I belong" (Roth 413).

It's pretty clear that Tris doesn't keep any of her thoughts from the reader. As seen in this quote she uses lots of imagery, symbolism, ect. ect. to make the audience feel like they are there with her.

Minor Character

Tris' older brother, Caleb, is a minor character in Divergent by Veronica Roth. He is introduced in the very beginning of the book as being very close to Tris.

SPOILER ALERT
However, Tris and Caleb split after the Choosing Ceremony; Caleb joins Erudite and Tris joins Dauntless, which means they can almost never see each other again.

Later on, Tris starts to really miss her family. She remembers her mother telling her to visit Caleb, so she hops on a train to Erudite to go see him.

She doesn't recognize him at first with his new  environment.

On page 354, it says, "His voice hardens. 'I think you should go, Beatrice.' 'With pleasure,' I say." (Roth 354). Tris says this after the two start talking poorly about each other's factions, so obviously, there's tension, and it's all caused by the pride within the factions.

Caleb is  an important minor character in the story because he is the one that truely convinces the reader  that there needs to be change in the government system because families are being torn apart. During this section of the book, Roth appeals to the audiences' emotions. It's sad and hard to imagine this world where siblings turn against each other. It makes the message even more effective.

Vocabulary

While reading Divergent, I have definitely noticed a pattern in the author's writing style.

Divergent is written in first person: through the eyes of Tris, the main character. This detail is very important in the word choices of the entire book because Tris is fairly young and her vocabulary isn't really that mature or advanced. This is probably why a younger audience enjoys this book because it actually "speaks their language".

This technique has been used throughout the entire book. There are many examples of the use of informal diction (especially in dialog) in every chapter I've read so far. I found an example that says, "'I'm thinking I might want a job like Four's. Training initiates,' she says. 'Scaring the living daylights out of them. You know, fun stuff. What about you?" (Roth 409).

I'm pretty sure you wouldn't find "You know, fun stuff" in very serious literature.

Veronica Roth's way of using diction that is used in conversation everyday helps me relate to the situation as if I were in it, which makes the story a lot more enjoyable.

However, using informal diction all the time isn't necessarily a good thing. In Divergent, I've seen many uses of elevated/formal diction, words that aren't in my vocabulary. Mixing up formal and informal makes the writing more interesting. I think that's one of the reasons Divergent is so hard to put down.

Themes Revealed

In chapter thirty-one in Divergent, Tobias makes an important statement that pretty much sums up the theme for everything I have read so far. He states, "'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" (Roth 405).

Each of the characteristics Tobias mentions (brave, selfless, smart, ect.) are the values of each faction.

For a while now, we understand that Tris is struggling being Divergent. She doesn't quite understand why she can't have multiple virtues. This is why she is Divergent to begin with. This quote picks up all those thoughts from Tris and puts them into a simple statement.

Veronica Roth definitely reveals theme through the characters: their struggles, ideas, actions, ect. as seen in this quote. I also believe that this is why she decided to write this book. She may have felt a need to let people know that we shouldn't sort ourselves into one group just based on one of our characteristics because it doesn't end up well. Only focusing on your faction or one skill doesn't create a functioning society: diversity should be valued.

Internal vs. External conflict

Veronica Roth relies more on external conflict in Divergent. 

Internal conflict in this book is used more for characterizing Tris: her personal struggles and weaknesses. There are bits of pieces of this scattered throughout the story, like her size, emotional attachments to her old faction, ect. 

I think external conflicts play a bigger role in Divergent because if it wasn't for the idea of factions, Tris wouldn't really be struggling. In the book, she is teased about being a "stiff", or an Abnigation transfer, but being "divergent" (belonging to more than one faction) is defiantly the main struggle. It is a dangerous thing to be divergent in the book's setting: a future civilization set in Chicago. Where I am in the book, Tris has recently got into trouble with the government, specifically Jeanine, an important Erudite figure. She questions Tris, suspecting that she's causing trouble. 

Also, Tris (because she is divergent) isn't allowed to see her family anymore since she switched factions. She misses them very much, and when she does try to see her brother in chapter 28, she gets into trouble with her brother and authority.