Divergent, Day 3

I am a little over 350 pages in, and I am just now beginning to approach the book's climax. The romance between our intrepid heroine and the tormented Edward Rochester wannabe has officially commenced, conspiracy and distrust lurk behind every corner, the Factions are weaving webs of lies, and it's clear that the clouds will be bursting soon, raining destruction on our characters' heads and probably forcing them into new lives of chaos and insurgency.


But I'll talk about all of that tomorrow, after finishing the book.


Today I'm going to vent my feelings concerning a problem which is really impeding my enjoyment of the book.


I feel like I don't know anybody.


Alright, that's not quite true. I do feel like I know some characters, like some of Tris's closest friends and most hated enemies. But Tris? Tris is a mystery to me. I feel like many of her actions and her reactions are unpredictable and unexplained. One moment she's angry, fearless, determined, the next she's frightened and unsure. Her narration suddenly expresses feelings and opinions out of nowhere, with no preamble and no apparent hint that she has these sensations earlier in the story. She often mentions how much she's changing, talking about she used to be more compassionate or timid or thoughtful, but I never saw her behaving or thinking in the way(s) she describes, so I have only her word for it. And she does that with other characters too, mentioning traits of theirs or expectations she has of them that I feel I've never actually seen evidence of. And once or twice she's used about a paragraph to describe a traumatic experience that would theoretically have provided me with a better understanding of her motives and a few much-needed insights into her personality- if, you know, she'd spent more than a paragraph on them!


I'm not sure how much sense I'm making, but I don't really know how to express this frustration more clearly. I just feel like there's little that's distinctly unique about anyone, and what traits are distinctly unique have a tendency to confusingly change. An anxious, unsure, kind, nonviolent character I really liked unexpectedly turned vicious; Rochester (whose name is actually Four) (sort of) can't seem to decide whether he's gruff, taunting, prickly, and rather off-putting, or tender and affectionate and really into physical touch (although I guess he seesaws like that in Jane Eyre and Twilight, too, so I really shouldn't be all that surprised; I just feel like Four switches more frequently than either Edward or Edward).


I just- I just- ugh, I just don't know anyone!


Now, admittedly, this issue could be entirely my fault. As I've said before, I'm unused to reading books like this, so it's possible I'm missing clues and hints to people's natures. And the more I think I about it, the less random it all seems. The one character's uncertainty and lack of confidence foreshadowed his descent into cruel madness; Four feels threatened by those around him, and so he tends to project a gruffer, less approachable demeanor when he's with others than when he's alone with Tris. And as for my confusion concerning Tris's character...... well, like I indicated yesterday, I don't really relate to Tris. At all. And maybe if I did, what appear to me as baffling mood swings and personality changes would instead appear perfectly natural.


*Sigh* I'm- I'm kind of struggling with this book (and everyone said, "Thanks, Captain Obvious!"). I don't even really have a problem with the story. In fact, I rather like the story so far. The concepts are interesting and the conspiracy undertones appear to be heading in a direction different from the most common dystopia clichés that I get so annoyed by. I don't dislike Four, and I don't think I dislike Tris, despite her ability to provide me with two days of ranting material.


Come back tomorrow. I feel like after finishing the book I should be able to better express my current feelings toward the series.


But there's just one more thing I have to address today. I considered omitting it, since I'll only be able to use very vague terms because spoilers, and so it's likely that the following section won't make any sense to anyone who hasn't read Divergent. But by gourds, I need to express my feelings on a certain matter!


There is a character in Divergent named Al. Al became one of my favorite characters dangerously quickly, because Veronica Roth's description of him makes it sound like he looked a lot like a friend of mine, and of course once that idea entered my head it wouldn't leave, and pretty soon I found that I could easily imagine that friend doing a number of the things Al did. I've actually considered writing about Al, and about Tris's opinion of Al, before, but on both of my previous days of writing I couldn't decide exactly what I wanted to say, and besides, I had more important things to gripe about.


I'm now glad I waited. Remember how earlier I was talking about that one likable, kind character who unexpectedly joined the Dark Side?


Care to guess which one it was?


Oh, don't worry, I'm not upset. I don't mind that Veronica Roth seems to be implying that trying to be gentle and protective in a violent environment will inevitably lead to one's downfall. I don't even mind that Al's destruction was almost wholly Tris's fault. Rather I'm happy, since the developments I read today have enabled me to sum up my feelings about Al, his character arc, and his overall role in the story in a single statement:


GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


(Takes deep breath)


I feel better now.


Until next time!


~Pearl Clayton