“Just thinking about the fact that a college student was capable of writing books that I cried over is absolutely insane.” “That must have been such a girlboss moment,” Basile said. I loved it, I cried, and I’d recommend it to anybody willing to jump into Tris’ decisive, relatable mind.Communication freshman Lucy Basile was amazed to discover that Veronica Roth (Weinberg ‘10), author of the internationally bestselling “Divergent” series, wrote the first book during Winter Break of her senior year at Northwestern. But the themes throughout were what kept me reading, as they resonated deeply. Tris enabled emancipation for everyone she cared about.Īllegiant wasn’t my favourite of the series, I definitely loved Divergent the most. The agency of one must be sacrificed so that others can learn from it, and they do. Ultimately, Tris suffers at the hand of power, which directly correlates to the oppressive dystopian regime portrayed in Allegiant. Women, traditionally, have been the “passive” sex, but these female protagonists provide distinctive questions about identity and autonomy that are integral for young women’s exposure to culture. Her sexual agency lies in her fear of Four taking advantage of her, as depicted in her dream-induced serum and, her independence, freedom and physical autonomy are consistently challenged by Jeanine Matthews (the oppressive societal leader).Īll of these themes are heavily represented, which I feel is the subtle way in which Allegiant and dystopian novels alike, present culture today in a mirror-like fashion.

The dystopian themes of oppression and agency are represented by Tris’ anger, helplessness, and her consistent drive to fight. Allegiant’s protagonist Tris carves a space for herself within the oppressive regime that Roth has represented, which is significant for Tris’ agency and characterisation in Allegiant. But why is this genre so pervasive?īoth The Hunger Games and Divergent trilogies are written by women, which I think is significant here.

Now Divergent and Insurgent have entered the medium of film, I have no doubt Allegiant will follow closely behind. There’s definitely a rising trend in dystopian series, made more pervasive I think via The Hunger Games trilogy’s popularity.

Divergent series roth