Divergent Book Discussion (9)

Friday, March 22, 2013

Hey, people from Earth and other people who are not from here, for the next 12 weeks we will be giving you the awesomeness that is DIVERGENT by Veronica Roth.  Be sure to show up, because we are giving away some goodies, check it out HERE. Just a side note, I will be asking a question after each discussion post.  Be sure to follow the discussion and don’t be scared to join in on our discussion/ questions. Those who entered the contest will receive extra entries for answering a question.  Every week on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, we will discuss three chapters per week: tell you about the plot, and other random bits of spicy goodness that you should definitely know about (all relating to Divergent).    Just for your curiosity: helping me out with this discussion is Jackie, one of my best friends (please say hello to her).  Basically these posts will be categorized by person.  Jackie hasn't read the book so be sure to read her first impressions while she reads along and if you have read Divergent, be sure to read my input (this will be the my second read through).  If you missed a post and want to check out the schedule, go HERE.  Come and join us in our quest of discussing DIVERGENT.

CHAPTER 9
First day of fighting practice and Tris is left out of fun.  She gets to play the audience for this round and watch her friends get beaten up, while Eric gets to be a jerk to everyone in sight.  In particular  he decides to pick on Christina.  

Today's Topics:
Fighting and Four vs. Eric




Since I am generally a person who enjoys violence (to a certain degree), I had no problem with them fighting one another. I thought that Tris, now being Dauntless, shouldn’t have cringed as much as she did with the fighting. I mean, she had to know that they were going to fight each other eventually. Come on Tris, really? I guess it’s the remaining Abnegation in her…she should really hide that better or she is never going to make it through initiation. I figured Al would win (he sounds like a big boy), but I didn’t expect Christina to give up and act in cowardice. I thought she was tougher than that, guess not. I guess she must of regretted that decision, hehe. I enjoyed how Eric made her hang on to the ledge to escape death, it was hilarious.

“Four: “A brave man acknowledges the strength of others.”
Eric: “A brave man never surrenders.””
-p.95
I find it interesting that even though both Four and Eric are Dauntless, they are in constant competition for authority, even though Eric is higher up than Four. I also find their differing definitions of bravery fascinating. While Four has the “old views” of Dauntless in mind, Eric uses the “new views” in mind. Four’s old fashioned style is attractive, but so is Eric’s rough and tough act. These two both show that there are diverse and differing views of being courageous. 




Oh, we are already at the fighting chapter?  This is where it gets serious.  This is where readers get a taste of what Dauntless is and the darkness of the faction.  Well, it is about to get much darker in the next few chapters.  The fighting is just the beginning.  And Tris is left out of the action.  I'd like to think that Four had something with leaving her out.  Although it might have been done randomly.  Leaving her out is a good thing because it lets her get a feel of what she has gotten herself into.  She is able to look and make note of everyone's strengths and weaknesses.  
I think Will can handle himself.  I think he was just egging Al on to make the fight end quicker.  It was a clever move.  As much as I don't like Christina that much, I like Molly even less and anyone could see how this fight was going to end up.  This is the first real scene we get to see Eric in his glory and he totally sucks.  What a jerk.

Four and Eric.  As leaders, I think Four would be the better choice because he has taken this faction to mean more than just killing people and showing "bravery."  I think Four has a better background to understand the faction more as well.  Eric is young and immature and ruthless, at all times.  If they were to really fight each other, I think Four would be the one to back down in the end, just because Eric would probably never admit defeat even on the brink of death.  Let's hope it never comes to that...

If Four and Eric were to fight, who would win?

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