hunger games and divergent

Do u ever stop to think about what the world will be like in 20, 50, or even a 100 years? Will the world be better off or worse in the future? What will ur life be like? Most people probably picture their future optimistically, after all who wouldn't hope for a bright future filled with success and satisfaction. This sort of idealized thinking characterizes what life would be like in a utopia where every aspect is perfect. However the opposite of this is a dystopia, a world in which is very dark and cruel. Today we can see that its not impossible that our planet could take a turn for the worse and turn into something entirely different that what we hope for. Even though we don't like the thought of it, we like to be entertained by books that are based on these sort of stories. The hungergames and divergent are both very successful dystopian books that shocked the world with their amazing story lines. Both books are written by female authors, suzanne collins wrote the hunger games and veronica roth wrote divergent. in this paper I'm going to compare the book divegent to the movie the hungergames and write about the many similarities and differences that they share.
One of the biggest similarities is in the setting of the stories, since both take place in north america in fictional societies. Another is in the characters themselves, because both of the main characters are female and also around the age of 16. In addition to this they both posses many similar personality traits. Even though these two girls are very young they are still rebellious and not afraid to stand up for themselves in the face of danger. This is what distinguishes them as leaders within their societies, because both the characters are faced with many trials and tribulations that they are able to overcome. For example katnis, the main character of the hungergames, is thrust into a situation she was not prepared for because in panem the  capital is very powerful and maintains an unabated ability to control all of its citizens and do with them as they please that is until katnis does something about it. The nation in divergent is similar to this in many ways, with the power once again being taken out of the hands of the citizens and into the government. By their  this is necessary to ensure proper order is followed within the five different factions that the society is separated into. These 5 factions are as follows dauntless the brave, abnegation the selfless, euridite the intelligent, amity the peaceful, and candor the honest. Abneagation is the faction that the main character, tris and her family belong to.
Each faction has its own symbol and abnegation since it is all about being selfless and focusing on others has the symbol of a hand holding another hand. The people from this faction wear only grey clothes to hide their beauty and are not permitted to wear accessories or in anyway enhance their appearance or bring attention to themselves. The only adornment allowed is a watch because it is practical tris. The dauntless on the other hand, are quite the opposite, because within their faction they encourage one another to get piercings and tattoos to express themselves. The dauntless are not allowed to be scared, since this would interfere with them from fulfilling their duty. They have the symbol of fire which embodies their fierce spirit, bravery and courage. The amity, who's symbol is a red tree spend most of their time outdoors living simple, quiet lives and do not engage in any of the reckless behavior that the dauntless are known for. They instead value peace and nature and wear colorful red and yellow clothes to symbolize their devotion to this lifestyle. Candor however lack any color in their clothing. They have adopted only to wear black and white since their thinking is much in this same way. They prize morality and want to uphold justice, therefore they tell the truth in every situation and their symbol is a waving hand. Lastly, there is the eruodite that have an eye as their symbol. To them intelligence is the most important thing and they always have to wear at least on article of blue since claim it causes the body to release calming chemicals.
At the age of 16 all the boys and girls from within the different factions attend the election. At this election they must choose which of these faction they wish to permanently belong to. based This is a quote from the book describing the motivation behind this initiation, Welcome to the day we honor the democratic philosophy of our ancestors, which tells us that every man has the right to choose his own way in this world. Once the ceremony begins the boys and girls must cut their hand and let their blood spill out into one of five bowls belonging to each faction. Tris describes this experience in the following quote in last circles are five metal bowls so large they could hold my entire body if i curled up. Each one contains a substance that represents each faction gray stones for abnegation, water for erudite, earth for amity, lit coals for dauntless, and glass for candor.
Similarly, the hunger games also makes use of such symbology. In the hungergames the society is separated into groups much like in divergent except in panem there are 12 different districts. However a sharp contrast in the two stories from this, is that Katnis who lives in district 12 never got to choose her future like tris did at the election ceremony. This is because every year two people from each district get selected to participate in the hunger games. The goal in the games is to be the last person standing, it is either kill or be killed which is not easy or morally right to do but it justified for the entertainment of the nation. In divergent this is where it is different since in their society people don't get forced to kill each other but are obligated instead to do other duties related to their faction.
Early on in the story the reader is introduced to the main symbol in the hungergames when katnis is given a monkingjay pin made of crafted gold by greasy sae, an old woman who sells soup at the black market, the hob. At the games when katnis met the youngest competitor named rue, rue chose to befriend her instead of killing her as u would expect. This is because she had special relationship with the mockingjay symbol back in district 11, where she was from. This gives a glimpse, to how many more people later will be drawn to the mockinjay symbol and put their trust in it during the revolution. After katnis wins the games and rises up against the capitol this monkingjay pin takes on new meaning and becomes a symbol of the rebellion. Everyone wanted to be like their hero, katniss, and wear her token so it became very popular as a fashion accessory to be worn to identify urself with the revolution.
Tris much like katnis, happens to fit into the role that was given to her by the government which is to take care of others. in fact on the first page of the book the reader gets to witness her selflessness and compassion in action, when tris sees a girl from the faction dauntless falling from a sculpture in front of the school. Without hesitating her heart moves her to quickly run and get a nurse to help this girl. However, Tris isn't alone when it comes to wanting to help people, because katnis also has a big heart and sympathizes with people. I realized this early on in the movie when katnis took prim, her sisters place in the games when she was selected. Actually, this points to another similarity in the stories because both katnis and prim were close to their families and each had one sibling, however katnis does not live with her father like tris does. In divergint, we can see that tris and her brother caleb cared very much about each other but were never given the opportunity to show it in such a powerful way like katniss did for prim. katniss understood that by doing so she was very likely to die in the games, but decided to anyway and this is what makes their bond so strong.
But tris also had to do something that was scary for her. Before going to the choosing ceremony she finally realizes that she wanted to belong to dauntless and not with her abnegation faction that she was raised in. She is scared because she knows she will have to leave her family and is unsure if she is up for the challenges of dauntless life, but instead of backing down she chooses to be brave and picks dauntless at the ceremony. However at the time, she is unaware to the fact that she is a divergent. This creates a dilemma for her because no divergent is allowed to exist since they are a threat to the societal order. A divergent is someone who possesses the qualities needed for all 5 factions and can't fit one of them.
The difference between these two girls is that tris's struggles are more emotional as she learns to deal with being a divergint, whereas katnis has daily physical problems like finding food and hiding from people that want her life to end in the games. However the characters are very similar in the roles they play in society. katnis was considered a hero for standing up for herself and trying to stop the games and by doing so she gave the powerless and rebels hope. Tris wasn't necessarily seen as a hero but that doesn't make her efforts any less heroic. She was a soldier who was involved in the battle itself fighting for that which she believed in. They both faced many risks because of their decisions to confront the government in hopes of changing it for the better.
In both of these stories there is romance which makes the situation even harder for the girls. Before katnis had to leave her loved ones for the games she develops feelings for the miner ale but later starts liking peta mallark who is her partner in the games. Tris falls in love with the of the dauntless and the end up being a couple. The dilemma in the movie is that katnis has a hard time choosing between peta and gale since they both mean a lot to her. The romance in the movie and book are different as we can see but they both make the stories very interesting.
Fear is a very natural emotion, and its something that all people have to deal with whether they want to admit it or not. To me fear is a state of mind which means i actually can stop myself from being scared but it might be very difficult. In the past people had different fears than we do in our modern culture. For example most people today aren't scared of dying from a common cold like what was common hundreds of years ago of happening, but instead we may have fears of getting our identity stolen online   or getting in car accidents. The reason for this is that the world is constantly evolving and while this may ease our fears about certain aspects of life it introduces new ones with the rise of technology.
Another difference from the past is that people were much more superstitious. It was a common part of life and people were very careful with what they were doing since they feared that they could live with bad luck if they did something wrong. One good example of how this has changed is that people today will usually joke about breaking a mirror and getting 7 years of bad luck when it comes to ur love life. However, to people in the past their superstitions were not a joke and were taken very seriously. People these days who are not superstitious, might not understand why anyone could be afraid of such things, but this is because our modern culture has distanced itself from most of these traditions and instead put our faith in science and logic to explain things. However there are some fears that will never go away with time.
I think the fears that people have always had and always will have are the types that we never will get answered. Many people are afraid of dying because they don't know what will happen after death, is there a heaven or will we just disappear? in addition to these fears that we share in common with our ancestors, are the interpersonal fears that people have always had from the beginning of time like being rejected, trauma or illness of a loved one.
Divergent and hungergames are complex stories that tap into many of the fears that we all have. i think that the authors must have been influenced either by their political surroundings and or maybe themselves feared the future. i can see parts from the real world in both of the stories so i understand why these authors chose this distopyian theme, since it is very relevant today. I believe they wanted to open peoples eyes and make us see that we very likely could end up like the societies they wrote about. When it comes to divergent we can actually compare the five factions to qualities humans have in real life. We can all can choose when and how to be honest, selfless, brave, kind or intelligent and usually we spend time with people like ourselves. in a way we divide ourselves in groups by doing this and the testing never stops, everyday is like an initiation for us. Some of the thoughts we all have everyday are like those the characters faced at the choosing ceremony, will i be accepted for being me, will people support my choices, and will i fit in.
In the book i can see socialism by looking at the abnegation faction which reflects this ideology that humans exist to serve. And their government could symbolize God since they fear it and they see themselves as servants required to perform their duties. I developed these thoughts by reading these quotes from the book Decades ago our ancestors realized that this is not political ideology, religious belief, race, or nationalism that is to blame for a warring world. Rather, they determined that it was the fault of human personality of humankind's inclination towards evil Abnegations see ar as impractical and its appreciation as time that could be spent serving others.
A divergeint is someone who doesn't fit into a category, someone that can not be controlled. When i think about this i realize that divergents really are the successful individuals in our world. A divergint in real life could be someone that others see as a threat because of jealous and jealousy in our culture is not usually handled well. It has led some people to commit murder, to bully and alienate others so I can definitely see many similarities to the story and our lives. In the hunger games the government saw katniss as a threat and wanted to get rid off her, because she broke the rules of the games. This is much like many modern day activists who get persecuted for wanting to fight prejudices and stand up for equality. They in a way are breaking the rules too like katniss.
When it comes to the movie it really is horrible and makes me think of what a human actually would do to another to survive. When i think about what people would put others through just to be entertained, it concerns me but i see it everyday when people bully others. In the movie the government is very excited about the games and is blinded to the fact that what they are doing to the young people of their nation is tragic and unjust. The youth of any nation holds the future in their hands and its the governments true responsibility to protect them and make their lives easier. However governments in real life also do take advantage of them, like for example terrorist groups who target teenagers when going out to recruit new members, this is because young people are very easily manipulated and entertained by propaganda and trends.
What i learned from the hunger games is that u can trust nobody, u never know what the world is capable of doing to u. in this world u should never take safety for granted because everyone ends up taking u for granted. What katniss tried to tell people was that everyone is equal and nobody deserves to get forced to do something so inhuman as killing just to entertain others. It is so wrong and tears me apart when i think about it.
At last i just want to finish with a quote tirs's dad said that really got to me. I think its just the reminder for us of what we can do to make sure we don't end up like those in the hunger games and divergent if u have little and want for little then u are all equal and envy no one. This would prevent people from being jealous and nobody would feel less valuable which would lead to a happy and selfless world, the great world we have always wanted.