‘Divergent,’ written by author Veronica Roth, is a captivating dystopian novel that details the struggles of 16-year-old Beatrice ‘Tris’ Prior who discovers that she is different from the members of the five factions that make up her rigid society. Beatrice is faced with the herculean task of stopping the leader of the Erudite faction, Jeanine Matthews, from executing her genocidal plans.
The characters are all developed to draw in the readers and propel the story towards its climax.
Beatrice Prior
Born into the Abnegation faction, Beatrice Prior never fit into the image of the stereotypical Abnegation teenager. With her brother, Peter, being the selfless, near-perfect Abnegation teenager, Beatrice felt she wasn’t doing enough to belong to Abnegation. At school, Tris secretly desired to be a different faction other than Abnegation but she was unsure which faction was best for her. At the Choosing Ceremony, the distraught Tris chose Dauntless, a faction revered for their bravery and martial skills. She also struggled with confusion when her brother, Peter, chose to join the Erudite instead of Abnegation.
In Dauntless, Tris faced great odds as she fought to earn her place among other non-Dauntless recruits, and teenagers from other factions, and earn the trust and love of Four, one of her trainers. She also faced the challenge of navigating her friendship with fellow Dauntless recruits Christina and Will because she had always struggled to form deep connections with her friends while she was in the Abnegation faction.
As she worked her way through tasks and tests at Dauntless, Beatrice built a strong bond with Four. Along the line, she discovered that Four was born in Abnegation but chose Dauntless as a way to escape from his cruel father, Marcus, an Abnegation leader. Tris’ hidden Divergent identity ends up saving her from being controlled with the mind-controlling serum other recruits were injected within the final day of training, and together with Four, Tris saved the other faction members who were to be killed by mind-controlled soldiers from Dauntless.
Tobias ‘Four’
Born to an Abnegation leader, Tobias, also known as Four, was a trainer in Dauntless. In a classic case of love and friendship, Four fell in love with Tris as he taught her how to steer her friendships, adapt to Dauntless, deal with her fears, and keep her head above water. Although he kept his identity from Tris, being a divergent protected him from being controlled by Jeanine Matthews’ mind-controlling serum, working alongside Tris to save the rest of the factions. Four’s experiences with his father affect how he relates with Beatrice, but he works around it.
As he tried to save the members of the other factions from being killed by Jeanine Matthews’ mind-controlled Dauntless soldiers, he was captured and injected with a more powerful mind-controlling serum. Four, now under the serum’s control, is charged to guard the computer that contained some of the data Jeanine was using in controlling the soldiers. He is soon faced with the dilemma of killing Tris’ voice brings him back to sanity, and together they vow to bring an end to Jeanine’s plans against the factions.
Eric
Eric is a sadistic, driven Dauntless trainer positioned by Jeanine Matthews to do her bidding in Dauntless. Eric’s long-standing rivalry with Four started when they were both recruits when Four topped their training class. because of this both trainers often had nonverbal standoffs in the presence of recruits. Eric consistently taught against compassion, and extolled violence and survival as the ideals of a brave warrior, a belief Four openly disagreed on.
Planted by Jeanine to inject Dauntless soldiers with the mind-controlling serum and lead the war against other factions, Eric prided himself in being ruthless and inhumane to defaulting recruiters. He was envied by Peter, an initiate who was as ambitious as Eric and was willing to do whatever it took to be top of the class.
Peter
Peter Hayes was an egomaniac who was driven by a need to be the best at everything. He was cruel, manipulative, and vindictive, and he would stop at nothing to achieve his goals. His sense of self-worth is derived from his ability to control and dominate others. He was a bully in Candor, and he took pleasure in intimidating and humiliating those who were weaker than him. In Dauntless, he targeted Tris, a fellow initiate who was both strong and intelligent. He taunted her, called her names, and even tried to push her off a ledge.
Peter was a willing participant in Jeanine’s plot to take over Abnegation. Motivated by his desire to gain power and influence, Peter treated everyone whom he felt would be a hindrance to his ambition with cruelty, damning every consequence. Peter’s arrogance and overconfidence became his undoing after, having agreed to join forces with Jeanine to kill members of other factions, he underrated Tris’ ability. Tris defeated him in their fight, forcing Peter to reveal the location of an important hard drive.
Tori
Tori is a Dauntless tattoo artist who administered tests to teenagers before the choosing ceremony. She warned Tris, after her test, never to reveal her identity as divergent to anyone, and protected Tris’ identity by deleting the video record of Tri’s simulation test. She also provided useful answers to Tris in the Dauntless faction, helping her deal with her fears after she shared the meaning of her tattoo. This inspired Tris to get tattoos herself and come to terms with her fears.
Tori’s distrust for Dauntless leaders and her protection of Tris was instrumental in helping Tris understand the difficulty of being Divergent and how to navigate the murky waters in Dauntless.
Christina
After transferring from Candor to Dauntless, Christina’s inability to fit in with Candor mirrored Tris’ struggles at Abnegation, and their friendship helped her adapt quickly to life in Dauntless. She was the first person who befriended Tris, and her resilience during training was instrumental in helping Tris stay focused. As Christina and Will’s relationship evolved, she tried to help Tris open up emotionally. Her constant jibes at Tris, open flirting, and openheartedness allowed Tris to be more emotionally aware.
Although Tris sometimes felt Christina was jealous of her success, Christina was always there to protect Tris, and Tris was there for her, too, speaking up for her when Eric tried to order her to hang from a slippery pole.
Jeanine Matthews
The protagonist of the book, Jeanine is an intelligent Erudite woman who believes the Abnegation’s visionless leadership was stagnating the success of the other factions. Being from the faction recognized as the smartest, Jeanine’s plot to discredit the Abnegation leaders’ work and turn the other factions against the Abnegation started with writing newspaper articles that questioned the decisions taken by Abnegation.
While her newspaper articles questioned the leaders of Abnegation, she developed serums to use to control Dauntless soldiers to do her bidding; kill members of opposing factions, starting with Abnegation. She teamed up with Eric, a trainer in Dauntless whom she said, in an eavesdropped conversation Tris had heard, “she put there,” to inject the serums into Dauntless soldiers, and also recruited Peter to do her evil bidding.
An evil and emotionally cold genius whose sole aim was to take power from Abnegation leaders forcefully, Jeanine used her intelligence and cunning negotiation skills to control leaders from other factions to support her course for a different and more prosperous world for the five factions.
FAQs
Who is the deadliest character in Divergent?
Determined to take over power from the other factions by injecting Dauntless soldiers with mind-controlling serums and ordering them to kill on her command, Jeanine Matthews is the deadliest character in ‘Divergent.’
Who are the main characters in Divergent?
Some of the characters whose strong presence and story propelled the book’s plot were Tris, Eric, Jeanine, Caleb, Christina, Peter, Will, and Natalie Prior.
Who was Beatrice’s mother?
Natalie Prior, a former Dauntless-born and divergent who transferred to Abegnation to protect her Divergent identity, was Beatrice’s mother. Her story, after it was revealed in later parts of the book, explained why Tris was the way she was and gave clarity to some of her actions towards Tris.
Why did Tris join Dauntless?
Tris had always felt different from other Abnegation members. She also admired the courage and bravery of members of the Dauntless faction, and their ability to freely express themselves and stand up for what they believed in. She also felt like she couldn’t be herself in Abnegation, and she believed that Dauntless would give her the freedom to be who she was.
How did Al die?
Al died by jumping into the chasm after a failed attempt to kill Tris. Though he was not aware that the plan was to kill Tris, he joined Peter and Drew’s plot because he wanted to scare her. After Tris told him she would never forgive him, he committed suicide.
Was Al in love with Tris?
Al was in love with Tris, but it was twisted by his jealousy for what she had with Four. This was why he joined Peter and Drew’s attack on her.
What happened to Drew after the attack on Tris?
After the attack on Tris, Drew was attacked and beaten up by Four as punishment for his involvement.
