Last night, I finished reading Insurgent by Veronica Roth. And all day, I have been trying to figure out the best way to begin this post. I still haven't thought of anything. I should probably stary by admitting I had to find a plot synopsis of Divergent online because I did not remember anything that happened in that book and I was completely lost after three pages of Insurgent. Thankfully, the plot synopsis reminded me of all the details I had forgotten.
After surviving the simulation Jeanine (the Erudite leader) put the Dauntless under, Tris and Tobias begin to search for allies among the remaining factions. Amity wishes to remain neutral. Candor can't stand up against the Erudite. Abnegation was practically decimated during the simulations. Half of Dauntless has allied themselves with Erudite. That only leaves them with one option: the factionless.
I don't mean to compare this series to The Hunger Games, but the first thing that came to mind when Tris and Tobias decided to work with the factionless was District 13. For anyone who has read The Hunger Games, you can imagine all the other things that I was thinking at this point.
The factionless want to destroy Erudite and take over the government themselves, eliminating every faction so that they are no longer separate. Tris has an initial reaction of, "A world in which no one knows who they are or where they fit? I can't even fathom it. I imagine only chaos and isolation." I'm sorry, but isn't that what they had to begin with? The five factions were isolated from the start and chaos ensued because of it. Someone should have told Tris the real problem is that the factionless want to annihilate one leader and take control over everyone themselves. In fact, I do believe this was said in front of her. "That's what you expect me to help you with. Overthrowing one corrupt government and instating some kind of factionless tyranny."
I wasn't interested in the first half of Insurgent and I was ready to write it off completely. I said a while back that I could not judge the first book because it was part of a trilogy, but after reading half of this one and not being impressed, I almost gave up all hope. Then, it got interesting. Information known only to Jeanine and Marcus (an Abnegation leader) about what is outside the fence that surrounds the factions was mentioned. Here is where I began to think, "So there is something to this trilogy after all. It's not just about the conflicts between factions, there is a bigger picture."
Jeanine and Marcus have very different ideas about what should be done with the information they have gathered. Both leaders have convinced themselves that they have their community's best interest at heart. Jeanine is willing to sacrifice lives to keep the factions within the confines of the gate where it's safe. Marcus thinks it is his obligation to reveal the truth to them about what waits outside the gate. They do not seem to be ruled by emotions, but by what they truly believe is best for everyone involved. Both Jeanine and Marcus were very wrong in their execution, but at least their intentions seemed pure...As pure as anything can be with those two, anyway.
The people who are consumed by emotions are the ones who act selfishly. Tori, with her desire for revenge. She doesn't care that vital information stands to be lost if she carries out her revenge against Jeanine, she only cares about avenging her brother's death. Evelyn also wants revenge on Erudite and Dauntless for not supplying the factionless with food and other necessities. She wants to overthrow the entire government and run it herself. She is ruthless and manipulative, and her intentions were purely selfish throughout the book. She doesn't even attempt to hide it.
One ruler may be overthrown, but another will step into place, with intentions that are just as bad and/or misguided as the ones prior. Like all politics. And really, that's what I got from this book. That decisions are made for the "good of everyone" while sacrificing many. That leaders believe the truth should be hidden from people "for their own good" even if it means taking away their right to choose. And that for every manipulative, selfish person who is in power, there is another person who is even worse waiting to take over for them.
Johnanna (the unofficial leader of Amity) is probably the most intelligent person in this novel, telling Tori, "Do remember, though, that sometimes the people you oppress become mightier than you would like." That is what you are left with at the end of Insurgent.
Again, I don't want to compare this series to The Hunger Games, but it's hard not to. It is not as well written. The story it tells is not as interesting. The characters are lacking a bit. By the end of most movies, shows and books, I am usually emotionally attached to the characters. That is lacking with this series and, for me, it suffers because of it. When you really care about the characters in a book, everything they go through is intensified. You practically feel what they are feeling. I'm so detached from these characters that they could die and it wouldn't phase me in the slightest. That is never a good thing.
However, Insurgent is a vast improvement over the first book. I read it in two days, so it will definitely hold your interest. It is still worth reading if you enjoy dystopian fiction. But if you haven't read The Hunger Games or Delirium, I recommend starting with those series first.
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