Divergent Film Heroine Beatrice "Tris" Identity Exploration and Character Development

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Beatrice "Tris" is the main character and heroine of Divergent: a brave, curious young woman who attempts to find her identity and has a strong desire to protect other people (Basu, 2013). At the beginning of the novel, Divergent by Veronica Roth, the Tris lives a monastic, ascetic life in Abnegation. Although she lives in a society where everyone must choose between one of the five personality types, Tris declines to be bound by any of these factions (Cothran & Prickett, 2013). This refusal makes her "divergent," a quality with both its advantages and disadvantages.
The most obvious drawback is the government's intention to execute anyone who fails to comply with a faction. Tris chooses to train and live among the Dauntless: those who value courage and bravery, yet she feels dissatisfied (Maulida & Candraningrum, 2016). Throughout the book, Tris designed a self-influenced moral code undefined by Dauntless or Abnegation laws and rules. As a part of this moral code, Tris learns to protect other people even if it subjects her to danger (Roth, 2012). She also knows how to respect and take care of herself. In other words, Tris learns how to be selfish and selfless.
One of the primary ways Tris's identity develops through the course of the novel is through divergence. Being divergent, Tris, by nature, has no limit to one of the five traits. From an early age, she was subjected to curiosity and selfishness. These traits make no sense for Abnegation. Her divergence allows her mind to act with characteristics from three factions: - Abnegation, Dauntless, and Erudite (Maulida & Candraningrum, 2016). In the Erudite viewpoint, divergent people are very dangerous. Due to this opinion, Tris must conceal her divergence. It baffles her because no one is giving her the reason behind the danger of divergence. Therefore, Tris must find her identity by being divergent.
Another way is through the social environment. According to Maulida and Candraningrum (2016), an individual's social environment is one of the most important factors that form an individual's identity. Tris was brought up in Abnegation, a domain associated with trouble. Initially, she thinks that bravery and selflessness are mismatched. Her father refers to the Dauntless ''hellions'', perceiving them as dangerous people and trouble makers (Roth, 2012). Raised to oppose the Dauntless strongly, Tris intrinsically feels guilty of wanting to join them. She believed that if the Dauntless were troublemakers, then joining them must make her a bad person. However, her desire to abstain from the uninteresting life outweighs guilt. Upon choosing Dauntless, Tris thinks of herself as brave and selfish (Novanda, 2020).
If Tris's father instilled in her the thought that bravery and selflessness were incompatible, her mother's acts would have a conflicting effect. On visiting day, the narrator realizes that her mother grew up in Dauntless, making her exactly the person Tris wants to be: - loving, responsible, and generous, but brave and intelligent when necessary (Roth, 2012). Tris's mother becomes the ideal embodiment of courage and selfles...