Female Empowerment reflected in Contemporary Dystopian Novels

Inquiry Question: To what extent does the character “Tris” from Veronica Roth's “Divergent”

novel represent a 21st Century female dystopian heroine?

English B

Category: 3

Word Count: 3962

Index #Page

Introduction……………………………………………………………….3-5

Chapter 1: Dystopian Heroines……………………………………………6-9

Chapter 2: Tris…………………………………………………………….10-15

Conclusions……………………………………………………………….16-17

References………………………………………………………………...18-20

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Introduction

The world we live in is currently suffering all type of changes. A world in which technological

advances have caused a lot of consumerism due to the easiness that they bring to life. A world in

which power struggles between different countries have provoked death, wars and intolerance

among cultures. Ban Ki Moon said “We are using resources as if we had two planets, not one.

There can be no plan B, because there is no planet B” referring to the environmental crisis all

around the world, which can lead to Earth's end. This and many other issues, have caused the

belief of a utopian world, as proposed by literature, to become blurred, opening a golden age to

the opposite of the utopia: dystopia.

According to April Spisak (2012, p.55) “dystopias are characterized as a society that is a counter-

utopia, a repressed, controlled, restricted system with multiple social controls put into place via

government, military, or a powerful authority figure”. With the concept of “dystopia” arose the

genre of dystopian literature. In the book “Female Rebellion in Young Adult Dystopian Fiction”

(Day et al, ed. 2016, p.8). Keith Booker was cited when he defined dystopian literature as a

“critique of existing social conditions or political systems, either through the critical examination

of the utopian premises upon which those conditions and systems are based or through the

imaginative extension of those conditions and systems into different contexts that more clearly

reveal their flaws and contradictions”

Consequently, it can be said that the purpose of the dystopian literature is to expose social

criticism towards the idea of a utopian world. Although it is unclear which were the first

dystopian novels, 1984 by George Orwell was the first one to be highly recognized. By this,

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according to Philip Stoner, since then, dystopian genre conventions began to appear, such as: the

presence of an oppressive government, regulation of the arts and original thought, self-

exploration, female instigators and bleak endings. The genre has evolved as time has passed and a

new generation of young adult dystopian literature has given more importance to self identity

than to the expression of political messages. This has opened the genre to different audiences and

not only a political or academic one. Nonetheless, the contemporary generation of dystopian

writers still uses most of these conventions, which continue to allow for genre recognition.

In addition, a recent change in this genre is the participation of women which has become more

current and this has become notable as they are showing that women have the same abilities to

face conflict as men. In the 21st century, female empowerment became frequent in dystopian

novels, such as in “The Hunger Games” and “Divergent,” as a way to criticize the female

representation in the world. Divergent is the debut novel of the American Writer Veronica Roth

and is the first of a trilogy. The novel is developed in a post-apocalyptic version of Chicago and

its main character is “Tris”, a girl who is trying to find her identity in a society and will fight to

defeat the oppressive government of her city that will try to destroy her. Tris will be the main

focus of this investigation by answering the question: To what extent does the character “Tris”

from Veronica Roth's “Divergent” novel represent a 21st Century female dystopian heroine? The

objective of this investigation is to analyze how female characters have evolved in this genre and

how they create an impact during the last century. In order to answer this question, I will do a

literary analysis of the “Tris” taking into account her actions, motivations, interactions with

another characters, among other characteristics. Is important to take into account that this analysis

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will be based in the nature of the dystopian genre and the most important traits of a contemporary

heroine.

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Chapter 1: Dystopian Heroines

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a heroine is “a woman admired and emulated for

her achievements and qualities”. Heroes and heroines were created since ancient times to teach

people lessons such as caring, respect, among others. Although, contemporary heroes are based

on the classic ones and their roles, some traits to recognize contemporary heroes have been

established. As the interest of this research is female heroines, it is important to highlight their

traits, which as stated by the bestselling author Molly Mccord are: does everything by and for

herself, moves outside of a comfort zone, she tests her limits, it is emotional, transformational,

risky, and is permanent and significant change in self-identity (2013).

According to Tracy Wesler “feminist utopian literature, like politically conscious music, art, and

other forms of feminist praxis, is a politically necessary component of feminist consciousness

because it facilitates much-needed visions of a more equitable future for all citizens.” (2005) This

thinking was seen in the past by women writers that began to create feminist utopian novels in

which the world was perfect for the female gender. A clear example is the novel Herland, written

by feminist Charlotte Perkins in which she describes a society composed only by women who

reproduce asexually, and a society that is free of conflict including domination and war. Through

the publication of similar novels, feminist utopists were stating that the solution for problems in

society was to give women power. Effectively, the idea of women as remarkable characters or

sort of heroines had started to emerge.

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On the contrary, feminist dystopian literature shows an exaggerated version of society and its

problems and shows women as an example of strength to fight those problems or conflicts,

instead of eliminating them. In Future Girl: Young Women in the Twenty- First Century, Anita

Harris states that

In a time of dramatic social, cultural, and political transition, young women are

being constructed as a vanguard of new subjectivity. They are supposed to offer

clues about the best way to cope with these changes. Power, opportunities, and

success are all modeled by the “future girl” – a kind of young woman celebrated

for her “desire, determination, and confidence” to take charge of her life, seize

chances, and achieve her goals. (2004, p.3).

At present, feminist writers are using dystopian literature to send a message of female

empowerment, to show the power women have when facing a conflicted society. When Veronica

Roth was asked what characteristics she kept in mind when she was coming up with the main

character from Divergent, “Beatrice”, she answered: “Beatrice is always the agent. That is, she’s

always choosing, always acting, always moving the plot by her behavior.” This behavior cannot

be only seen as a trait in Beatrice; it is a characteristic from all female dystopian heroines, such as

“Offred” in The Handmaid's Tale or “Katniss” in The Hunger Games, previously expected that

only in men. Additionally, when talking about utopian worlds, Roth expresses, “if you actually

succeed in creating a utopia, you’ve created a world without conflict, in which everything is

perfect. And if there’s no conflict, there are no stories worth telling- or reading!” This is

consistent with the fact that feminist dystopian heroines have become popular female characters,

because their writers have transitioned from a utopian world where problems were deleted to one

where women fight each obstacle, situation and problem, thus presenting a story worth telling.

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When exploring dystopian literature, it becomes evident that heroines are recognizable for their

kindness or amiability. This is noticeable in novels such as the ones mentioned before. Inevitably,

it is logical to think that kindness is a characteristic present in almost all heroes, but is not always

necessary. However, in dystopian literature, it is indispensable, since in a controlled society,

amiability is a strong weapon that helps the heroine obtain support: it helps her understand

victims’ situations and fight the government or the authority she is opposing. In a society that is

terribly corrupted, kindness from the heroine is a type of light among all the darkness.

Furthermore, by using kindness as a weapon or threat towards evil, dystopian heroines generate

an important feminist thought. Sometimes, the physical strength or rudeness of men does not

prevail over the delicacy of a woman, which can also turn her into a heroine. Consequently,

women have inverted the roles, and have shown that the female protagonist can be more than a

type of “princess,” who needs help from men to survive. This has attracted much more audience

creating really successful novels and movies.

Moreover, contemporary dystopian novels such as Divergent and The Hunger Games, have used

as main characters adolescent dystopian heroines. Education scholar Nancy Lesko said

“adolescence became a social space in which to talk about the characteristics of people in

modernity, to worry about the possibilities of (…) social changes, and to establish policies and

programs that would help create the modern social order and citizenry” (2012, p.144). Therefore,

contemporary dystopian heroines confirmed the focus on self-identity that this genre is giving the

novels, since adolescence is the stage in which humans are defining who they are and what they

want to do in their future and, by looking into the social changes and the modern society, what

they want to do to help the world. In addition, it can be said that dystopian heroines, besides

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trying to save themselves and the society from the oppressive government to which they are

subjected, are also searching for their own identity, the identity of an empowered woman, which

is a strong feminist message. Until this point, it can be said that dystopian heroines are used

recently to implicitly express feminist thoughts and influence how people think about the position

of women in society. This is done by putting them in situations in which their attributes can be

highlight in their greatest splendor.

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Chapter 2: Tris

Divergent is the first novel of a trilogy written by Veronica Roth. It describes a futuristic society

which divides people in five factions according to their personality: Abnegation (selfless), Amity

(peaceful), Candor (honest), Erudite (intelligent) and Dauntless (brave). Yearly, adolescents take

a test to define to what faction they belong and they choose by spilling their own blood in the

bowl of the faction they want. However, there is a possibility to fit in more than one faction.

These people are designated as “Divergent” and Tris belongs to this group. Being a divergent was

not considered a positive thing in this society, because as they do not conform to one faction,

they are hard to control. Consequently, the government is presented as a dictatorship, in which if

you have qualities for more than one faction, you will be captured and probably killed. This

oppresses divergent humans and corresponds to a dystopian leadership. Despite the fear of what

the government can do to her, Tris chooses Dauntless: “They are pierced, tattooed, and black-

clothed. Their primary purpose is to guard the fence that surrounds our city” (Roth, 2011 p. 7), as

her faction, where she finds love with “Four” (divergent teen), but in time, the truth comes out.

Tris is a sixteen-year-old girl who has a “narrow face, wide, round eyes, and a long, thin nose”

(Roth, 2011 p. 2) and she still looks as a little girl, which reinforces the argument of using a

female adolescent as a tool of empowerment in society. Her story starts by being a member of

Abnegation, a faction in which all of its members are more concerned with the wellbeing,

happiness and health of others than themselves. Although, she does not want to leave her family,

she wants to leave Abnegation, which exposes one of the main traits of a female dystopian

heroine, leaving her comfort zone. This is the beginning of Tris’ transformation. Nevertheless,

she mentions “I feel guiltiest for wanting to leave them” (p. 3) and that shows that her character is

emotional and that she is still thinking of taking ethically correct decisions, not based on her

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desires or impulsiveness. Likewise, besides her family, Tris also relates with people from other

factions in school, which contribute to her discomfort. This can be evidenced when she says

“…the unassuming demeanor of my faction [Abnegation] are supposed to make it easier for me

to forget myself, and easier for everyone else to forget me too. But now they make me a target”

(p.6). This shows that she was unprepared to have an active interaction with society, as she wants

to be “invisible”. Therefore, these pressures help Tris test her limits. She realizes that she has to

do everything for herself when she comments “I am not sure I can live this life of obligation any

longer” (p.35).

Additionally, the ceremony in which teenagers choose their new factions is an important scenario

to understand this character and her transformation. In this event, Marcus Eaton, a leader of

Abnegation, uses a speech to remember why it is important to divide into factions as he states this

division “eradicate(s) those qualities they believed responsible for the world's disarray” (Roth,

2011 p. 42). The qualities that Marcus mentions refer to the ones divergents possess which, to the

government, are synonymous of rebellion and evil. Roth uses this to indirectly present Tris’s goal

in the novel. She has to show that “those qualities” which are supposedly negative, as truly

positive capacities that make up a complete citizen and can help the leadership of the city and that

the government is trying to impose a wrong idea. Also, there is a drastic change in Tris since her

thoughts of doing things by herself become actions when she decides to join Dauntless: “I can't

contain, I shift my hand forward, and my blood sizzles on the coals. I am selfish. I am brave”

(p.47). Apart from this, she also begins to recognize the inner changes that she is suffering by

becoming a courageous teenager.

Inside Dauntless, Tris meets Four, her new instructor, who asks her name and she answers

“Beatrice” (original name) and Four responds that she needs to change it. Immediately, Tris

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thinks “A new place, a new name. I can be remade here” (Roth, 2011 p. 60). Thus, since the

beginning she starts to build a new identity leaving behind Beatrice from Abnegation. Moreover,

Four introduces Tris to Eric (leader of Dauntless) and he affirms “Ooh, a Stiff… We'll see how

long you last” (p.67). “Stiff” in the novel means being from Abnegation. On this particular point,

feminism is reflected in Tris, because Dauntless and feminism hold the same ideals. Eric never

mentions anything particular to the condition of being female,: to him, she was just an individual

who will have to survive to his rules.

The idea of Tris fighting stereotypes that are created against women is portrayed when she start

to live in the faction. An illustration of this is when she thought “I have never slept in the same

room as a boy before, but here I have no other option” (Roth, 2011 p. 73) which shows the

equality in conditions of both genders. Besides, for being in Dauntless the primary stage focuses

in physical capacities and Tris had to fight with men and she ended up with real injures, to the

point of losing consciousness.

Due to the above, Tris said “My rank is terrible. And I might be factionless by the end of stage

one” (p.125). Four becomes a key character for the development of Tris because he offers to help

her become a better fighter as her ranks were very low and he really saw an effort from her trying

to become better but he thought she needed some help. By this, the author shows the desire of

Tris to empower herself and accomplish her goals in Dauntless, but at the same time, as a man is

helping her, it can be deduced that the author strays from the feminist values to show “teen love”,

with the purpose of catching the attention of a young audience. As the time passes she develops a

sentimental relationship with Four, which lets her experience new feelings: “Every time I push

the smile from my face, it fights its way back” (p.339). She starts to recognize the importance of

people as Four in her life and she increases the capacity to interact with the others. In addition,

she discovers that the name “Four” corresponds to four fears and that his real name is Tobias. By

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exposing the four fears of this male character, the author reinforces the idea of equality between

women and men, implying that women are not supposed to be seen as weak because of their fears

and actions as men also suffer from them, as can be seen in Four. As Tris and Four are both

divergent, Four became not only a partner for her life in Dauntless but also a partner to achieve

her main goal, survive as a divergent and prove they are not faulty.

On the date of the final evaluation, which consists in submitting to a fear simulation to confront

all of their fears in order to prove that they are mental prepared, Tris passes the test and she

expresses: “I have never felt relief like this before. Every muscle in my body relaxes at once and I

breath freely again.” (Roth, 2011 p. 397). The author, besides showing the feelings of the

character when she succeeds, also starts to portray her as a heroine, when she knocks out the

obstacles, and obtained success although the main goal had not been achieved at that moment.

Additionally, she is presented as a heroine who is mentally stronger, and with a defined identity.

Almost at the end of the novel, Tris is in a situation in which she has to put in practice all the

things she has learned. At this point, the author uses an argument of cause and effect since the

majority of the novel is focused on the causes that transformed Tris and at the end she is proving

the effect of such transformation. She discovers that the government has plotted to kill the

members from Abnegation, where her parents are. People in Abnegation have information that

does not suit Jeanine (leader in the government) to come to public light. By using a serum created

by Erudite (the intelligent faction, enemies of Abnegation) all members of Dauntless become

sleepwalkers and are controlled as soldiers. This is a key element of the dystopian literature.

Tris realizes that as divergents, she and Four are the only ones that can do something when she

expresses “I must be awake because I am Divergent. And if I am awake, that means Tobias is too,

unless I am wrong about him. I have to find him” (p.419). Furthermore, since this moment the

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author shows that Tris is a heroine because she is already planning how to defeat the plans of the

corrupt government, not only for herself but also for the good of the society.

The climax of this novel is when Tris faces Jeanine because it is when the role of dystopian

heroine in the novel is seen in every way. In first place, when Jeanine captures Tris and Four,

they share some words and Tris starts to do an analysis of her and thinks “She is more machine

than maniac. She sees problems and forms solutions based on the data she collects.” (Roth, 2011

p. 432) which indirectly means that Tris was not only good fighting, also strategic and intelligent.

In second place, Jeanine tries to kill her and she survives. Last but most importantly, Jeanine

creates a new serum that can function on Four and she makes him a sleepwalker. Jeanine uses

Tris 'only weakness, her love towards Four. Nevertheless, Tris fights Four but at the end the love

is more powerful than the serum and he comes back to reality. The author fortifies the feminist

ideas in this case, by expressing that sometimes women can also save men, and that the idea that

“men have to save the women” is only a stereotype. Also, there is a big relevance on the

emotional side of the character and this can be seen when she cannot save her parents and they

die in hands of the soldiers and she feels destroyed. At the same time, the author exposed the

feminism when she continues fighting and trying to find a solution putting at risk her life which

means that women are really strong humans.

Finally, the author shows an important trait of dystopian literature, the bleak endings, when Tris

said: “I am no longer Tris, the selfless, or Tris, the brave. I suppose that now, I must become

more than either” (p.487) and the reader ends up thinking: “I want this to continue”. This literary

method is used by the author not only because it belongs to dystopian novels but also to make

clear that, although Tris has achieved many things, the important objective of this character has

not been accomplished in this novel since she still is considered a criminal for being divergent.

However, by using the word “now” it implies the existence of another novel, in which Tris will

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continue fighting and by saying “I must become more than either” it indirectly states that Tris

will use her divergence to achieve her objective.

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Conclusion

In conclusion, Tris represents a 21th century dystopian heroine to the extent that she possesses all

the qualities of a contemporary heroine and are adapted to fight in the dystopian society she is in.

Since the beginning of the novel, the author constantly presents traits such as being emotional, a

risk-taker, transformational, among others, through different literary strategies. Additionally, as

the author illustrated the character in different scopes including her family life, love relationships,

self-identity, among others, a complete analysis of the character could be reached. The dystopian

scenarios were of great of importance for analyzing Tris, since they determined the

transformation and the constant changes in her. It can be said, that dystopia works together with

the female character to build up a heroine. Also, feminism is present in the development of Tris

throughout the novel, although her relationship with Four generates that women empowerment

was not complete in every moment as a man giving more strength to a woman is not a feminist

value.

Carrying out this research is of important value since it not only reaches the idea of analyzing a

character from a novel, but also gives an account of the creation of this type of characters toward

contemporary society. By choosing “Divergent” which was published in 2011, the investigation

touched important issues of modern times which allows the reader to learn about contemporary

literature. However, it is also relevant to consider that the analysis was done based on the

feminism and female empowerment that is present in the character, so a large part the

investigation is connected to this way of thinking. Other possible methods of analysis such as

“The Hero's journey” and “Archetypal theory” that were ignored for this investigation. If

someone wants to continue this investigation, they could compare this character to other

dystopian heroines, or explore the character in other aspects other than female empowerment. At

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the same time, “Divergent” is only one novel of the trilogy, and therefore, the information has

been limited to only one book. Using the remaining books, “Insurgent” or “Allegiant,” can be

another way to continue the investigation.

Finally, dystopian heroines are a tool used in literature to create an impact in the world we live in,

a voice that represents women and their desire and capacities to have a bigger role in society to

make it better with the purpose to switch the traditional thinking and the social representation that

women have and give a new identity to this gender which can imply to change the perspectives of

this issue in contemporary times.

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