Divergent, a book written by Veronica Roth, is a story taking place in post-war Chicago. Beatrice Prior (Tris), played by Shailene Woodley, struggles to find her place in a factioned world where she doesn't belong. Beatrice is divergent, meaning she has a little bit of characteristics from each faction. Her brother Caleb, played by Ansel Elgort, is the same age as Tris, but seems to be much more sure of himself. The world they live in is separated into factions; Agnegation, Dauntless, Candor, Amity, and Erudite. Abnegation is selfless, Dauntless is brave, Candor is truthful, Amity is peaceful, and Erudite is smart. The abnegation born siblings must decide which faction they belong to at the Choosing Ceremony. Both make surprising choices. Caleb choses erudite and Tris choses dauntless. The story goes on to describe Tris's life as a brave and confident dauntless. At first she struggles to find strength, but later paves her way through due to her divergence and the help of her initiate trainer, Four, played by T'heo James. Trouble between the factions soon causes Eurodite to advance on Abnegation with the help of the manipulated dauntless behind them in action. Beatrice, Caleb, and Four must try to save their home faction from being destroyed.
The book and movie had the same basic story line including the same faction and character names. Both of them feature Tris's story throughout dauntless and her struggles as well as her many triumphs. I think the relationship between Four and Tris was captured in the movie just as well as it was in the book.
However, the movie had many differences from the book as well. One difference was that Christina took the flag before Tris could get it when they were playing Find the Flag. I didn't like this difference because I wanted there to be some tension between Christina and Tris instead of just being "buddy-buddy" throughout the whole movie.
Another difference was that Four taught Tris to be dauntless instead of Tris teaching Four to be divergent to get through the fear landscape. I like how the book made the female lead the male instead of the classic male hero saving the helpless female. This difference almost made me lose interest in the movie all together, if it wasn't for Theo James keeping me attentive.
Personally I liked the book better because it had much more detail and suspense than the movie. Of course that is what everyone says but I believe Roth has as amazing talent in creating a clear setting and sight for the reader to follow along with. I feel the movie didn't even come close to doing the book justice. I also thought the movie didn't capture the true characters, especially of the other initiates. However, I did like that the movie brought the settings to life just like the book. Especially the ferris wheel scene and the whole damaged setting of Chicago.
