You know, ten years ago, I loved a fictional guy called Tobias who had four fears and hence called himself Four because trauma. And now, ten years later, I hate a fictional guy called Tobias who has four grandsons who are traumatized because of him. Funny how times change. Call it a full circle moment.
was thinking about Four’s tattoos, of the factions, and i love love the idea of him being really into the history of the factions, of what they were meant for, what they represented and how they’re all fundamentally human traits. Him just seeing a bit of every faction in himself and hating how rigid the system is for not allowing that kind of perspective to the point that they’d kill people over it
him getting those tattoos was borderline rebellious, but in a quiet, self-important kind of way
The first time Tobias had any positive physical contact since he was eight years old would’ve been his first ever friend Shauna hugging him during initiation.
I been noticing a few complaints on tumblr on how the Divergent books ended. I even saw a person say that was a waste of my time. Fuck that ending and go on an angry rant and bashed Veronica Roth. When I said though the ending was sad the third book was my favorite, it was moving. very moving. Touching. and emotionally moving despite the sadness. She basically started yelling at me and saying yeah fuck that shit and blah blah blah. Let me tell you why I wasn’t angry at the ending. Why I was oddly okay with it despite how it broke my heart. Be prepared for spoilers if you haven’t read the series. I suggest you do NOT read under the read more.
Beatrice "Tris" Prior throughout the series has told herself she was too Selfish to be Abegnation. She has put herself down and rarely saw what Tobias "Four" Eaton saw in her. She proved she could be brave and Tobias saw it. Everyone saw it, but they also knew the difference between bravery and stupidity. Tris in the second book had guilt for killing Will and did stupid things in hopes she'd get killed. She did these things for all the WRONG reasons and Tobias called her out on it. And she eventually realized he was right. Because her guilt was eating away at her and part of her simply just wanted to see her mother again.
So she realized she had everything to live for. She wanted to live. And just as she realized that things around her took a turn. In the third book her whole world was thrown upside down and what she thought was real was all a lie. Once she reached outside the fence she realized how naive they all were and what a bubble like world they lived in.
She had suffered the lost of her parents, having to shoot a good friend, and the betrayal of her brother. Her brother who in the second book was going to hand her over to meet her own execution. But none of those things compared to what she faced in the third book. A corrupt government trying to control people, fix humanity with experiements gone wrong, and claiming people were genetically damaged. Blaming wars and bad behavior on these “genetically damaged” people.
And when things didn’t go their way this Government erased people’s memories, and even killed people if they were against the government’s ways. Tris and her friends had a plan to end this corruption. To save the world and knew that ONE of them would have to die. Sacrifice their life to achieve this plan because it was a rather dangerous one. And Caleb knowing he was the most hated one besides the cruel boy Peter, that most of them wouldn’t care if he went. And Tris was ready to let her brother go. To go into the weapons lab of this vial government and set off an explosion that would cause poison around him that would eventually kill.
That is what the death serum was basically in these books. And Caleb feeling guilt was ready just like Tris to die for his sins. He could never be too sure if his sister would ever forgive him. The thing with Caleb’s betrayal of Tris in the second book, is this you wanted to punch him in the face when Tris did, yet you couldn’t help but forgive him when she finally did as well.
You noticed how hard it was for Tris to hate Caleb throughout the third book. She went back and forth from seeing her brother, and seeing a traitor. She was hurt, angry but at the same time just wanted her brother back. You felt all those things with her. And sometimes you even felt bad for Caleb when he was sad he might never be forgiven.
There were times you realized the difference in Caleb and Tris. Perhaps it wasn’t that Caleb was a bad person. Or that he never loved his sister because he clearly showed he did at the very end of the novel. It’s because he’s weaker than his sister. His fear of a corrupt leader or Jeanine caused him to betray his only surviving blood. He tells Tris “you don’t know how persuasive Jeanine was” which I interpret as Jeanine had a scary way with words, a threatening way. Whatever Jeanine told Caleb was obviously terrifying enough to get him to drag his own sister to her execution. Tris told him she’d never take her own brother to his execution. She was a lot stronger than Caleb. She could choose her own family no matter the consequences. Faction before blood meant nothing to her.
So when Caleb prepares to die for the cause. When he prepares to die to change the world he goes to talk to his sister before hand. In that scene it is revealed they played “candor” as children. The faction that could never lie. They asked each other questions and they had to tell the truth. Caleb is the one that brings it up. He says do you remember when we played candor as kids. And they reminisce thinking Caleb will die. Tris seems happy to relive the memory. She says hey Caleb let’s play Candor. He asks her now? She nods and tells him yes. So they play Candor.
And Tris asks him tell me honestly why you’re doing this? Why you agreed to be the one to go to your death. He answers truthfully and says I think it’s my guilt. he confesses that the guilt for what he has done is too much. And Tris thinks about that. And realizes that was not a good enough reason for him to die. She remembers how her guilt almost sent her to suicidal tendencies. This is the same, but she knows Caleb is different from her. He’ll go through with it instead of realizing he has something in the world to live for.
Prior to that game of Candor she asked Tobias about self sacrifice. He told her basically that people do it to show their love for you. True self sacrifice that is. Real sacrifice comes from love. And Tris asked Tobias what if Caleb was just feeling guilty is that the same thing as showing his love? Tobias told her he didn’t know. But Tris did. So when Caleb went to meet his death she stole the backpack with the explosives and told Caleb to go. She chose to sacrifice herself instead. To not let her only brother die. Why? Because she told Caleb she’d never bring him to his execution. And she stuck by that. No matter what Caleb did to hurt her, no matter what betrayal she still couldn’t just let her brother die. Because he was still her brother. The big brother that gave Tobias the don’t hurt my baby sister talk when he found out they were dating, the brother that played candor with her, and the brother who wanted nothing more than to be forgiven.
Everyone whose upset over her death is upset that it ended with a message of “self sacrifice” that has been “done before” and that Tris deserved to live to her 17th birthday. But for me these people missed the point. It wasn’t just any self sacrifice message being written here. If you truly think about it from the very beginning there was no chance Tris was meant to have a happy ending. Because she was way more than she ever gave herself credit for. For all the times she called herself Selfish and proved herself wrong time and again. The ending was no different.
There is NOT a single selfish person in the world that would take the place of a coward who betrayed their own blood. That is something only a strong and selfless person is capable of doing. There is NOT a single selfish person in the world that would give the forgiveness that same coward craved. That is something only a strong and selfless person is capable of doing. Caleb was forgiven and allowed to live his life . He was allowed to change the world because his sister just couldn’t allow him to die. She didn’t just sacrifice herself for the cause. For a better world. That’s all people ever seem to say about that ending. She sacrificed herself for the cause. No she didn’t. She sacrificed herself for her brother. Her blood. The boy she proved to love even when he hurt her so deeply by betraying her. And with her sacrifice that same brother showed he always loved his sister.
They all knew going in to the plan someone would have to die. And they all prepared for Caleb to be that person. Not a single one of them would go in Caleb’s place. None of them would ever do that and Tris knew this. Tris was the most Selfless of them all. The ending made me cry and still does. But didn’t make me angry as I thought it would. I kept telling my sister I’ll be so mad if Tris and Tobias don’t end up together. I was ranting about the possibility of a “bad ending.” But when I read it. When I finally finished it I just cried. I was sad but not angry. I was moved by the ending and I was proud of Tris. Not because she allowed herself to die. But because she was a good human being.
