Oppression In Divergent By Veronica Roth

1861 Words8 Pages
Oppression in Science Fiction novels is usually seen in dystopias. “Dystopian literature is a genre of fictional writing used to explore social and political structures in ‘a dark, nightmare world.' The term dystopia is defined as a society characterized by poverty, squalor or oppression and the theme is most commonly used in science fiction and speculative fiction genres” (Questia Editorial Team ). Vandervoot stated that a dystopia is a fictional society that is incredibly imperfect. They often contain intense measures of social control (Vandervoot 1). Oppression, however, according to Iris Young, is the exercise of tyranny by a ruling group. It is when people reduce the potential for other people to be fully human. In other words, oppression…show more content…
For example, in the novel, the protagonist, Tris, is forced by the government to leave or stay with her family once she turns sixteen, but once she chooses, she can never go back. Tris describes this at the beginning of the book by saying “Tomorrow at the Choosing Ceremony, I will decide on a faction; I will decide the rest of my life; I will decide to stay with my family or abandon them (Roth 2)”. Another example is that that she has to hide herself from the government because she is somehow different from the other people that live in her faction divided world. This difference is known as Divergence. If the government find out she is Divergent, they kill her, therefore she has to keep this a secret for the rest of her life once she is informed by the lady who gives her the aptitude test to know in which faction she belongs. The lady tells her that “Divergence is extremely dangerous (Roth 23)”. Veronica Roth includes oppression throughout her novel through the use of serums that are injected into the people of the factions, forcing them against their will, and even forcing them to face their biggest fears in them. The serums are liquids used to induce illusions, also known as simulations. There’s a variety of serums mentioned in the novel, and each faction has their own special one. Tris’ faction’s serum is the simulation serum. Tris hates to go on simulations because since she is Divergent, she is not affected by most of the serums, therefore remaining aware of the fact that she is in a simulation and making her able to manipulate it and end it much quicker than the normal people of her faction. In the novel, to be able to hide from the government and enter the faction she chose, she has to learn how to pass the simulation test like a normal person. Four, one of her instructors when she enters
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