Divergent Anti Hero Essay 
Amanda Schnur
ENG3U1
Ms. Kidd y-03-18 A Female Anti-Hero
In the movie “Divergent” directed by Neil Burger, the central character Beatrice, shows many different characteristics of being an anti-hero. Beatrice Prior otherwise known as Tris is the main protagonist character and the narrator of the film. She is a strong willed 16 year old who lives in a society divided into groups called factions, based on individual human virtues. With her coming of age, she must now choose one of the factions to live in for the rest of her life, Abnegation (selfless), Erudite (intelligent), Candor (honest), Amity (peaceful) or Dauntless (brave). The definition of an anti-hero would be the main or central character in a story, movie or play who does not posses the conventional heroic attributes. This movie is all about Tris becoming disillusioned with her society, she is misunderstood by the community she lives in and also is seen by others as a noble criminal. In the film, Tris uses her anti-heroism characteristics to challenge the societal beliefs that were present in the dystopia.
Tris shows anti-heroism through many different lenses. Firstly, she is disillusioned with society and is an outsider. Tris is Divergent, which means she is all five factions, which is not “normal” and she threatens the leaders in the dystopia. In the middle of the film, once phase one was complete, Tris’s mom gets ahold of Tris for the first time since her picking and tells her that she is Divergent. “Divergent? You can’t tell anyone. You cant tell your friends, your instructor, you cant trust anyone” (Burger 2014) This is a significant quote in the movie because Tris now knows that people are jealous and threatened by her and will do anything to eliminate her. It is also significant because of the timing when Tris was told was after the first phase but before the second phase; mental phase. The timing of Tris getting notified as being Divergent, is important because in the mental phase, the
ENG3U1
Ms. Kidd y-03-18 A Female Anti-Hero
In the movie “Divergent” directed by Neil Burger, the central character Beatrice, shows many different characteristics of being an anti-hero. Beatrice Prior otherwise known as Tris is the main protagonist character and the narrator of the film. She is a strong willed 16 year old who lives in a society divided into groups called factions, based on individual human virtues. With her coming of age, she must now choose one of the factions to live in for the rest of her life, Abnegation (selfless), Erudite (intelligent), Candor (honest), Amity (peaceful) or Dauntless (brave). The definition of an anti-hero would be the main or central character in a story, movie or play who does not posses the conventional heroic attributes. This movie is all about Tris becoming disillusioned with her society, she is misunderstood by the community she lives in and also is seen by others as a noble criminal. In the film, Tris uses her anti-heroism characteristics to challenge the societal beliefs that were present in the dystopia.
Tris shows anti-heroism through many different lenses. Firstly, she is disillusioned with society and is an outsider. Tris is Divergent, which means she is all five factions, which is not “normal” and she threatens the leaders in the dystopia. In the middle of the film, once phase one was complete, Tris’s mom gets ahold of Tris for the first time since her picking and tells her that she is Divergent. “Divergent? You can’t tell anyone. You cant tell your friends, your instructor, you cant trust anyone” (Burger 2014) This is a significant quote in the movie because Tris now knows that people are jealous and threatened by her and will do anything to eliminate her. It is also significant because of the timing when Tris was told was after the first phase but before the second phase; mental phase. The timing of Tris getting notified as being Divergent, is important because in the mental phase, the