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Christopher Loera
Professor Melissa Filbeck
English 113A
November 15, 2014
Based On a True Story

Imagine being divided into one of five jobs and not seeing your family after the age of
eighteen. There are many movies that are being presented with a dystopian theme such as
Divergent which was directed by Neil Burger in 2014. Comparing life in the movie Divergent
and life in our present day is not so different when it comes to social division. In Divergent the
community is divided into factions which can be compared to our society where people are
divided by race, in the government, neighborhoods, schools and even jobs.
The movie Divergent is set in the future. When you are born you inherit your familys
faction but its not until youre 18 when you take a test and you get to choose your own faction
out of five. Once you choose this faction that means there is no going back from your decision,
the one you choose is the one you will die with. This faction that you choose will be your new
family and your number one priority. Your new motto will then be Faction over blood.
Meaning your old family is nothing its the future you will have with your faction. Now
comparing it we share some Divergent qualities. We are born into a certain wealth class and race
that we cant change. By the looks of our present day it looks like we are heading into a more
advanced Divergent society.
There are many ways that our society gets divided but the most popular way is through
race. Not only because of the history that goes behind the word but its who we are physically.
Take a look at our government. Were not just a number to them but we are labeled as White,

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Hispanic, African American or Asian. Any papers that we fill out for the government they make
you check a box based on your race. It is said on the NCBI website that the most popular
documents that require for people to put down a race or ethnicity are hospital forms, when
people go to vote and when the census comes around every ten years (Campbell). These labeling
categories dont help the government when it comes to making the people happy, there have
been many controversies that people feel cheated or not treated equally because they put down
their race. The people of color feel that when they put down their race and ethnicity the
government already have many stereotypes about them presumptions that might view them in a
bad way. People say that when they fill out any papers that it shouldnt matter how they look or
who they are the only part that should matter is the answer to the questions being asked. In
Divergent the clothing that each fraction wears is like their race because each fraction is known
for their color and attitude. Once you choose your faction you cant switch such as today you cant
change the color of your skin.
There are thousands of cities in the United States. Most cites are known for their race
population, of course theres a mix of races but there is always a majority race. We tend to
categorize our own cities. We say South L.A is known to be majority African American, East
L.A is populated with many Latinos, Beverley Hills has a lot of Persian decent and Sherman
Oaks is majority white and Jewish (Vanhemert). Some people tend to choose certain cities to
stay in based on their race. People feel more secure and confident when they are around people
like them. Due to this idea thats why certain places are dominated by a certain races. But the
influence goes back to the slavery times and how people of color were segregated from whites. If
it wasnt for the slavery era most cities in the world today would be mixed and not dominated by
a single race. This idea is very much presented in the movie based on how the community is

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divided up into 5 sections. Within those five sections it is only fraction populated meaning
anyone in the Dauntless section will only be people from Dauntless with the same clothing to
make sure your from that fraction. Such as when Tris the main actress goes to visit her brother at
his fraction everyone gives her a weird look, making it obvious that she doesnt fit in this place
because of the assumptions that her factions gives off.
This leads to my next topic on how race divides up school. Looking back to my last topic
on how cities are dominated by one race, the schools around those areas will be populated with
those races. Regardless on the area the kids within the schools would segregate themselves. I
know from personal experience that kids tend to hang out with kids from their own race based on
the cycle of socialization and because they feel more confident with people that they know and
share similar qualities. Back in high school everyday at lunch and nutrition this group of white
kids that sat by some stairs next to A hall would always give dirty looks to people that werent
like them or who didnt fit in with the hall. Each day I would analyze how they looked at people
and which kids told their friends who was near by. Its not just in schools that this happens but
its through the outside world that teaches us to do these things. In Divergent the test that the
people take before they choose their factions tells them which fraction would best work for them.
Just think of the society in Divergent and compare it to a school yard. You have the Latinos,
African Americans, Whites, Asians and the biracial. They are all groups that stick with people
like them.
Lastly is how jobs in our present day are targeted towards certain races. People of color
are known for statistically not making it to college and dropping out of high school. They mostly
drop out because of low income; family problems and 36% dont make it because they have a
learning disability (Lynch). The Army or any military department aims their audience towards

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Latinos and African Americans because they know that they dont have a future in wealthy jobs.
Ads on T.V always have white people as actors to show that they are the ones that make it
through college and get a degree. Media plays a big role that shapes who we are today and how
we should act and do. Such as in the book Being There by Jerzy Kosinski this man named
chance was raised by what ever he saw on T.V. If it wasnt on T.V then he didnt know what it
was. This us today how we are basing our selves based on what we see other people doing.
Media is the number one way to change people for the good or bad.A few weeks ago the coast
guard came out with an ad with an African American lady smiling serving for the cost guard. If
you go on the Coast Guard web page the images of people that posted are people of color. They
put words such as Honor, Respect and Devotion To Duty to show that working with the Coast
Guard its a great and positive thing to do. They try to convince their audience that what they are
doing is a good thing because the lady on the picture was smiling. White people are typically
seen to have professional jobs such as a teacher, lawyer or doctor. Race affects many aspects of
our society and each part connects to one another.
Dystopian movies such as Divergent compare to our present day society is very much
alike. Burger made this movie to show what our present day is leading up to and how it will
affect everyone. The way the both societies are built and the customs they have this could be us
in the later future. One main way that our society is divided is by race then race is split into
different sections such as government, jobs, schools and neighborhoods. Tris and Four the two
main actors in Divergent symbolize the revolt that our society should take now so that our future
wont manage like Divergent. As philosopher Nietzsche says Dont be a part of the herd, go in
a different directions and show that youre not like everyone else or you could soon catch
yourself in a society like Divergent.

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Works Cited
Divergent. Dir. Neil Burger. Perf. Shailene Woodley, Theo James. 2014. Movie.

"Forms." Homepage. Web. 21 Nov. 2014. <http://www.uscis.gov/forms>.

Kosinski, Jerzy. Being There. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1971. Print.

Lynch, Matthew. "High School Dropout Rate: Causes and Costs." Education Week. 6 Nov. 2013.
Web. 20 Nov. 2014.

"U.S. Coast Guard and Coast Guard Reserve." United States Coast Guard. Web. 23 Nov. 2014.

Vanhemert. "Hispanics Will Soon Dominate California Population." USA Today. Gannett, 31
Jan. 2013. Web. 21 Nov. 2014.
<http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/01/31/hispanic-california-populationimmigration.