Anthem And Divergent Character Analysis

Several people have their own idea of what a “perfect” society would be like. Since everyone’s perspective on the topic is different, when one person makes their “ideal” society a reality, it can backfire. In the novels Anthem by Ayn Rand and Divergent by Veronica Roth, this is exactly what happened. The lead characters in both stories were faced with someone’s idea of a perfect society and they were both rebels against what the person saw as perfect, this caused both societies in the end to backfire, or at least get a little whacky.The protagonists in Anthem and Divergent have similar reactions to the various dystopian elements such as restriction, illusion of a perfect utopia, and dehumanization, which helps them develop their characters

Both Anthem and Divergent’s societies try to make the world “perfect,” which is impossible because there will always be rebels like Tris and Equality, that go against the system. In Divergent, all of the different factions have their own idea on how to make the world better. Dauntless’ idea for making the world “better” is by being in control of your fears ,which is stated as, “ ‘but becoming fearless isn't the point. That's impossible. It's learning how to control your fear, and how to be free from it, that’s the point’ ”(Roth 239). In contrast the Abnegation faction believes that the world would be better if people were less selfish and more selfless. As a result to these different perspectives, Tris’ outlook on life starts to change as she gets older, because she was raised in the Abnegation faction, but as she grew up she became more selfish(which goes against the Abnegation values), so she did not belong with them anymore, which caused her to transfer to Dauntless when she was 16. In Anthem, the government decided how the world would be best. The government decides on who mates with who and many other aspects of life. When the children are born, society takes them into their own hands and the children grow up in different places(Home of the Infants and Home of the Students), where they get limited education and live in rooms that are totally blank, so a personality cannot be formed. Then, when they become old enough to work, jobs are chosen for them, so life is completely controlled. As Equality went through this “perfect” society, he used to sneak away from his home, which is a sin, and he would go out and try to learn more for himself(which is illegal because they are not allowed to be smarter than their brothers), everyone must be united as one. Equality was always curious and eager for knowledge, which he states as, “ but we