Over the summer my daughter re-watched the first Divergent movie (she is not that keen of the 2nd and 3rd movie) and she re-read the series. She loves the series but this time when she come out of her Divergent bubble she had an interesting observation.

Her thoughts were – In the Divergent series most people fit into the groups, they fit into what society expects, they act and think the way expected, they are essentially considered normal. The divergents are the people who do not fit into what society expects, they think differently and tackle problems differently. She views the divergents as being neurodiverse or neuro atypical (in other words that would include people on the spectrum). In the beginning of the series nobody wants to be divergent and people actually try and hide the fact that they are divergent but by the end of the series the divergents are what saves the society.

I must confess I read the series and watched the movies and I never thought of it like that. I never linked it the way she did but I LOVE that she sees those parallels and that she sees that just because someone does not fit into what society expects does not mean they have nothing to offer, in fact what they have to offer may just be what they society needs.

This is just a quick post because I thought her observation was brilliant and it really made me rethink about the books and the characters. If you want more details about the books have a read here – Divergent – I would say I think it is a fascinating series, really well written but that it does suit older kiddos / teens.