Tris Vs Beowulf

Divergent is a dystopian novel and film originally written by Veronica Roth. The story features a small society located in the city of Chisago. After a war, most of the outside civilization was thought to be destroyed. However, Chicago was protected by its exterior walls, which were built to guard it from any invasion. Life in this dystopian Chicago is not as we know it today. Many structures are broken or in ruins and more importantly, society functions very differently. Every citizen is placed into a group, called a faction, with other individuals that share similar virtues and traits. Tris, the main character in Divergent, lives the start of her life under the Abnegation faction, who show kindness and compassion to everyone. However, when children reach a certain age, they are required to take an aptitude test, which determines which faction you really belong in. After taking the test, Tris shows traits that belong to multiple factions. This is called being Divergent and is considered dangerous by the government. Although Tris initially rejects her divergence, she continues to develop throughout her training and embraces her differences, leading to her following the path of an epic hero. While many heroes seem bold and brave, Tris appears quite the opposite at first. She seems to be an average girl leading a normal life, up until her aptitude test. While the woman that tests Tris is fearful of her inconclusive results, Tris is unsure why this woman is so afraid and tells her parents that she tested into Abnegation. Tris finally begins her heroic quest and gains some bravery when she elects to join Dauntless, the warrior faction. This is a surprising choice to her family, as they viewed her as a normal girl and not a courageous hero. It also seemed to be a shocking choice to Tris, as she picked Dauntless at the last moment in an instinctive decision. At this moment, she begins to show the traits of an epic hero. By definition, an epic hero is a noble character who undergoes a quest with many obstacles to overcome. Most epic heroes follow a cycle of tasks and events that are reoccurring in most characters. According to Joseph Campbell’s guide called “A Hero with a Thousand Faces”, Tris follows this cycle closely. Campbell states that the first step to becoming an epic hero is that the character lives in an ordinary society, but stands out from everyone else. Tris accurately follows this step with her divergence, however, she does not show it. The next event in the cycle is the call to action. This is where the hero will begin their quest. Tris experiences her call to start her quest when she instinctively chooses Dauntless. Later on, the hero goes through training and passes their first test. While it seems like Tris was not in standing to pass her initiation, she eventually becomes strong enough to sneak by in passing the test. At this point in the …show more content…
Both Beowulf and Tris are fighting for control over their kingdoms and have to partake in a dangerous quest against a supposedly much more powerful villain. In both cases, the villain actually proves to be much weaker than the hero in both mental and physical terms. Beowulf is physically stronger than the great beast, Grendel, because he is able to rip his arm off with his bare hands and kill Grendel very quickly. He also is able to outsmart Grendel by using tactics. Tris uses her smarts to also outsmart Jeanine by using her divergence and quick thinking to stay one step ahead of her. She is also much stronger in a physical sense as Jeanine is older and much more frail. Also, both characters have similar motives. Tris is fighting for her home city and Beowulf is fighting for his kingdom. Divergent is also similar to the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding. Ralph, the main character in Lord of the Flies, would be considered the epic hero because of his quest to survive on the island. He is similar to Tris in the sense that he has a loyal sidekick, Piggy, to stand beside his heroism. Tris’ sidekick is Four, who fights alongside her against Jeanine. While Piggy is not exactly the same character is Four, they are both important to their friend’s