Hey everyone! For today’s post I wanted to compare the book and movie adaptation of Divergent. 

I know, both book and movie have been out for awhile. I originally read the book a few years ago but never got around to seeing the movie until recently. After watching the movie I reread the book as I realized that I didn’t remember as much as I thought I did.

Since the book has been around since 2011 and the movie since 2014 I’m going to assume most people have read and/or seen the movie so I won’t explain the factions or anything. I’ll still avoid major spoilers but the post won’t be completely spoiler free.

Here we go!
I thought the movie looked absolutely beautiful. As the story is based in Chicago I loved seeing the recognizable places and seeing Navy Pier and the Sears Tower in an apocalyptic setting was amazing! Not that the book was bad at it, it was just more interesting to see in the movie.

I remembered enough of the book to make it through the movie, but I kept thinking that if I hadn’t read the book I would definitely not have enjoyed the movie due to lack of world building. Movies never seem to have enough of that do they!

The book definitely provided more details on the other factions and even more interactions with them. I felt that we saw more of the other factions and understood them more in the book. Tris interacts with Candor and Amity members in the books but does not do so as much in the movie. I also felt that the color symbolism was stronger in the movie as well.

I also really liked knowing more of Tris’ thoughts in the book. I feel like Tris was more boring in the movie, and seemed to go through the Abnegation to Dauntless transition a lot more smoothly than in the book.

In the book Tris went through great lengths to keep her Abnegation heritage, her clothing, getting tattooos of Abnegation and for her family, and eventually deciding she had learned selflessness through learning to be brave.  She also puts together, albeit a little slowly, that her mother was Dauntless before she transferred to Abnegation. In the movie, Tris just seems to struggle the minimal amount and then pull through, ready to face the next challenge.

In some parts, book was more detailed but the movie was more thrilling and dramatic. For example, the zip line part had Tris almost dying by being almost unable to stop but in the book Tris gets to the bottom as planned and everything goes smoothly. Christina’s forfeit was also handled much differently as was Tris’ loss to Peter in training.

The training Tris went through to get into Dauntless was more interesting to me in the books for the first half though since it was cut way back in the movie. Book Tris got her higher rank for the first part of training by beating Molly but in the movie she got it because she led her team to victory in capture the flag.

The second half, where they train for facing their fears, was more interesting in the movie because it was very clear to see. I felt that Four’s extra training for Tris was actually explained better in the movie because in the movie the initiates aren’t aware they’re in the fear landscape. Since they are in the book it really just feels like they’re hanging out by comparison.

The Erudite’s attacks on Abnegation and its effects are more intense in the book although the invasion was more enjoyable to watch in the movie. The end, however, when they prepare to leave to regroup with Abnegation survivors, was better explained and thought out in the books.

As for Tris’ relationships, they felt more real in the books, probably because of the longer amount of time given to them. At the end with Tris and Will’s encounter I felt it more in the book than in the movie. There also seem to be more of them in general, both in Abnegation and in Dauntless, in the books. In turn, her enemies are more ruthless in the books as well.
Overall I liked the book better but would definitely recommend watching the movie as well since it’s great to see it come to life before you. The movie isn’t entirely true to the book but it makes sense as they do make it interesting to watch (as opposed to interesting to imagine) and easy to follow along. Both were good to experience!

Let me know what you thought of the Divergent movie and book!

Thanks for reading!
P.S. Photos are from google as I didn’t think of doing a comparison until after I turned in the movie and book back to the library. The photo for the blog post though is my own of Navy Pier! Albeit a little far away! 🙂