Thursday, January 30, 2014

Frued and Divergent

I've found a lot of our most recent discussions pertaining to Freud very interesting. Right now I am reading Divergent, (there is about to be a movie about it) which is about a dystopian Chicago. I saw a few similarities between the book and Freud and psychoanalysis. In the book, each member of each faction goes under a simulation when they turn 16 which determines which faction they are most compatible with. This simulation digs deep into each persons subconscious as they undergo a test while unconscious. The way they respond to the test reveals their subconscious intentions. In the book, the main character Tris is a Divergent because she is able to maintain her consciousness while under the simulation. As a result, she shows signs of belonging to three different factions. As a Divergent, she can manipulate the simulations and in a way protect her subconscious. This makes her harder to control, which becomes a threat to the leaders of the Erudite faction. To develop these simulations the Erudites must have had to study Freudian concepts of psychoanalysis. From what I understand, psychoanalysis basically tries to make you conscious of your subconscious. In the simulations in Divergent the test digs into your subconscious to help you understand how you would react to certain situations and in return determine which faction you belong to. Basically, after the test you are more conscious of your subconscious. I don't know too much about Freud and Psychoanalysis so everything I said above might be completely wrong but I do find the subject very interesting and would like to study it more in the future. I'm really interested in learning more about how the brain works and why people behave certain ways.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

I just started reading Divergent, too! My brother gave me the book for christmas because he thought it was really good. (He knew it was so good because he had already read that same exact book. He just re-wrapped it and gave it to me. What a nice bro, right! Always so thoughtful.) I'm only on the second or third chapter but so far I like it. I find it kind of poorly written, almost cheesy. But, it's supposed to be a fun read, so I guess I shouldn't expect the writing to be superb.

Unknown said...

I also got it for Christmas!! I'm on the second book. It's an easy read. I wanted to read them before the movies came out. It's kinda like the new hunger games or something. I agree the writing isn't superb and you aren't going to take too much from the book except for entertainment, but I think you should keep reading them. It's a good book to read right before bed!

Brooke M. Hathaway said...

I loved Divergent (even though I refuse to read the second and third books in the trilogy...)! I agree the writing is probably more suited for middle schoolers though. However, I loved reading about the dystopian society. I can definitely see how psychoanalysis would be used to come up with the tests that decide your faction, even though they don't go into much depth about that in the novel. They really do have to tap into your subconscious, especially with the test they do in Dauntless (the ones that simulate your greatest fears). In fact, I remember when Tris went through the tests she had no idea what her fears would be until after she saw them in the simulation, so those were definitely subconscious.

Miranda Martinez said...

I loved the Divergent series! I only have 100 pages left of the third book, but like Brooke I refuse to finish it now that I know the ending (it's not that bad, but it's bleh). I agree with your comparison to Freud's psychoanalysis and the simulations. I can clearly see how Tris's "divergence" makes her unable to have a clear psychoanalysis, which is a big "no-no" in her society. If what you're saying about psychoanalysis is accurate, then the motives of the factions is the same as Freud's idea. Veronica Roth must've been really intrigued by Freud.

Kincy GIbson said...

When I was in Middle school I read a book called Pretty that has a similar concept. In this society adolescents were considered "ugly" and when they reached a certain age everyone underwent surgery to become a "pretty" adult. Adulthood entitles an endless cycle of partying with no responsibility. Well some thing happens and the main female character doesn't want to receive the long awaited surgery. It turns out that when these adolescents have the surgery, the doctors cut a lesion in their brain hindering their brain power by only allowing people to think happy thoughts and by slowing down the thought process with short term memory loss. This society similarly did this to it's subjects to enforce social compliance. This book freaked me out so much when I read it. I was mortified by the possibility of doctors doing this to someone.

Amy Clement said...

This is why I love the blog so much! It seems like every week I have at least one book or movie to add to my list. I'll definitely have to make sure to read Divergent, especially since I'll have Freud in the back of my mind when doing so!