Allegiant delivers and more

Kyomarys Figueroa

Staff Writer

    Before you even begin skimming this article, be warned there will be spoilers.

   

     I have been anxiously anticipating Allegiant since sometime before the summer began. Counting down the days, until the finality of Tobias and Tris's love story and the issues they faced with their factions came to a close. I definitely did not expect how the book turned out. 

     

     

In Insurgent the ending was the aftermath of what you could call a "Civil War" between the factionless and the Erudite's and those who wanted to maintain the faction system. 

     

     The factions were astonished with new information left by Edith Prior, Tris's grandmother. It was a video displaying horrifying images of what the world was before the factions were placed inside of a dystopian Chicago. The purpose of

creating the factions was to purify society and once they were ready they were to open the gates and go beyond their world and help the people on the outside. 

     

     Now we fast forward to Allegiant where Tobias's mother, Evelyn Eaton with a massive factionless army, has the city under control enforcing the fact that they were going to rebuild the city without factions and not go to the outside. However, that does not stop a secret group named Allegiant from forming to send at least a small group to the outside to inquire as to what is going on. 

     

     The group includes: Tris and Tobias and some of the other minor characters seen throughout the books. Once they reach the outside they are surprised and confused by new information: the factions are an experiment, an attempt to control and divide populations.

     

     This is where conflict arises. Tris's and Tobias's relationship is tested. Tris and Tobias have always believed being Divergent signifies they're special, however, that is not the case it just simply means that their genes are good. Divergence was viewed as this special ability and special power but in all reality it just meant they were designed the correct way. 

     

     The scientist from the outside ask Tris and Tobias to get tested to analyze and examine their chromosomes, which reveals that Tobias although shows Divergent characteristics, is as damaged as the rest of  them, causing him to question himself and everything around him. 

     

     It was unnerving to see Tobias go from a self-assured, masculine man to practically a boy, questioning everything he has over known over some damaged genes. All this puts a strain on his relationship with Tris and everyone else. 

     

     Tris flourishes in this book unlike Tobias, she takes all this information easier. Her voice becomes firm and her leadership skills become evident. 

     

     This causes her to rebel against the outside when she learns they're are planning on destroying Chicago by implanting the memory serum, which would cause them to forget everything, because the factionless lead by Evelyn and the Allegiant lead by Marcus and Johanna might begin another war. She formulates another solution with the help of Tobias and her friends. She was going to spread the memory serum to those in charge on the outside and rebuild the system entirely. 

     

     She accomplished her mission, but her life paid the price. Yes, Veronica Roth killed Tris. I cried when I read the certitude of Tris’s life. She wasn’t even killed by the death serum that protected the memory serum from begin touched, she was killed by a bullet. I went through multiple emotions, I cannot believe Tobias has to live without Tris. After her death, part of me hoped Roth was playing a practical joke and Tris was going to wake up from her deep slumber, by a kiss from her beloved Tobias. No, she is dead.

     

     I haven’t been this affect by a character death since Finnick in the Hunger Games. It has been a week since I finished one of my favorite trilogies and I still do not know how to feel about the way it ended. I encourage everyone to read it, because regardless of the heart wrenching ending, Roth is an incredible writer. She gave depth to her character in her final novel, focusing more on their emotions then the action and war surrounding them.

     

     My final thoughts is that Theo James, the actor portraying Tobias in the Divergent film will have his work cut out for him when the final movie is shot. He not only have to be heart broken and utterly destroyed for his character, but the millions of fans that will forever mourn Tris Prior’s death.