Lisa Fieldhouse - Blog Post 2

"Becoming fearless isn't the point. Thats impossible. It's learning how to control your fear, and how to be free from it" (Roth, 239)

SUMMARY:

In this part of the story, Beatrice is coming to realization of who she is as an individual in her new faction. In Dauntless they are trained to be strong, brave, and fearless. But how can one truly be fearless? Tris realizes at this point in the story that to be fearless is impossible. One does not learn to become fearless, instead through stimulations and her advantage of being divergent, Tris learns to control her fears, and free herself from the pain.


SO WHAT STEP 1:

Question: What is important about this quote?

The importance of this quote is to let the reader know who Tris is becoming. From being in Abnegation and learning to hide herself from the world,  to becoming the number one transfer of Dauntless, made Tris see how capable she is of being a leader in her society. Not only did was she able to see her true strength, she was also able to find clarity of the controlled dystopia that she lives in.

 SO WHAT STEP 2:

Question: Where does it tell us about Dystopia?

This quotation tell us how Tris is able to overlook the dystopian world in which she is consumed in. Throughout the story she starts to see the factions as they are, and begins to understand herself and she wants to be. She doesn't just want to be brave, she wants to also be honest, and selfless and intelligent. In Dauntless however, Beatrice knows that although she is being trained to be "fearless" it is impossible to be. This is important because although Tris may see this, others in her faction may not.


SO WHAT STEP 3:

Question: What is the importance of Roth's word choice?

Roth uses certain words several times throughout this book. In the quotation above, the words that stand out to me the most, and which are also used throughout the rest of the book, are the words fear, and free (freedom). These words describe the society in which the characters live in very well. They live in constant fear of the government and the intense choice of staying or leaving a faction, along with the fear of possibly choosing a new one. Free or freedom is an important word because while reading the story I felt a sense from characters such as Tris and Tobias, who are both divergent, that they were searching for a way out. They were searching for a way to be free.