Mary Sluder - Blog Post 2

1. Veronica Roth writes in Divergent that, "At first, all I see is the marsh, wide and brown and everywhere, touching the horizon, devoid of life. In the other direction is the city, and in many ways it is the same, lifeless and with limits I do not know" (217).

In this passage, the main character, Tris, is expressing her feelings about the city she lives in. This concrete detail is a metaphor comparing the lifeless and limitless marsh to the city where Tris lives.

2. So What Step 1: Why compare the marsh to the city?

Aside from the negative remarks about the marsh noted in the passage, marshes also have a negative connotation as being a gross, lifeless place. By comparing the marsh to the city, Roth is associating the city as a place that is not ideal to live, one where life does not thrive. Further, marshes serve as a place of transition between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. By comparing the marsh to the city Roth implies that the city is in a period of transition, or is between two stages of life.

So What Step 2: What is significant about comparing the marsh to the city?

By comparing the marsh to the city, Roth implies that not only is the city where Tris lives devoid of life and not an ideal place to live, but implies that the city is also serves as a transition. People in the city are not happy and want change, and are in a state of transition as the Erudite plan to overrule the Abnegation and take over the government.

So What Step 3: Where does this observation bring us?

This observation brings us to the conclusion that dystopias are never ideal. The people are never really free, they are devoid of life and in a place where they don't want to be. Also, dystopias serve as a period of transition, in hopes for a life that is better than the one the people are currently living in.