A Connection Between Harry Potter Houses and Factions?

[a_r_egerton]

I think in YA there is always a tendency to break teenagers up into groups, in order to create a little 'them and us' friction.

Maze Runner does it to - with all inhabitants of The Glade having their defined roles, and Thomas' breaking out of this ideal causing tension which makes events move towards the finale. Hunger Games has the Districts - a way to segregate people by confining them to pre-set roles.

It is a tool which is massively commonly used, but I think you're right - the Houses embodying certain emotional / social traits is certainly reflected and amplified in the Factions.

In addition, the teen years are supposed to be the time when a person explores their identity. Who are they? How are they different from other members of their family? How are they similar? Do people really fit neatly into categories or not? It's no coincidence or accident that the protagonist typically accepts the categories at first. Later on, they usually develop a more nuanced perspective and understand the limitations of such categorization.

[mraphael1]

I can understand the similarities between the factions and the houses but I think each series took these ideas in different ideas and didn't make it seem like they were copying on and other

[gelli_baranda]

There's a similar vibe there. HP houses were chosen was decided by the Sorting Hat; the faction was decided by your blood.

[Rayah Raouf]

I wouldn't have seen it that way if you didn't mention that. I think it's a popular concept to group things. We group fruit, people, books, etc. I also think it's popular for groups to occur in books. So as you mentioned harry potter and Divergent. But there are other books, like the hunger games and LOTR which use this as well.

[Jackie Holycross]

With both books I found myself split between different classifications. I think most people would not fit into one category.
Also, Divergent explores the down side of each characteristic more than Harry Potter.

[Dzejn_Crvena]

I cannot fit one house into one faction respectively, so I choose at least the top 2 factions applicable for each house. These are just my observations in the book and movie versions.

Gryffindor - Dauntless and Amity
Hufflepuff - Amity and Abnegation
Ravenclaw - Erudite and Candor
Slytherin - Dauntless and Erudite

Gryffindor: The main characters in Harry Potter are brave and loyal to their loved ones.
Hufflepuff: Hufflepuff accepts anyone who does not fit into the other houses, thus, I see them as considerate people. (Very underrated house, actually.)
Ravenclaw: They value intelligence the most, and I think they won't leave you alone until they find truth in everything you say.
Slytherin: Most villains in HP are in this faction, and I daresay they are brave enough to reveal their evil and cunning side.

[Gabrielle Sigaki]

I think that the Harry Potter Houses and the Factions are pretty different, but I also think that they have in common the fact that both of them bring some kind of division according to different personalities and personal beliefs too.

[Mason Garrod]

There are definitely similarities but I think there's only a limited amount of core attributes you can give to someone in any story that uses this trope. Particularly with Harry Potter, each house has several characteristics assigned to it and many characters still have traits from other houses too. I think the common trope of being "sorted" by personality is an enduring one in young adult or dystopian fiction because a lot of us, especially as teenagers, can often feel like certain roles or expectations are being imposed on us which may or may not reflect how we really feel

[Reader Chavez]

I always thought that was a very clear similarity. Each of the factions, as well as the houses, are based on specific characteristics that define the people in them. I think the difference is that Hogwarts houses are chosen by the sorting hat, and the factions are chosen by each individual.

[Clare Jose]

I never saw a connection in the first place. Probably never would have seen it, If not for this topic.
I personally feel that you can't really connect factions and houses perfectly but there are several similarities.

[kirthana_shivakumar]

I think to a great extent Harry Potter houses just matter less. If one chooses a faction, it dictates their whole life after that, including profession and how they live etc. So while they may both be personality based divisions and have similar characteristics, a house in Harry Potter doesn't affect your life quite as much.

[Chinazo Anozie]

It came to my attention that Harry Potter houses may be less forceful, but the idea is still similar to Factions. If you think about it Hufflepuff is similar to Amity, Gryffindor to Dauntless and Abnegation, Slytherin to Erudite and the opposite of Candor, and Ravenclaw to Erudite and Abnegation.

Opinions?

I didn't actually think of this but now that you mention it, you're quite right. There is a similarity in that people are categorized according to their personalities. However, Harry Potter's milder because it only applies when they're at school, while the division into factions in Divergent stays with you for life.

[jimmy02]

In my opinion, both are similar. Afterall, both factions in Divergent as well as the houses in Harry Potter seem to be in place to group people into 'cohorts' of sorts based on their personality.

[Inks and Quills]

This is a great point, the idea is similar at a high level but houses aren’t as formational as factions I think.

[AlphariusRE]

There are definite parallels between the two. Both systems are a way to group people according to their personalities.