Is it selfish of Tris to crave victory or is it brave?

Discuss the June 2014 book of the month Divergent by Veronica Roth. While only Divergent--the first book of the series--is the book of the month, feel free to use this subforum to discuss the rest of the series or to talk about the movies, but make sure not to post spoilers unless noted in the topic title.
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Re: Is it selfish of Tris to crave victory or is it brave?

Post by Janet Kimetto »

It is not selfish for Tris to crave victory because failing rendered you factionless. Everyone craves victory in the face of an uncertain future . As for her friends, I understand why they'd be jealous. I'd forgive then if I were Tris.
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Post by Clare Jose »

I don't think it has anything to do with either selfishness or bravery. Tris just wanted to make it and not become factionless. While we can consider her wanting to win as an act of bravery, what with her being from abnegation, I feel she probably wasn't thinking about all of that. She just worked hard and did her best.

I can't really blame her friends for being jealous. It's a part of human nature and moreover, they expected her to do terribly (considering her size, fighting skills or former faction). She was right in forgiving them.
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Post by kirthana_shivakumar »

I think bravery and selfishness can coexist, and that selfishness is not always bad. Her wanting to win was her wanting to survive and this amount of selfishness should be allowed to anyone. So I think she was being selfish, in a good way and brave.
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Post by jimmy02 »

Not everyone is brave. Brave are the unique few like Tris who rise up to the occasion. So yeah, even if her friends are jealous of her, I think that jealousy even is well justified. Because jealousy is something very much inherent to human character. If I was Tris, I would excuse them eventually.
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Post by Inks and Quills »

I think all the reactions were valid. If I were Tris I would probably forgive them, because I’d been brought up as Abnegation.
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Post by AlphariusRE »

Jealousy, it's something that is inherent to human beings (of course there are exceptions). Hence, her friends being jealous was all too natural. Yet, Tris, from staring at the prospect of being declared Factionless and then going on to excel amongst Dauntless was certainly praiseworthy.
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Post by Simmons32 »

I think craving victory in life is a normal thing, it just depends on what you are victorious in. I don't think it's selfish because she wants to stay in the program. They are all hoping for victory. Unfortunately, jealousy can be a normal feeling too if someone else accomplishes something you want. I think it's just a matter of how you overcome that jealousy. Yes, I think Tris should show forgiveness because she would want that same forgiveness in return.
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Post by fire_spice »

Scott wrote: 03 Jun 2014, 19:03 The following discussion question was included in some copies of the June book of the month, Divergent by Veronica Roth.

During initiation, is it selfish of Tris to crave victory, or is it brave? Do Tris’s friends have a right to be jealous when she’s ranked above them? If you were Tris, would you forgive them for their reactions?
I don't think it's selfish to aspire to be the best you can be. Your friends ought to understand that and support you in fact.
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Post by Krishi Shah »

I don't think it was selfish of her to want to rank higher during initiation as it was essential to her survival.
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Post by Krishi Shah »

Also I think it's understandable on a rational level why her friends were jealous of her, she rose through the ranks extremely quickly. While they might be supportive of her, they were in a very competitive environment and their lives depended on it. Some level of jealousy was to be expected.
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Post by Ashna_Tibrewal_7 »

Tris tried her best to get where she was, she trained harder than all other newbie in dauntless to survive. Outside wall, she worked hard to get the victory and free people. She never was selfish with this but brave enough to go on journey to wreak the society.
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Post by Princewill Uchenna »

It was brave to crave victory because it meant survival. Tris was going to survive no matter what she had to do even though the odds were stacked against her, in the eyes of her peers.
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Post by Sunday Onuorah »

They are both selfish for being craving the victory, but not in a bad way. She wants and feels the need for success. I think due to the society she was born in, she takes all the emotions to the max, due to a crave to feel like one of them.
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