A Divergents Guide To The Film DivergentJefferey Jaxen When asked where the idea for Divergent came from, the author speaks specifically on the clear trauma-based mind control found in the story by confessing: Stanley Milgrams book Obedience to Authority states that his basis for his experiment (The Milgram Experiment) was to find the answer to the question of Could it be that Eichmann (WWII Nazi War Criminal) and his million accomplices in the Holocaust were just following orders? Veronica Roth does nail Milgrams theories home during scenes depicting the staged,military/trauma based mind control themed initiation process of the Dauntless (brave) faction whose motto is faction before blood. Potential recruits, over the ever-present, watchful eye of ultra-psychopathic drill sergeant-like characters Eric and Four, are made to brutally fight one another, show no emotion/humanity while being forced past their limits in the name of the collective, and violently haze one another. This complete with being injected with a transmitter that sends information to a central computer for the purpose of controlling the brains fear response. Perhaps Roth had this quote from Milgrams Obedience to Authority in mind during her creation process: There are many glimpses in the story of Divergent that run chillingly parallel to an already announced planned society being resisted currently. In the story, society has undergone what appears to be a more strategic form of divide and conquer in which the population must choose between one of five factions to spend the rest of their life in (Hunger Games had 12 regions). This includes leaving their family except for a brief, emotionless exchange on Visiting Day (think prison). In a similar plot from the movie Hunger Games, those that dont fit into a faction are deemed Divergent and cast outside the fence of the technologically advanced comfort of the city. The corporate farming we currently see devouring family and individual growers has run its destructive course in the story. Farms are spoke of as being few and far between. Most children have never seen one, and have to rely on stories from their parents of how things used to be. The common historical theme of collectivism/socialism clearly presents itself many times during the course of the story. It is representing in the form of the Abnegation faction. This faction reflects historical ideologies of Mao, Stalin, and Hitler in which the state is God and humanity exists to serve, if they are lucky. Telling lines from the book reveal this backdrop: The idea of an abundant society that values and promotes the individual and free ideas is not a tone the author coveys in this futuristic novel. By extrapolating out the current path humanity is on, it is not a stretch to see this type of scenario playing out if our course is not diverted. Here are a few quotes from the book: Another typical theme of the modern dystopic stories is a closed society under hyper control of a watchful, militarized security force. Again, another scenario in which art is imitating life. The real message is that we are all divergent. Humanitys DNA holds the collective genetic information of our ancestors, and is waiting there to be activated by those with the courage to do so by their actions (Dauntless). In fact, we all have the capability to excel in honesty, intelligence, selflessness, bravery, and peace if we simply take the field. No special traits are needed. No rigorous written tests, physical initiations, or divided factions to please. Know that every day is initiation, and the testing never stops. For each of us will be defined by our thoughts (intelligence/Erudite), beliefs (selfless/Abnegation), words (honesty//Candor), and actions (bravery/Dauntless). The real truth is that there are only two camps, those with empathy and those without. It is the rest of the world around you that will reflect those qualities and reveal the final camp in which there is an absence of aggression, as humanity attempts to find harmony and peacefulness (Amity). *Director Neil Burger is a Yale graduate whose father-in-law was senior vice president in the corporate finance department of J. P. Morgan. In addition, Burger spent time working at Ridley Scott and Associatess (Blade Runner, Prometheus 1 and Prometheus 2) 