There are a lot of post-apocalyptic films and stories out there nowadays, but some stand out more than others. Divergent and The Hunger Games are but two. However, Divergent is much better than The Hunger Games, in my opinion.
Divergent is about a post-nuclear world where the population of Chicago is split into 5 factions, Dauntless, Abnegation, Candor, Amity and Erudite. Each show different character traits and at a certain age each person undergoes a test which determines what faction they move into or whether they stay in the one they grew up in. On a rare occasion a person either doesn’t fit into any factions and becomes faction-less or they fit into more than more, and this is Divergent. That is was Tris is. The Hunger Games are about a similar world where there are games held every year in which people form 12 districts fight for survival and one victor comes out of it, and Katniss is the main character that goes through this and lives.
This list of 6 reasons will compare both films and show how Tris is better than Katniss and how Divergent is better than The Hunger Games.
6. Style
The whole style of Divergent just looks and feels a lot better than The Hunger Games. The five factions all have different styles which makes them stand out, black for Dauntless, grey for Abnegation, black and white for Candor, red or yellow for Amity, and blue for Erudite. This makes sure you know who is what and where they are supposed to be. You could say it is similar to The Hunger Games, because they have districts which are numbered, but the whole style and world of Divergent is more satisfying. The clothes they wear in Divergent are much more suited to the world that they live in, they’re not as extravagant as they wear in the Capital in The Hunger Games. I think that the clothes in Divergent are rugged and I really want one of those black Dauntless jackets they wear.
5. The Wider World
The world in Divergent is bigger than you think. In Divergent they live in a nuclear fallout city that is surrounded by walls keeping them all in. There are so many twists and turns. In the new episode in the saga: Allegiant, Tris and her Divergent group leave the confining walls of Chicago and discover a whole new more technological advanced world outside of their own, and it turns out that they were an experiment all along. Divergent’s can change the world. Whereas in, The Hunger Games, it is all just one world split up into districts, that world never gets beyond that, it is all self-contained where as the Divergent world is every growing and expanding. This makes the story have more depth and makes it more intriguing to watch and read.
4. Technology
The technology is so much better in Divergent. Being in a post nuclear fallout world you wouldn’t think the technology would be so advanced, but it is. In The Hunger Games there is technology, which is advanced but it is not as advanced as in Divergent. It fascinated me, the technology that was in Divergent, as when they take the aptitude test to determine what faction they go into, they have to swallow a certain liquid that sends them into a trance like state and they take a mental test in that hallucination that determines their fate. This to me is extremely futuristic and totally bonkers, but awesome at the same time. In The Hunger Games, they have television screens and weapons, but nothing as futuristic and as to be honest cool as the Divergent world. Both worlds have technology that shouldn’t fit with the style of the film but strangely enough it works, but it all works better in Divergent.
3. Being Different
DIVERGENT, the word means being different, and this is imperative to the story of Divergent, as being different, Tris helps guide her fellow people out of the dangerous situations that befall them after their tests. Katniss on the other hand is just a symbol and tries to overthrow a government, she suffers from post traumatic stress disorder and struggles with being the Mockingjay. This is understandable, because of what she went through, but she never gains the real leadership and overall importance that Tris does. As Tris is the leader of people just like her and is suppose becomes the high symbol of Divergents. But overall being different like in Divergent makes you more important and more powerful in the world. The people who are different are the ones that stands out and have the power.
2. Love Story
Every good teenage post apocalyptic nuclear fallout film (there’s a mouthful for you) has to have a key love story. Both Divergent and The Hunger Games do, yet, of course, Divergent’s is deeper and meaningful. Tris and four meet after Tris joining Dauntless and he trains her, they fall in love and end up wanting to do anything for each other. In The Hunger Games, Katniss and Peeta pretend to be in love for the benefit of their lives but it so all false and for the cameras during the games, so that they would live. There us another love story in The Hunger Games and that is Kantiss and Gale. This is the obvious love story of boy loves girl, girl thinks they’re best friends and then they eventually realise they both do love each other meanwhile, everyone is trying to kill them. So yeah standard love story. I think because Tris and Four actually love each other and Katniss and Peeta are just pretending, but you could argue that Peeta isn’t, then the Divergent love story is much better and more believable.
1. Badass Females
The ultimate showdown of badass female characters: Tris v Katniss, Divergent v The Hunger Games. Now, I know what you’re thinking, how can you compare them? Oh but I can. Katniss, well Katniss, what can I say, I mean she is pretty cool in her own way, she can handle a bow and arrow which is awesome ! She just wants to protect her mother and sister which is understandable. She saves her sister from being in the Hunger Games and fights her way to her life with the help of faking the love between her and Peeta. She fights the Capital by becoming the symbol of the rebellion, The Mockingjay, reluctantly I might add, but she still does it. So she is badass. But she is also damaged and that holds her back.
So onto, Tris. Tris is just cool, I do like her a lot. The character is just so complex. She grows up in a selfless, minimal community, but does not fit in until she finds out that she is divergent, and decides to join Dauntless, where her life changes dramatically as she is more active and lives life on the edge. Tris, she isn’t as outspoken as Katniss but she still leads people out of the city and away from the government that is trying to kill her and her kind. Because of how much Tris changes in the film and the books and I think she is more badass than Katniss as she adapts into her new way of life and thrives.
The fact that there are films these days about strong female leading characters is important, and the fact that they are badass and can pin you down if need be, is even better.
Divergent is ultimately better than The Hunger Games because no-one is killing for sport and it ultimately stands for being different is good. Being Divergent is good.
Everyone is and needs to be Divergent, but what do you think? Are you a Kat or Triss lover? Let us know in the comments section below or send us a Tweet!