Divergent’s story structure falls into the classic pattern of the hero’s journey. First articulated by mythologist Joseph Campbell, the hero’s journey is a recurring pattern of stages found in many heroic epics throughout varied cultures and historical periods. As the hero in the Divergent series, Tris Prior lives out the 12 fundamental steps outlined in the chart below. To help students visualize this pattern, have them use a storyboard to break down Divergent’s structure and identify the twelve stages of Tris’s heroic journey.
| STAGE | SUMMARY |
|---|---|
| Ordinary World | Beatrice Prior lives with her parents and brother in the Abnegation faction. She and the rest of her faction spend their time trying to be selfless and help others. |
| Call to Adventure | In her aptitude test, Beatrice learns that she is divergent. This knowledge leads her to consider leaving the Abnegation faction. |
| Refusal | Beatrice struggles with the idea of switching factions. It breaks her heart to leave her family forever. |
| Mentor/Helper | Beatrice has several mentors. Her mother and Tori help her early on. After she crosses the threshold, Four becomes her main mentor. |
| Cross the Threshold | Beatrice decides to join the Dauntless faction at the Choosing Ceremony. In her new faction, she becomes Tris. |
| Tests / Allies / Enemies | The Dauntless initiation provides many tests for Tris. She makes friends who help protect her, including Four, Christina, Will, and Uriah. She also makes dangerous enemies, such as Peter, Edward, and Al, who try to kill her out of jealousy. Meanwhile, the ruthless Erudite leader, Jeanine Matthews, begins to suspect she is divergent. |
| Approach | With the help of Four, Tris works to improve her physical and mental preparedness, so she can successfully finish initiation without revealing her divergence. |
| Ordeal | Tris must complete the Dauntless initiation by successfully making it through her fear landscape. If her score is not high enough, she could fail initiation and become factionless. |
| Reward | Tris successfully completes initiation and is rewarded by a #1 ranking. |
| Road Back | Tris's time in Dauntless doesn't last long. When Jeanine, the Erudite leader uses a serum to force the Dauntless to attack Abnegation, Tris returns to Abnegation to defend her former faction. |
| Atonement | Tris loses her mother and father, and is almost killed by Jeanine. Finally, she faces Four in the Dauntless control room and helps him break free of the mind-control serum. Four stops the simulation, and the Erudite coup ends. |
| Return | Tris, Four, and the others leave the Dauntless compound and head to a new life. They cannot return to Abnegation, but will meet the surviving Dauntless and Abnegation in the Amity compound. |
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Student Instructions
Use the story of Divergent and map it to the narrative structure of the Hero's Journey.
Encourage students to analyze key decisions made by Tris throughout her journey. Invite students to support their opinions with evidence from the book, promoting deeper understanding and critical thinking.
Ask each student to identify a turning point in Tris’s journey and explain why it was crucial. This helps students practice citing textual evidence and strengthens argumentation skills.
Divide the class into groups and assign each group a character (e.g., Tris, Four, Jeanine). Have them discuss and present their character’s motivations at different stages. This fosters collaboration and deeper character analysis.
Invite students to reflect on how Tris’s experiences mirror challenges they might face in their own lives. Relating fiction to reality builds empathy and personal engagement.
The 12 stages of Tris Prior’s hero’s journey in Divergent are: Ordinary World, Call to Adventure, Refusal, Mentor/Helper, Crossing the Threshold, Tests/Allies/Enemies, Approach, Ordeal, Reward, Road Back, Atonement, and Return. Each stage marks a key turning point in Tris's growth and challenges within the story.
To teach the hero’s journey with Divergent, have students map Tris's story to each journey stage. Use a storyboard or graphic organizer, assign each stage to a scene or moment from the book, and ask students to describe or illustrate how Tris fits the classic pattern.
In Divergent, Tris's Call to Adventure occurs during her aptitude test, when she learns she is divergent. This discovery prompts her to consider leaving Abnegation for a different faction, setting her journey in motion.
The hero’s journey framework helps students see how Tris grows from an uncertain teenager into a courageous leader. By mapping her journey, readers can better understand her motivations, struggles, and transformations throughout the novel.
Engage students by having them create storyboards, write summaries for each stage, act out scenes, or collaborate in groups to match events from Divergent to the hero’s journey stages. Visual mapping and discussion reinforce comprehension.