What's Your Point of View?

 Author's Note- In this essay, I will prove that a point of view in a story is a very important concept to have. There are many things that I describe in this essay on a point of view, especially in this story that I talk about. NOTE: I do give away two very important scenes from the book.

 In the novel Divergent by Veronica Roth, a young girl named Beatrice faces the toughest day of any person’s life. The day where she decides if she will live in a faction, or be factionless. In the decision that she makes, families will be tested, friendships will break and love will strengthen and heal. From the point of view of Beatrice, she sacrifices her life to protect her love, save her family and everyone else who’s lives are at stake from the greatest war ever in history. The war between Beatrice’s two factions: Dauntless and Abnegation. Will Beatrice be able to save everyone or will life end as she knows it? In the novel Divergent, it interprets how the story could be told differently, if told by the person she loves.

One way that would affect the point of view of Beatrice is when Beatrice was in the Erudite headquarters. When she was there, she found the person that she loves in a “trance” from an injection that makes him sound and act like the Terminator or Arnold Schwarzenegger. If the point of view was told from Beatrice’s love Tobias, then he would have felt nothing while being controlled by all the factions president, Jeanine. When Beatrice was describing what the expression in Tobias’s face was and what he looks like made me feel cold, heartbroken and it gave me the chills. There was one quote in the book that Beatrice always thought about. It said, “Faction before blood.” What this quote means is family and friends come before the blood of loved ones spill. Beatrice keeps this quote in her head to tell herself to protect the factions before the blood of the people pours out. It connects to the point of view because Beatrice witnesses the blood of many innocent people being spilled out in a brutal battle, including her parents. She watched them get shot and fall to the ground, and suddenly, not moving. Even though her parents died, if Beatrice didn’t save the life of Tobias, everyone would have been gone, wiped clean out of the world.

Not only is the point of view told by the main character Beatrice, but the author gives you an interpretation on the point of view of Tobias, Beatrice’s love. If the story was told by the point of view of Tobias, things would be totally different. It would be different because the book starts out with Beatrice in her original faction and then going through the initiation. Without that, then when Tobias and Beatrice meet, the reader would have no idea who this girl would be and all the extraordinary things that she does towards the end of the book. It would be very confusing to the reader and would lose interest in the book. Aside from that, Beatrice describes Tobias as this tall, handsome and brave young man. So, I would look at Tobias as a Lou Ferrigno, just without the issue of his speech. Tobias can be described as having a dark and mysterious side and then a soft side to him. On the contrary, the point of view from Beatrice is crucial because she explains everything in the beginning of her life to when she went to war. So, her part in the book is very important if the reader wants to understand everything about Beatrice, her family and her long  journey into the life of being in a faction.

As you know, Beatrice’s role in the book is very important because when Dauntless, Eurdite and Abnegation went to war, she explains what the battle looks like and how she feels when it happens. Now, without the point of view or interpretation of Beatrice in this event, the reader would not know what was happening and be confused. Her role in this scene is crucial because she describes in detail on the gunshot that killed both of her parents and how they looked at her with sorrow and despair before they stopped breathing. Since the description is so thorough, the reader would get the chills when they read both scenes from her mom and dad. I know that when I read it, it gave me the chills.

Continuing on, the two scenes that Beatrice described in detail that captured my attention and that can truly tell you her point of view in this event was when her mom and dad died. In the first scene when her mom died, Beatrice described the scene as her mom telling her to run away while she creates a distraction. The part that made my jaw drop was when Beatrice described her mother’s death. She says, “I whip my head over my shoulder when I hear them fire back. My feet falter and stop. My mother stiffens, her back arching. Blood surges from a wound in her abdomen, dyeing her shirt crimson. A patch of blood spreads over her shoulder. I blink, and the violent red stains the inside of my eyelids. I blink again, and I see her smile as she sweeps my hair trimmings into a pile. She falls, first to her knees, her hands limp at her sides, and then to the pavement, slumped to the side like a rag doll. She is motionless and without breath.”- Veronica Roth, Beatrice Prior. The point of view from Beatrice is this scene and how she describes it makes my heart drop. That’s how you can tell the point of view from a character is from the description of the scene or event.

Adding on to the death of Beatrice’s mother, there was another scene that Beatrice described, but with the death of her father. She describes this scene as if she had taken her father's bullet in her chest herself. She says in this scene, “My father fires over his shoulder at the guards pursuing him, but he is not fast enough. One of them fires at his stomach, and he groans so loud I can almost feel it in my chest. He clutches his gut, his shoulders hitting the wall, and fires again. And again. Blood spills over his hand and the color drains from his face. His mouth opens like he’s about to say something, but then his chin drops to his chest and his body relaxes.”- Veronica Roth, Beatrice Prior. The more description in a point of view of a character, the more the reader will understand the scene or event that is occurring. That’s how important a point or points of views are in a story.

Interpretation is the key thing in this novel, especially from Beatrice because she explains the entire book. If the interpretation changed, then the point of view would also change. If the point of view would change, than the scenes, which would have been the whole book, would change dramatically because Beatrice describes every event that happens. The point of view of Beatrice cannot be changed or everyone that she meets and falls in love with will be gone. Remember, when you read a story, pretend or imagine that the person who is telling it to you is sitting right in front of you explaining the events he or she were in. Point of view is very important in a book such as Divergent. A book would not be a book without a perspective or point of view from a character or an author.


Bibliography-
Roth, Veronica. Divergent. New York: Katherine Tegen Books, 2011. Print.