In the book Divergent, written by Veronica Roth, the protagonist Tris Prior goes through a lot of change from the beginning to the end of the book, to the middle of the second book, Insurgent, which is where I am at currently. Insurgent is my coming of age novel, the one that I am reading and studying in school, though Divergent does express great points to relate to coming of age, as Tris grows as a character and a human being.
Throughout the books Tris has had plenty of struggles, in Divergent, her main struggle in the beginning was hiding her Divergence. The whole plot of Divergent is that there are five factions, and Tris was a born-in Abnegation, but when she was 16, she took an aptitude test that told her what faction she fits best in, so when she choses whether to switch factions or not the next day, she will have a better vision on her decision. But, during Tris' aptitude test, her results come out inconclusive, which means that she isn't only best fitted for on faction, but three, which is a special case, considering most Divergent people only get two factions. Tris was matched with Abnegation, Erudite and Dauntless. Tris is warned to keep her divergence a secret, even after the Choosing Ceremony, for reasons she doesn't know why at first. Keeping her divergence from her family and friends is a struggle because Tris, being a very curious person, only wants to know why it would be so bad to tell, and she can't figure that out without telling anybody.
Another struggle that Tris faced in the beginning of the book Divergent was choosing whether or not to leave her family in Abnegation. Growing up a born-in Abnegation, being taught to be selfless all her life, is now faced with a very important decision. Tris never considered Erudite, the knowledgable faction, so it's down to Dauntless and Abnegation. Two factions, one that teaches selflessness, and another that teaches fearlessness. In the book, Tris notes how choosing Dauntless would be selfish, while choosing Abnegation would be cowardice. Choosing Abnegation would be selfless, yet choosing Dauntless would be brave. I also noticed how selflessness and bravery aren't that different, how they both include self sacrifice and require you to be willing to give up another thing for the other. You need to be brave to be selfless, yet you need to be selfless to be brave. It was clear to me that Tris realized this point to, right before she made her final decision, Dauntless. She cut the skin of her palm open, and dripped her blood on the Dauntless stones, symbolizing her new dedication to her new faction.
As Tris was walking out, she looked back to take the last look at her parents that she would get in a long time, and saw they hurt look on her father's face, and proud look on her mothers. She blames herself for leaving them. She blames herself for her father being so hurt. She blames herself for being so selfish and not caring about how her father would feel, and she blames herself for taking advantage of her mothers purely selfless heart.
As Tris leaves with her new faction, she walks outside and takes a deep breath of not only the cold air, but freedom. She is expecting a new life of impulsive decisions and being answered whenever she takes her curiosity into her own hands. Yet, in Dauntless she still thinks about her parents. Still wonders if her father hates her. Wonders why her mother didn't side with her father, and expressed the same painful expression on her face as was on her fathers. She wonders how lonely they feel that she betrayed them and left them for another family, a new group of people that would provide for her for the rest of her life. She thinks about them, about her father. And then she takes a deep breath and realizes that it's just something she will have to face and then get over, because her faction choice is permanent, and even though she will be away from her parents for long, it will never be the same again. But, I guess that's what coming of age is all about, adjusting to change and living with the past still in your heart while you're still open for new experiences.
And Tris has a lot of adjusting to do in her new faction...
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