Never Let Me Go vs Divergent
While the two dystopian novels, Never Let Me Go and Divergent, differ almost completely from each other in plot, but the societies that they are based in do share some similarities. In Never Let Me Go, the students in Hailsham and other schools for clones are only taught in a way that will benefit their society instead of educating them about the world around them. This is similar to the factions in Divergent, who are limited to learning about how to do their jobs rather than how their system of government works. When Hailsham students are about 16, they are broken up and sent to places like the Cottages, so that they will eventually start to rain as carers. In Divergent, when children turn 16 they are sent off to whatever faction they choose to start training in their own jobs.
In Divergent, information about how a person's aptitude for the different factions is withheld from them, especially anything about being "divergent" which is not fitting into one particular faction. At Hailsham, any information about how the students are created and why they should be creating art is also hidden. For students at Hailsham, submitting art to the gallery is similar to taking the aptitude test, because like Tommy's conspiracy, it not only shows that they have a soul but it is a look inside it; just the same as the aptitude test looks inside the core values of a person.
People who are divergent are also treated unequally to others, much like how the students aren't equal to normal people. Students in Never Let Me Go are feared by normal people, and are seen as not fitting in with them or not being entirely human. In the real world, they aren't supposed to show that they are somehow different from the rest because people think they are dangerous and untrustworthy. In Divergent, people who test divergent are also seen as dangerous since they break the rules of the society that has been created for them. They are seen as different and don't fit in, so they are taught to hide their differences from the rest of the world.
In Never Let Me Go, the objective of sending them to places such as the Cottages is to make sure that they keep their learned helplessness all the way up until they are trained to become carers and ultimately donors. They are only taught what is necessary to keep them from asking more questions. Similar to this, in Divergent, they aren't told how their society really came to be and are discouraged from trying to go against the system that has been laid out for them. They are only taught how they will take their place in the world and what their job will be, and then are shipped off to where that job will be done. Then they stay there and blindly work until they eventually die.
In Divergent, information about how a person's aptitude for the different factions is withheld from them, especially anything about being "divergent" which is not fitting into one particular faction. At Hailsham, any information about how the students are created and why they should be creating art is also hidden. For students at Hailsham, submitting art to the gallery is similar to taking the aptitude test, because like Tommy's conspiracy, it not only shows that they have a soul but it is a look inside it; just the same as the aptitude test looks inside the core values of a person.
People who are divergent are also treated unequally to others, much like how the students aren't equal to normal people. Students in Never Let Me Go are feared by normal people, and are seen as not fitting in with them or not being entirely human. In the real world, they aren't supposed to show that they are somehow different from the rest because people think they are dangerous and untrustworthy. In Divergent, people who test divergent are also seen as dangerous since they break the rules of the society that has been created for them. They are seen as different and don't fit in, so they are taught to hide their differences from the rest of the world.
In Never Let Me Go, the objective of sending them to places such as the Cottages is to make sure that they keep their learned helplessness all the way up until they are trained to become carers and ultimately donors. They are only taught what is necessary to keep them from asking more questions. Similar to this, in Divergent, they aren't told how their society really came to be and are discouraged from trying to go against the system that has been laid out for them. They are only taught how they will take their place in the world and what their job will be, and then are shipped off to where that job will be done. Then they stay there and blindly work until they eventually die.
Comments
Post a Comment