Fear Quotes in Divergent
How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
I am selfish. I am brave. (5.61)
This is yet another time when Tris is making "I am" statements. But here she helps us to see how bravery (and fear) isn't disconnected from other feelings qualities: Tris feels selfish because she's skipping out on her parents to join the brave Dauntless. (Of course, we'll see whether or not selfishness and bravery are always associated.)
Quote #2
"The chasm reminds us that there is a fine line between bravery and idiocy!" Four shouts. "A daredevil jump off this ledge will end your life. It has happened before and it will happen again. You've been warned." (7.30)
You might think that the Dauntless are totally fearless, but that's not necessarily a good thing. Fear can be useful. If you think it's a good idea to walk into a lion's cage, your fear might tell you to get a sandwich instead. As Four notes, the Dauntless jump on trains, but it's not brave to jump to your death. Which becomes an issue when Al commits suicide.
Quote #3
"You're not a coward just because you don't want to hurt people," I say, because I know it's the right thing to say, even if I'm not sure I mean it.
For a moment we are both still, looking at each other. Maybe I do mean it. If he is a coward, it isn't because he doesn't enjoy pain. It is because he refuses to act. (10.77-8)
Although the Dauntless are all about "being brave," there's some uncertainty about what it actually means to be brave. All their training is about hurting people and Al wants to protect people, so … is he a coward? Notice that Tris is super uncertain about this issue, except for one part: brave people do stuff. Which is why she's pretty active.
Quote #4
"You're afraid of heights," I say. "How do you survive in the Dauntless compound?" "I ignore my fear," he says. "When I make decisions, I pretend it doesn't exist." I stare at him for a second. I can't help it. To me there's a difference between not being afraid and acting in spite of fear, as he does. (12.122-4)
We've already seen one way to deal with fear, with Tori's explanation of her tattoo (spoiler alert: it's a symbol); and here's Four offering us another way to deal with a fear, which is to act like it doesn't bother you (and bring a change of pants). It's an important aspect of Four's character: he's not fearless, he's just fear-resistant.
Quote #5
I try to run, but my feet are firmly planted and refuse to move, like the crow on my shoulder. I scream as they surround me, feathers flapping in my ears, beaks pecking at my shoulders, talons clinging to my clothes. I scream until tears come from my eyes, my arms flailing. My hands hit solid bodies but do nothing; there are too many. I am alone. They nip at my fingertips and press against my body, wings sliding across the back of my neck, feet tearing at my hair. (18.49)
This is the first time we see Tris's fear landscape, with the bird attack, which is very nightmarish—it's got that typical "I can't run" nightmare feeling. Of course, this isn't an actual nightmare, it's something that the Dauntless training is doing to Tris. (Nice friends, eh?) But what is it that she's actually afraid of? It's not birds, is it? Is it being alone (which she mentions)? Or… what?
Quote #6
"Sometimes they do. And sometimes new fears replace them." His thumbs hook around his belt loops. "But becoming fearless isn't the point. That's impossible. It's learning how to control your fear, and how to be free from it, that's the point."
I nod. I used to think the Dauntless were fearless. That is how they seemed, anyway. But maybe what I saw as fearless was actually fear under control. (18.94-5)
Here's Dr. Four (not really a doctor), laying out his theory about fear and acting brave, which is very much like what he said about his fear of heights: you act in spite of the fear. Tris notes that this "maybe" is what's going on with the Dauntless. Is it strange that Tris keeps thinking about fear as "maybe" this and "maybe" that? (Or is it weird that, in the middle of his speech about fear, Four puts his thumbs through his belt loops, like he's just hanging out? Apparently, he's not afraid of Tris.)
Quote #7
In the past four days, I faced four fears. In one I was tied to a stake and Peter set a fire beneath my feet. In another I was drowning again, this time in the middle of an ocean as the water raged around me. In the third, I watched as my family slowly bled to death. And in the fourth, I was held at gunpoint and forced to shoot them. I know what fear is now. (21.9)
The Dauntless initiation is about 1/3 fighting and 2/3 psychological torture. But note how symbolic all these fears are for Tris: she's not really afraid of fire or drowning. (There's not even a lake anymore in this "setting.") Why does she get these symbolic fears? Why isn't she just afraid of spiders like the rest of us?
Quote #8
"My first instinct is to push you until you break, just to see how hard I have to press," he says, his fingers squeezing at the word "break." My body tenses at the edge in his voice, so I am coiled as tight as a spring, and I forget to breathe.
His dark eyes lifting to mine, he adds, "But I resist it."
"Why..." I swallow hard. "Why is that your first instinct?"
"Fear doesn't shut you down; it wakes you up. I've seen it. It's fascinating." He releases me but doesn't pull away, his hand grazing my jaw, my neck. "Sometimes I just...want to see it again. Want to see you awake." (24.92-5)
Okay, you may beg to differ here, but this makes us look at Four a little nervously. On the plus side, he does resist his urge to push Tris until she breaks, so, yay. What a gentleman. But his first comment is more than a little creepy. Still, aside from the fact that he himself is a bit scary here, what he teaches Tris about fear is just as important. He's showing her that fear can make her better, more alive in some ways.
Quote #9
My fear is being with him. I have been wary of affection all my life, but I didn't know how deep that wariness went.
But this obstacle doesn't feel the same as the others. It is a different kind of fear—nervous panic rather than blind terror. (30.58-9)
We talk about fear as if it's always the same, but Divergent makes a good case that there are different types of fear: there's dread, panic, terror. (Yay for thesauruses.) In this, part of Tris's fear is wrapped up with something that she wants but doesn't quite trust. Tris doesn't have the same fear when it comes to jumping off buildings, for instance.
Quote #10
Eric called Al's suicide brave, and he was wrong. My mother's death was brave. I remember how calm she was, how determined. It isn't just brave that she died for me; it is brave that she did it without announcing it, without hesitation, and without appearing to consider another option. (36.53)
Here Tris is discussing her mom's sacrifice, which was truly brave (Tris thinks) because it was totally selfless. So, this seems to show an evolution in Tris's thinking about bravery. She used to equate it with selfishness, and now she equates it with quite the opposite?