A Young Heroine’s Journey: An Archetypal Analysis of Tris in Veronica Roth’s Divergent Trilogy Ratih Kuswidyasari Lembaga Bahasa LIA Surabaya E-mail: [email protected] ABSTRAK Karya sastra berbasis distopia bagi para remaja sedang mencapai ketenaran saat ini, terbukti dengan besarnya jumlah buku yang terjual di seluruh dunia diikuti oleh pembuatan film berdasarkan buku-buku tersebut. Penelitian ini menganalisa salah satu karya dengan angka penjualan terbesar, trilogi Divergent, dan terfokus pada perkembangan karakter dengan mengaplikasikan teori archetype. Penelitian ini dilakukan dengan menggunakan metode deskritif kualitatif karena metode itu digunakan untuk menganalisa Tris, tokoh utama dalam trilogi Divergent dan perjalanan fisik dan mentalnya. Data utama berbentuk narasi dan percakapan antar tokoh-tokoh dalam yang mengandung penggambaran perkembangan karakter Tris sebagai tokoh utama. Pengumpulan data sastra digunakan untuk mengumpulkan data yang relevan dari trilogi tersebut. Analisa data menggunakan analisa isi dan naratif yang terdiri data pemampatan dan interpretasi data. Dari analisa data ditemukan bahwa Tris mengalami perkembangan karakter yang merubahnya dari Orphan yang kehilangan kepercayaan pada dunia menjadi Wanderer yang meninggalkan kenyamanan dunia asalnya untuk menemukan dirinya. Tris kemudian sampai pada titik di mana terdapat dua karakteristik, Warrior dan Martyr. Titik utama dari perkembangan karater Tris adalah Magician, tahapan di mana orang yang menerima diri mereka seutuhnya dan peranan mereka di dunia ini, dan yang menyatu dengan semesta. Kata Kunci: young heroine, journey, archetypal analysis, trilogy. 113 114 Volume X, Nomor 2, Juli 2016 INTRODUCTION Heroism and heroes‟ journey have been inseparable parts in the history of mankind. In times of danger and desperation, people seek aid from those who possess greater power and stand above others so that they can guide us to a better life. They are called heroes; the ones who slay dragons, defeat monsters, kill the witches, and destroy enemy‟s army to save the lives of common people and keep them save from the darkness that threatens to devour our light. As the need to provide comfort and instruction made early humans from every culture created stories to explain natural phenomena and invented good and supernatural beings (Daly, 2009: p. vii), the need to praise the heroes made people write poetries, plays, stories, and ballads to illustrate acts of heroism. Homer—a Hellenic writer—honors Achilles in The Illiad while Virgil—a Roman writer—pays tribute to Aeneas in Aenied to “offer instructive stories for those seeking to survive and gain wisdom” (Bloom, 2009: p. 1). In more contemporary stories, Christopher Paolini portrays Eragon‟s magical power and battle prowess in the four books in Inheritance cycle whereas Bill Kane and Bob Finger captivate us by altering a daylight billionaire Bruce Wayne into Gotham City‟s dark and mysterious savior, Batman, during the night. Those aforementioned heroes in the literary world are exactly what we expect of them—strong, brave and selfless individuals who go on a quest full of danger to save the day. Carol S. Pearson (1944: p. 1) states that what people have in their mind as the archetypal kind of hero is the Warrior. Carl Jung (1969: p. 4) explains that archetypes are the contents of the collective unconscious. The collective unconscious, according to Jung, lays deeper than personal unconscious (p. 3-4). Its nature is universal, which means that each individual around the world is born with the same unconscious pattern with its own “contents and modes of behaviors” inherited from generation to generation (p. 4). Hence, from the very nature of archetypes, it is A Young Heroine’s Journey…Ratih Kuswidyasari 115 understandable if people unconsciously interpret the Warrior as a hero. They inherit their belief from their forefathers without realizing it. Jung‟s theory of archetype is commonly used in literature to analyze heroes and their journey or quest. Pearson applies Jung‟s theory to identify six archetypes which influence human psychological development based on western culture. According to Pearson, those archetypes—the Innocent, the Orphan, the Martyr, the Wanderer, the Warrior, and the Magician—are essential in explaining a person‟s character development, or what she terms as “a journey of individuation” (p. xxvi). By studying those archetypes, Pearson believes that we will be able to understand our psyche which eventually will help us grow (p. xxviii). That makes this theory most suitable to analyze not only ourselves as real persons but also heroes in stories who definitely experience character development along their journey. The journey to develop the potential “self”, according to Pearson, is circular or spiral, instead of linear, and it starts from the Innocent stage where everything is safe and perfect up to the Magician when a person feels whole (p. xxvi). She recognizes that both men and women undergo the same basic phases of development to reach their nature of heroism although each phase may have different form and the order of the phases may be different. On the whole, eventually for both parties heroism lays in the matter of integrity in turning out to be themselves at each phase of their growth (p. 4). In addition to supporting both genders in embracing heroism, Pearson recognizes that each archetype sees heroism in a different perspective. For example, the Wanderer does not categorize fighting as an act of heroism. However, men and women of the Wanderer consider that it is a heroic act in leaving tyrannical circumstances and setting out by themselves to face the unfamiliar (p. 3). 116 Volume X, Nomor 2, Juli 2016 Summary of Approaches of Each Archetype (Pearson: p. 21) Orphan Martyr Wanderer Warrior Magician Goodness, Independence, Strength, Authenticity, Goal Safety care, autonomy effectiveness wholeness, balance responsibility Uncentered Abandonment, Selfishness, Weakness, superficiality, Worst Fear Conformity exploitation callousness ineffectuality alienation from self, others Denies it exists Appeases or Response to Incorporates and or waits for sacrifices self Flees Slays Dragon affirms rescue to save others Celebrates Wants deity that Evangelizes, Pleases God experience of God in will rescue and converts others, by suffering, Search for God everyone, respects Spirituality religious spiritual suffers to help alone different ways of counselor for regimes, others experiencing the permission disciplines sacred Learns or Learns through Allows curiosity, Explores new Wants authority forgoes competition, learns in group or Intellect/Education ideas in own to give answers learning to achievement, alone because it is way help others motivation fun Changes or molds others to Takes care of Goes alone, Appreciates Wants please self, Relationships others, becomes own difference, wants caretaker(s) takes on sacrifices person peer relationships pygmalion projects Negative ones Controlled, Allowed and learned Out of control or repressed so as Dealt with repressed to Emotions from in self and numbed not to hurt alone, stoic achieve or others others prevail Distrust experts, Adopts does it alone, Wants quick fix, Deprives self, regimes, Allows health, treats alternative Physical Health immediate diets, suffers discipline, body to exercise, healthcare, gratification to be beautiful enjoys team good food enjoys isolated sports sports Sees as hard “I‟ll do it Wants an easy and unpleasant Works hard for Works at true myself,” Work life, would but necessary, goal, expects vocations, sees work searches for rather not work works for reward as its own reward vocation others‟ sake Believes it is Becomes self- Feels prosperous Works hard to Feels poor, more blessed made man or with a little or a lot, succeed, makes wants to win to give than to woman, may has faith, will Material World system work lottery, inherit receive, more sacrifice money always have for self, prefers money virtuous to be for necessities, does not to be rich poor than rich independence hoard Assertiveness, Overcoming Ability to care, Autonomy, confidence, Joy, abundance, Task/Achievement denial, hope, to give up and identity, courage, acceptance, faith innocence give away vocation respect A Young Heroine’s Journey…Ratih Kuswidyasari 117 Out of the six aforementioned archetypes, Pearson states that the Innocent is not a heroic archetype since their living in paradise requires them nothing. While other archetypes possess goals, tasks, fears and other attributes that classify them as a heroic, the Innocent simply does not need them. She concludes that the Innocent is considered as pre- as well as post- heroic (p. 22). Thus, Pearson does not include the Innocent into the „Summary of Approaches of Each Archetype‟ chart. This study focuses on a successful dystopian story with a strong young female protagonist—Veronica Roth‟s Divergent trilogy consisting of Divergent (2011), Insurgent (2012), and Allegiant (2013). Ferris (p. 2) concludes that: A dystopian society is ruled by group with a private agenda shrouded in euphemisms or outright lies. This group will use conditioning or coercion to maintain their rule, which often mirrors such real-world systems as communism, Apartheid, and the Roman Catholic Church. The controlling group regulates most aspects of the individual‟s existence, everything from one‟s daily routine to their family unit and career. The individual is not important as anything more than a part of the whole. As long as the status quo is maintained, the individual is typically safe, anonymous in the crowd. The dystopian society is represented well in the Divergent trilogy, whose story takes place in Chicago where society is divided into five factions— Abnegation, Candor, Erudite, Amity, and Dauntless—according to the people‟s personality traits. People live in sectors specifically for their respective factions in different parts of the city, and they dress and behave just like their factions dictate them as well. Moreover, they are given social and political functions based on their factions. For instance, people from Dauntless are in charge in security because they come from a faction where people are brave and rely on physical strength, which make them look like either a bunch of daredevils or warriors. The trilogy‟s main character, a sixteen-year-old girl named Beatrice Prior, is from Abnegation─a faction where the people are selfless, humble and helpful. Beatrice lives in relatively comfortable environment in a faction 118 Volume X, Nomor 2, Juli 2016 whose people are chosen to become leaders because they are not hungry for power, which negates any possibility for power to corrupt them. Beatrice‟s transformation and journey to become a heroine starts when all the sixteen-year-olds, including her and her brother Caleb, must participate in Choosing Ceremony where they are tested in an aptitude test and get to choose whether they want to stay in their old faction or move to a new faction. While changing factions is not uncommon, Beatrice is exceptional because her aptitude test shows that she belongs to not just one faction but three —Abnegation, Dauntless and Erudite. She, as other people with the same test results, is called a Divergent, an abomination in the world where people are classified strictly in certain types. Choosing to become a Dauntless not only makes Beatrice leave her old life and join the faction that is polar opposite to her previous faction, but she is also faced with a lot of challenges and obstacles which lead to her to develop into a mentally and physically strong individual despite her gentle upbringing. This study reveals Tris‟ character development as the heroine of the story in Veronica Roth‟s Divergent trilogy using Carol S. Pearson‟s archetype character development theory in her book The Hero Within. Tris goes through stages of development along her journey which we can define as the “journey of individuation” as in the end she realizes who she is and what her role is in her life. One will simply be fascinated in witnessing how Beatrice develops from a reserved and peaceful girl, into Tris, a heroine who are willing to fight till the last of her breath for the good of others in a journey which changes not only herself but others as well. DISCUSSION Pearson explores Jung‟s archetype theory based on Western culture and discovers six archetypes that she considers important to develop ourselves: the Innocent, the Orphan, the Martyr, the Wanderer, the Warrior, and the Magician. Those archetypes are parts of our daily life which assist us in defining “a strong ego” and develop the ego to reach the potential “self”, A Young Heroine’s Journey…Ratih Kuswidyasari 119 then lead it to merge with “other people and with the natural and spiritual worlds” (Pearson, 1944: p. xxvi). 1. The Fall of the Innocent into the Orphan Since the story in Divergent trilogy starts when Tris is sixteen years old, she has already passed the Innocent stage where people live in the metaphorical Eden, a place to live a wonderful life where everything needed is granted in the environment of care and love. Those who can see the world from that perspective are children because it is their natural state and it takes a great quantity of denial and narcissism for them to bring the state into adulthood (Pearson: p. 25-26). In the beginning of the first novel, Tris is in the Orphan state where she experiences a sense of alienation from how her faction lives. Pearson terms it as the Fall, which children experience when they found out that their parents are not perfect and cannot fulfill their needs. The Fall also happens in adults‟ life when they discover that the government is not always noble, God does not answer their prayer, and the law is not just. During the Fall, reality shatters our belief that the world is the perfect place which results in disillusionment (Pearson: p. 27). Tris starts to disbelief the rules applied by the faction system in their society which instruct people down to their behavior and individual preferences: I doubt all the Erudite want to study all the time, or that every Candor enjoys a lively debate, but they can‟t defy the norms of their factions any more than I can (Roth, 2011: p. 9). Her skepticism to faction system stems from her awareness that she cannot find it within her to believe what her faction accepts as true or to love what her faction favors. Tris realizes that she falls in love with Abnegation lifestyle when she puts herself as an outsider. However, when she tries to live it she does not find it appealing since she thinks that the lifestyle is not genuine (Roth: p. 24). 120 Volume X, Nomor 2, Juli 2016 Her perspective shows that she feels disappointment towards her faction which she considers suffocating her: I am not sure I can live this life of obligation any longer. I am not good enough (Roth: p. 35). The Orphan‟s fundamental fears are powerlessness and abandonment which are projected inward by blaming themselves as the reason for the Fall or outward by blaming God, other people, or institutions for their misery (Pearson: p. 29). It seems that Tris‟ feeling of not being good enough for her faction is an inward projection of her distress. She figures out that her resentment of her faction‟s esteeming selflessness and obedience results in her unworthy of being an Abnegation. Thus, she chooses to go. 2. The Wanderer, the Beginning of a Journey The first time Tris enters the Wanderer stage, where people fundamentally see life as an adventure instead of anguish, is depicted in the first novel. The Wanderers embark on a journey inwardly or outwardly in order to discover “who they are and what they want” by casting off their previous social roles “which they have worn to please and to ensure safety”. (Pearson: p. 51). She then decides on leaving Abnegation to join Dauntless which she perceives as a free-spirited faction full of life energy and action. She chooses to abandon her family instead of being trapped all of her life in a faction to which she feels she does not belong. In her society, factions stand before blood which means that it will not be possible for her to reconnect with her family once she joins Dauntless, that she needs to cut all the ties with her family. As any other Wanderers, Tris also fears loneliness before she embarks on her journey which is associated with leaving her family. Nonetheless, she does it anyway because that is the right thing to do. When Wanderers decide to depart, they are discouraged in embarking on their journey by being told that the cage is actually the Eden and leaving it will cause them to fall from grace (Pearson: p. 52). Tris and Caleb are expected to follow their parents‟ footsteps since their parents are influential figures in their faction, especially their father who is one the society‟s A Young Heroine’s Journey…Ratih Kuswidyasari 121 leaders. Once both of them decide to transfer into other factions, they cause quite an uproar, especially because Caleb transfer into Erudite─a faction despising Abnegation (Roth: p. 45-47). Abnegations, along with other faction members, certainly consider their faction as their safe haven. The member who decides to transfer will be considered as a traitor, someone who falls from grace. Nevertheless, Tris‟ mother accepts her choice unconditionally, just like her love to her children. Her father finally accepts her choice when he discovers that Tris never lose her selflessness which she perceives as similar to bravery. The second time Tris experiences the Wanderer is portrayed in the third novel, Allegiant (2013). After Four plays the video containing information about the importance of Divergents in healing the broken nation, Tris and her friends who go to Erudite headquarters are forced to face a trial. They are going to be convicted as traitors for their act of defiance against their leaders. Evelyn, the leader of the factionless and Four‟s mother, wants to create a new society free of factions where everybody shares the same burden of jobs regardless their former factions. Tris actually does not disagree with her idea but she realizes that Evelyn will meet a lot of resistance. Evelyn plans to lock down the city to prevent anyone from going out of the city fence and ignores the content of the information video about the Divergent mission. Tris feels like she cannot live in a city which exchanges a tyrant into another, so she decides it is time to go (Roth, 2013: p. 1-46). Tris then joins a group calling themselves Allegiant whose purposes are to overthrow Evelyn and return the faction system as well as send some people to go outside the fence to explore what is going on outside the fence. Like all Wanderers, she is afraid of the unknown territory she is going to come into. Leaving means letting go everything familiar to her: the city where she lives, her way of live, and her memory of her parents. She expresses it by saying that she will miss the city and drops a lone tear when the train carrying them to the fence passes Abnegation sector (Roth: p. 86). 122 Volume X, Nomor 2, Juli 2016 However, as a Wanderer none of them matters more than what awaits her when she departs, adventure. 3. The Unity of the Warrior and the Martyr In the Divergent trilogy, interestingly Roth describes Dauntless as a faction representing Warrior archetype and Abnegation as a depiction of Martyr archetype. Those two archetypes emerge most from within Tris in the three novels in the trilogy. The first novel depicts how Tris‟ Warrior stage starts once she drops her blood to Dauntless bowl in the Choosing Ceremony. As a faction of warriors, Dauntless never makes anything easy since the members are expected to be constantly alert. The members travel by train which never stops to give the passengers time to get off, instead, they jump. The initiates must jump off a ledge in order to reach the compound‟s entrance several stories below the jumping point. The present initiation program is designed to be very competitive, brutal even, to select top ten initiates as the real Dauntless members. Tris literary fights to find her place in the faction which upholds bravery and strength in high regard. Claiming power and asserting their identity to the world are parts of Warrior’s nature. Out of four powers─physical, psychological, intellectual, and spiritual─belongs to the Warrior, there are two specifically emerging from Tris since in this trilogy intellectuality is part of Erudite‟s nature and spirituality is not emphasized: On the physical level, the Warrior archetype presides over the assertion that we have a right to be alive. The Warrior consciousness includes self-defense, a willingness and an ability to fight to defend oneself. On the psychological level, it has to do with the creation of healthy boundaries, so we know where we end and other people begin, and an ability to assert ourselves (Pearson: p. 75). Tris‟ Warrior pride, a part of psychological power, does not allow her to break down whenever she misses her family or feels intense physical or emotional pain as the result of ruthless training program. It also makes her feel no sympathy toward those whom she considers weak. She is repelled by Albert‟s sobbing at night which shows a sign of weakness and realizes that she cannot return Albert‟s affection because he is not strong. It prevents her