Flood Friday (#1)

Hey, everyone! Here at Raindrop Reads, I highlight a "character-of-the-week" on Fridays, and, sticking with the rainy theme of my blog, I like to call it Flood Friday.

This Friday's Character: 

Tris from Divergent by Veronica Roth.

*Caution: Mild spoilers if you haven't read the book.*

Tris is one of those awesome characters who just inspires you to be a better person.  In her world, a dystopian Chicago, all of the people are split up into five groups called factions.  The five factions were formed each with a moral value to uphold: Abnegation (selflessness), Amity (peace), Candor (honesty), Dauntless (bravery), and Erudite (knowledge). When a child reaches the age of 16, he or she chooses what faction they will remain in for the rest of their lives, based on what interest most suits their personality.

Though she grew up in Abnegation, Tris chooses Dauntless as her faction, as she has always looked upon the daredevils with fascination. Here, she learns to do some pretty kick-butt things, like shoot a gun with accuracy, combat fighting, and she also learns to face her fears, in quite a literal way.

Why I Love Tris:

She's just so awesome.  She's dependent upon others, but not so much that she can't fend for herself.  She's the perfect mix of social interaction mixed with isolation.  She's not afraid to face her fears.  She takes pride in doing it.  It doesn't mean that she's not scared or that it's not hard, it just means that she doesn't wimp out when opportunity rises.  Four, one of the guys she meets over at Dauntless compound once told her, "Fear doesn't shut you down, it wakes you up."

That's something that has fascinated me for quite some time about Tris.  She doesn't shirk in the face of danger.  She is an inspiration to me, and hopefully to many others as well.  She is selfless (having grown up in Abnegation, it is one of her defining qualities), and she is also extremely brave.  Those have become two of my biggest life goals, because I don't want to get caught in a situation and wimp out or be selfish.  I want to do what is best, and I feel like those qualities make a person absolutely beautiful.

So, along with an amazing main character, I'll add that Divergent and Insurgent are absolutely amazing books.  If you have not read them, you need to go buy them as soooooon as possible.  You won't regret it.