Quote 1
People who get this kind of result are..." She looks over her shoulder like she expects someone to appear behind her. "...are called...Divergent." She says the last word so quietly that I almost don't hear it, and her tense, worried look returns. She walks around the side of the chair and leans in close to me. (3.20)
The book sure takes its time to get to the word Divergent: here we are, waiting ever since we read the title for the word to show up and it takes three whole chapters. But it doesn't disappoint since what it means is huge—that Tris has to make her own decision about who she'll become. Every sentence here reminds us that this is important stuff: Tori's nervousness, her whispering, the pauses.
Quote 2
"You're my daughter. I don't care about the factions." She shakes her head. "Look where they got us. Human beings as a whole cannot be good for long before the bad creeps back in and poisons us again." (35.32)
Natalie sure lays out a depressing theory of the world here: something will always go wrong. And, like mother, like daughter, Tris says something very similar to this earlier (31.76). But what's curious about Natalie's comment is how she accepts the failure of their society (factions aren't good, people aren't good) while holding up hope in family. Maybe that's a hint of what's to come after this world really hits the fan.
Quote 3
"Decades ago our ancestors realized that it is not political ideology, religious belief, race, or nationalism that is to blame for a warring world. Rather, they determined that it was the fault of human personality—of humankind's inclination toward evil, in whatever form that is. They divided into factions that sought to eradicate those qualities they believed responsible for the world's disarray." (5.22)
When Marcus explains how the five-faction system came to be, it might seem crazy to us. But at least these people are doing something—they identified the problem and tried to destroy what they blamed. Oh, when we put it that way, maybe that doesn't sound so good.