Veronica Roth’s Divergent: Bad Worldbuilding

Many a teenager were swept up by Veronica Roth’s Divergent series, having finished The Hunger Games and looking for something of a similar tone. Eerily similar, some might observe – a diminutive but badass teenage girl in a dystopian future with a complicated love interest fighting for a better world. Except Roth made a crucial mistake that many authors make in their worldbuilding: assuming that all readers would be too lazy to actually figure out whether things would work or not. Most readers are generally too lazy to investigate potential worldbuilding slip-ups, but some of the ones featured in the Divergent series are distractingly obvious:

1.     The entire plot revolves around a society that segregates itself into different factions, each with an individual trait: selflessness, honesty, intelligence, peace, and bravery. But the characters in the book clearly exhibit many of these traits, so the entire foundation of being “divergent” – i.e., not fitting into just one category, falls apart. Maybe the system is based on what people value the most – but then the aptitude test wouldn’t work. Not to mention, we discover in the last book that the whole thing is designed by the government to correct people’s damaged genes. But genetically damaged people don’t make non-damaged people; that’s not how reproduction works. Also, if the whole point was to create Divergents, why does the government let them be killed?

2.  “Working together, these five factions have lived in peace for many years, each contributing to a different sector of society. Abnegation has fulfilled our need for selfless leaders in government; Candor has provided us with trustworthy and sound leaders in law; Erudite has supplied us with intelligent teachers and researchers; Amity has given us understanding counselors and caretakers; and Dauntless provides us with protection from threats both within and without.”                                              

Okay, that’s great, but where do low-skilled labourers fit in then? Who become the janitors, the sanitation workers, the factory workers – you know, people essential to a functioning society? Who makes everyone’s everyday wares, clothes and cans and toilet paper? The Factionless would have been a perfect option, but instead they’re just used as a poor representation of homelessness.

3.     Geographically, there’s a lot to unpack. The area in which the series takes place is supposed to be a fenced-in post-apocalyptic Chicago, with Amity growing their food beyond the fence. Except their location is vague at best. Also, the Dauntless are supposed to patrol the fence – but there’s not nearly enough Dauntless to cover that much ground. Here is a handy detailed map of the proposed area; see if you can find anything out of place.

What really grinds my gears is Roth insisting that Lake Michigan – that deep, enormous body of water – has turned into a marsh. The process for large bodies of water to acquire enough sediment to become marshes takes millions of years. Not to mention, this would massively affect the climate of the region. There would be colder winters, hotter summers, and less precipitation, which makes the whole farming-for-the-entire-city thing increasing unlikely.

Those are just some of the particularly egregious worldbuilding screw-ups in Divergent. A passionless attempt, I see it as The Hunger Games’ younger, lazier distant relative; nothing more than a cheap knockoff looking to profit from the trend. 

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Nicoline A.

I’m a 22 y.o. Mess in the Professional Writing program. I love video games, half-assed home exercise, and going for walks. Different universes have always been an escape for me, but what is it about a fictional world that submerges you so completely?

Undertale: A World of Puns, Cute Dogs, and Judgement for your Sins

Undertale is a deceptively simple-looking RPG created by Toby Fox in 2015. The worldbuilding of Undertale expands beyond the world itself by directly including the player.

The main principle is this: your actions have consequences. Every playthrough you make of the game, even when you load a new save, remains canonically part of the story. Deciphering its history takes multiple playthroughs, and beneath the cutesy characters and charming pixel art style is a dark tale woven with bloodshed, banishment, and betrayal.

You begin by falling through a hole into the Underground, the subterranean realm where the monsters were banished after losing their war against the humans long ago. There are six distinct levels in the Underground.

Ruins:

This is essentially the tutorial level, where you first find yourself after your fall. Toriel, a kind monster, instructs you to stay on the path and shows you how to show mercy to monsters you encounter. The fighting is turn-based and primitive, but with scarily realistic penalties.

Ruins is an odd place. You fall into a cluster of golden flowers. Red and auburn leaves are everywhere in small piles, though the only tree to be found is in front of Toriel’s home. Her house is warmly lit and pleasant, a place to pause and reflect before the onslaught of the remainder of the game. Though comfortable, it has an indiscernible eeriness. A child’s room without a child to occupy it. Locked doors. Mirrors that reflect you. A chained-off staircase.

But you press on.

Snowdin:

Snowdin is cold and icy, home to creatures who can bear it, like skeletons in hoodies and sweatered wolves. The vibe is anything but gloomy, though, with adorable dog bosses and snowball shenanigans. It has a shop, an inn, and even a diner where a certain someone might invite you for a date. There are many puns and clever easter eggs that don’t make sense on the first playthrough. Exploring the character’s houses sheds light on their quirky personalities. The further you progress, the more you notice the kind nature of these supposed monsters.

Oh yeah, and there’s a mysterious door that you can’t open.

Waterfall:

This level is dark, glowing with geodes and aquamarine torches, echo flowers and exotic fungi, waterfalls and glimmering pools. The soundtrack is tinkling and enigmatic. The deeper you delve into the game, the more evident it becomes that it’s absolutely chock-full of secrets. Before the room with dimming crystal lights is a difficult-to-find room known as Temmie village, a place which will surely give you a giggle. Again, there are houses you can explore and secrets you can discover – just not on the first playthrough. Either way, you’ll be enamored with the Ferry Dock, the River Person, and the Wishing Room.

You continue with determination.

Hotlands:

This is where things heat up and tension begins to build. The Hotlands are arid and punctuated by flowing lava. The lab you must pass through is home to a nerdy scientist who litters her space with comics and anime figurines. There are suspicious letters scattered over the floor, a hole in the wall she claims is the bathroom (it’s more horrific than a bathroom). Staying at the swanky MTT Resort, all golden tiles and flowing fountain and overwhelming sense of foreboding, you’ll sense the end is near. The world itself creates a sense of nervous anticipation with its sheer strangeness, with closed doors and puzzle pieces from previous levels finding their place.

You enter the elevator to the final level.

New Home:

Everything is grey, somber, and quiet. Long corridors occupy the foreground with a cityscape in the distance. Taking an inconspicuous path leads you to a room of coffins with a chilling secret. You encounter Asgore’s home, a grey mirror-image of Toriel’s. By contrast, the Last Corridor is bathed in yellow light that catches you off-guard (cue Megalomania; feel your heart drop). The Throne Room is a natural oasis, filled with greenery and yellow flowers. It is like being in the eye of a storm.

Undertale is one of the most atmospheric games I’ve ever played, proving that you can do so much with so little. It shows aspiring worldbuilders that tiny details and intricate connections are not to be overlooked, and that secrets only make the experience more rewarding for the person who uncovers them.

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Nicoline

I’m a 22 y.o. mess in the Professional Writing program. I love video games, half-assed home exercise, and going for walks. Different universes have always been an escape for me, but what is it about a fictional world that submerges you so completely?