Allegiant discussion

You could just as equally ask why was it unnecessary?

I thought it was an interesting twist to the story (I admire authors who are brave enough to kill characters off). Death happens, sometimes to people we like before we're 'ready' for it. Also, for me it gives Tris back her humanity, rather than making her some kind of immortal, special being.

Also, spoiler alert for your discussion title! ;)

Is any death necessary?

Yes, the writer could have made her survive the bullet, but in real life, many people die under unfair circumstances (illnesses, terrorism, war, robbery, motor accidents, drowning, shootings, firefighters dying rescuing victims). The author wanted to create that kind of death for her character.

So no, Tris’s death isn’t necessary but it’s a reflection of how unfair death can be.

Rachel wrote: "You could just as equally ask why was it unnecessary?

I thought it was an interesting twist to the story (I admire authors who are brave enough to kill characters off). Death happens, sometimes to..."

What a great way to put it into words!

I find it kind of strange the way many readers view character deaths. Almost like death has to be a moral judgement on the character from the author. Like you said, death happens.

I thought the book was necessary because it gave Tobias a reason to be sad and it changed him as a character which makes the book more dramatic.
And as other people have said, death does happen and it makes the book more realistic.

I think the whole third book was terrible. She ruined all the characters she had already established. Tobias was a great character up until that book. I'm not bitter though. ;)

Yes, it was necessary because that is real life. People die when their purpose has been served. Tris's purpose was to have a part in a change that rocked Chicago for the third time. When she did she left the world because she had done what she was born to do.

I think it was, although I don't think I'll use the word "necessary". The book would have went on if tris didn't die, but it made it more emotional, deep, and realistic. She had too many lucky moments that a lot of readers can't connect to the book anymore. Death brings us together, it developed Tobias, I'm sad Tris died, but I won't change a thing, even if I could.

Rachel wrote: "Also, for me it gives Tris back her humanity, rather than making her some kind of immortal, special being.."

I completely agree with this.

Azargol wrote: "Yes, it was necessary because that is real life. People die when their purpose has been served. Tris's purpose was to have a part in a change that rocked Chicago for the third time. When she did sh..."

Yeah exactly. (sort of glad she died)

I think it was a way she believed she could earn her forgiveness and that she could finally forgive herself. Through out the series we see Tris struggle with the choices she makes. Some of these are self centered and some of these are mistakes she has made. I think a lot of it draws from her abnegation background of being selfless so when she makes a choice off of what she wants, she feels guilty. In Divergent she asks the question, "Can I be forgiven?" Then one of her last thoughts in Allegiant were, "Can I be forgiven for all I've done to get here? I want to be. I can. I believe it." She is dying a selfless death for the sake of other people. I feel she believes by sacrificing her own life, she is making right with all those she have taken away. These are just my thoughts. I thought the ending was brilliant.

Nuran wrote: "Is any death necessary?

Yes, the writer could have made her survive the bullet, but in real life, many people die under unfair circumstances (illnesses, terrorism, war, robbery, motor accidents, ..."

Nuran wrote: "Is any death necessary?

Yes, the writer could have made her survive the bullet, but in real life, many people die under unfair circumstances (illnesses, terrorism, war, robbery, motor accidents, ..."

I agree. She has been through a lot. Shot in the shoulder, running through a hail of gunfire, turning herself in. It was upsetting when she died, but, realistically, she is a human. The author could have thought, "What's another bullet wound" but it was the last book and there needed to be some event to finish the trilogy as well as leave something for the reader to think about, like, "If she survived, what could have gone differently?"

Nuran wrote: "Is any death necessary?

Yes, the writer could have made her survive the bullet, but in real life, many people die under unfair circumstances (illnesses, terrorism, war, robbery, motor accidents, ..."

You really know how to put your thoughts into words! I agree with you.

:( Is all I have to say.

She should NOT have died.

she loved caleb and by letting him die instead of her she'd never forgive herself as she would think that the guilt inside of and his desperation for love would make him "want to die" and it would be her fault. and she's part abnegation and dountless

No it wasn't necessary it broke my heart ; why would a lead caracter die she should have survived ; i loved Tris-Four relationship it was just ruined at the end

Stephanie wrote: "I think it was a way she believed she could earn her forgiveness and that she could finally forgive herself. Through out the series we see Tris struggle with the choices she makes. Some of these ar..."

Yes!! I don't think someone could have put this any more eloquently..

I think it was a good book ending because, although we all felt so sorry for Tobias, it's a really unique twist. Not many authors kill off their main character. But i had a friend accidentally spoil it for me which was dumb.

Yeah. Realistically she should have already dies 50 times or so. So it was good for her to die at the enddd.

I don't know, I feel like killing her off made it an unsatisfying ending because there wasn't really an end or any kind of closure. She probably should have died a lot earlier in the book should it have been real, so I suppose her dying in the end did make sense.

Zipporah wrote: "Tbh even though it's like a dystopian fiction book, her death made it more realistic because if she had survived it would kind of be like her character was invincible and I'm not here for that. It ..."

I agree. I think often times authors write their characters to be almost invincible. We see this a lot in young adult trilogies where the characters time after time experience near death situations but survive it without so much as a scratch. Now, I do think it would be rather depressing if authors kept killing off characters, but there needs to be some form of realness to it. After awhile the intense action scenes start to become less exciting because the outcome has become predictable.

Tris's death was DEFINITELY necessary. Sure she was great, but let's honest. she was a ruckus and a nuisance. Not to mention that a bunch of people wanted her dead. If she was still alive in the end, things would not have ended out so peaceful and happy.

No it absolutely was not. One of by biggest problems was that it reinforced a romantic notion that death is the ultimate show of strength. It isn't. Living with trauma is so much harder. At the end of Insurgent, I had some hope that Tris was beginning to learn some lessons about life but then she went and blew it all at the end of Allegiant. Not to mention that she robbed her own brother of his redemption because, what, she wanted all the glory? Tris' death was the ultimate act of selfishness. She betrayed everyone who loved her and had sacrificed for her by throwing her life away. And what really pissed me off was that she didn't die from the death serum, no she's shot by David. What? Really? It was a meaningless death and to me, that was the ultimate betrayal of the character. If a character is going to die, at least make that death meaningful. This was just trite and read like a publisher or author's way of saying hey let's do something just to be different!

Stephanie wrote: "Zipporah wrote: "Tbh even though it's like a dystopian fiction book, her death made it more realistic because if she had survived it would kind of be like her character was invincible and I'm not h..."

Honestly, the realness could come from learning to live with trauma. One thing I did like about the ending of Hunger Games is that Katniss and Peeta are broken, living with PTSD (totally realistic) and have to learn how to find and be content with moments of happiness. Life is about learning to accept and embrace your experiences and if you have lived through something as traumatic as war, there are a lot of things you have to reconcile. You have to learn to live with the hurt you've caused. You have to learn to live with the deaths of those you love. You have to learn to find happiness in despair. Those are real, adult lessons, ones that Tris, who of all characters NEEDED to learn that, will never learn.

Having Tris die was an easy way to solve the Tris/Four relationship. As Tris changed and Beatrice was no longer a part of her, Tobias was also changing and Four was no longer a part of him. Tris and Four would have worked. Beatrice and Tobias would have worked. A relationship between Tris and Tobias, however, was doomed to fail. I kind of think Roth took a lazy way out with this, having Tris die rather than try to write a sensible breakup, though.

John wrote: "Having Tris die was an easy way to solve the Tris/Four relationship. As Tris changed and Beatrice was no longer a part of her, Tobias was also changing and Four was no longer a part of him. Tris an..."

I'm not sure Tris and Tobias were doomed to fail because Tris never got to figure out who she was in the post-war world. That's one of my biggest disappointments was that we'll never know how she could cope with everything that happened, everything she was forced to do, everyone she was forced to hurt. Those things mature a person.

I mean I love the divergent series but really so many people died and I know she had a meaningful death but really I mean this made me feel empty inside for a couple of days. I guess this is because I got attached to tris as if she was a friend and sometimes related her to myself which made me have a horrible feeling when I found out that she died. Sometimes I felt like I shared the same pain as four did😭.

It appeared to be a quick way to end the series, instead of building a new life for Tris and Four together it seemed like a rushed ending.

At the time, I wasn't happy that Tris died. However, after reflecting over the years, I don't mind it as much now. I think it's interesting for main characters to die in fiction and yeah, I wish her death had meant.... more...

I agree with a lot of the above comments about how "is death really necessary?" However, after three books of action and heartache, I would have enjoyed a nice ending for Tobias and Tris because they completely deserved it.

I think her death made the series memorable.

Zalia wrote: "I agree with a lot of the above comments about how "is death really necessary?" However, after three books of action and heartache, I would have enjoyed a nice ending for Tobias and Tris because th..."

This is what I was hoping for! I know that it maybe the "storybook" ending kind of cliche but come on....they went through so much!! Couldn't they just have figured out this new world together?

I personally hated the book when trish died. There is too much death in the real world i want happy endings in the books i read. Thats my story and i am sticking to it

It wasn’t, that’s the point. Caleb needed to die to redeem himself, and Tris took that away from him. There’s not a thing anyone can do about it because Caleb is dead.

Her death destroyed the whole series for me. I know death happens i am an EMT but when i read fiction i want an happy ending. The real world is depressing enough .

To be honest, I didn't like her. To me, her death was necessary because I hated that character. I just finished the book because she died. But I confess I was a little bit sad because of Four. He didn't deserve to suffer...

According_to me it was not necessary ... I mean what the heck was that. She survived the death serum and got killed by a bullet!!!

Though her death deeply upset me, I feel it was necessary and added maturity to the book. Deaths are not only hard for the readers but also for the authors too. Authors take a liking to the characters they write about and to be able to end it how she did seemed very grown-up to me. Not only was it mature but it also left a huge impact on me. It made me realize that not everything in life ends like you expected. Things aren't likely to end with all the loose ends tied up into a pretty little bow. Her death gave me a necessary insight on how the world works and it was an unexpected ending.

Sarah wrote: "Though her death deeply upset me, I feel it was necessary and added maturity to the book. Deaths are not only hard for the readers but also for the authors too. Authors take a liking to the charact..."

May I ask why you thought it was necessary? If she had died from the death serum, I would have been better with that. But dying from a gunshot seemed wasteful, especially since she basically turned her back on everyone who sacrificed for her to live.

Absolutely. Her death ended it all. But her death was dumb. This is the climax!! And she gets shot?!?! What the crap?? And what about Tobias?? If she wanted to die for her loved ones . . . it should have included Tobias. They should have gone together. Instead of her STUPID brother being the original one to put on the suit it should have been Tobias. Being Tobias and then they walked in together and died TOGETHER!!! No one left behind.

I feel like it was kind of needed for this reason: Throughout the trilogy, Tris tries sacrifice herself for the sake of feeling like a hero. However, this is the one time that she makes a sacrifice that is out of nothing but love for her friends and family. Without her death, that growth would not have been there. We would not have known that her character had matured and grown. It was still really sad tho.

OMG THE AUTHOR HAS NO MERCY FOR HER MAIN CHARACTER.
First, she FRICKIN' KILLED HER MOM AND DAD
Second, she CAUSED HER TO SUFFER ENDLESSLY
Third, she KILLED TRIS 😭
And last of all... she BROKE TOBIAS'S HEART AND I THOUGHT THEY WERE GONNA HAVE A HAPPY LIFE AND YEAH (This may seem impossible, but I saw the death coming. Here's how: The first 2 books had no change in POV right? But then SUDDENLY, there's a change of POV in the last book. I was like "Hmm... Why would you change the POV in the last book but not the other books... Could Tris die later in th- ...") I'm serious, I wanted to rip the book...

Aubrey wrote: "Absolutely. Her death ended it all. But her death was dumb. This is the climax!! And she gets shot?!?! What the crap?? And what about Tobias?? If she wanted to die for her loved ones . . . it shoul..."

I KNOW, THAT'S WHAT I THOUGHT

Emilie wrote: "the ending.. not necessary. it was abrupt, rushed, and cruel. i completely agree with some of the comments that it was not a meaningful death, and that it was selfish. i think her death was depress..."

Why does she need to be dead??? SHE NEEDS TO LIIIIIIIVE AND MARRY TOBIAS AND YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHH

To be fully honest the last book was BAD! Like I didn't even know what was going on. Making Tris die just runied it. She just wanted to die from the start. It was lazy. Im pretty sure people would have enjoyed it a lot more if Tris stayed alive. It would be pretty interesting reading there life together at the end... The author should have thought about this way more.

Why was Tris' death necessary?

What I liked so much about this series and especially this book is how much we got to be in Tris's head. By the last book, Tris' world is full of death, sacrifice, and uncertainty-- and she's just exhausted. Most heroine struggles we hear about are just self-doubt, and they remarkably overcome in one fell swoop. Not, Tris, she contemplates suicide, that's raw and so unbelievably honest. There are times where she's stuck on an issue, and it takes several times revisiting the issue to realize there's more work to do. Her sacrificing herself makes the realness of the story ring even truer.
Being a leader of a revolution is a great honor but a tremendous responsibility, not to mention incredibly dangerous. As we know from history, most progressive leaders don't live long enough to see the fruits of their labor, whether by choice or not. Without their level of dedication, success wouldn't have been possible, or at least not for a long time after. Achieving great things comes at a cost, and I believe its important to be reminded of that.

I wish she didn't die, but I think it was necessary. ;(

Yes, it was necessary. By dying Tris fulfilled the ultimate sacrifice to become a hero. But overall, the last book was so bad. I read about 30 pages and then I skipped more or less to the last 30...

Andrel wrote: "Why was Tris' death necessary?

What I liked so much about this series and especially this book is how much we got to be in Tris's head. By the last book, Tris' world is full of death, sacrifice, a..."

I love this response! Many people feel that it was unnecessary because of all the character development that she went through but it doesn't matter how much development a person has had. Good people die. I like what you said about most progressive leaders not living long enough to see the world that they had envisioned and fought for because that is very true and makes me look at this book with a new respect. I also love what you said about how Tris had to overcome more than your regular run of the mill heroin. I can tell you read deep into these books and I want to reread them now!

I really hate that she was killed off, and I had to read it about 100 times before I believed it, but I do think it was an important part of the story. It symbolizes dying for what you believe in and how Tris wasn't super human.