“One thing I know: For helping me forget how awful the world is, I prefer her to alcohol.”
The initial draft of “Divergent” by Veronica Roth was intended to be told from Tobias Eaton’s perspective, until about 100 pages in when she decided the character would not take the story where she wanted it to go. Despite this, she still felt that Tobias had a story worth telling. After reading “Four”, a pseudo prequel to “Divergent,” I have come to the same conclusion. Reservations aside, the novel standing by itself apart from the “Divergent” series is a fluid, gripping and formidable collection of short stories that shows how a scared boy grows into a dauntless man.
The voice of Tobias “Four” Eaton develops with ease from Veronica Roth in her “Divergent” follow-up book, “Four: A Divergent Story Collection.” After the final book of the “Divergent” series concluded with the controversial “Allegiant,” readers were promised the return of Tobias in a story of his own. As a fellow fangirl of both the books and the lead male character, I was excited to have another opportunity to enter the world Roth had created. As a writer however, I was hesitant.
“Allegiant” exchanged the perspectives of Tris and Tobias every chapter or so, allowing the reader to experience the turmoil of the story from two battling points of view. It was a great insight to not only the characters, but to the thoughts of Roth as the author. While this technique was necessary for the plot of “Allegiant,” it resulted with “Four” becoming redundant and taking away a bit of the mystery behind the character of Tobias Eaton present in the “Divergent” trilogy.
Veronica Roth wrote “Four” as a compilation of short stories chronicling Tobias’ journey as “The Transfer,” “The Initiate,” “The Son” and finally “The Traitor.” Being able to see the elusive Four prior to his life as a Dauntless instructor was what ultimately made this book for me. I thoroughly enjoyed being in the world of “Divergent” through the eyes of Tobias “Four” Eaton. Just as Tris is a strong female who exemplified selfless bravery, Tobias delivers an important message as well. Learning that bravery is not living without fears, but rather living in spite of them, Tobias displays the vulnerability and determination of one trying to escape an abusive past.
