

Their love for each other is deep their respect for each other, profound and their choice, free. Many relationships break under the weight of loss or hardship, but Tris and Four thrive in stressful and intense circumstances. They have different values and beliefs they argue and yell and say things they don’t mean they are even unkind and cold and relentless at times, but still, they keep forgiving and asking for forgiveness and reconnecting with what makes the other worthwhile.

Tris and Four choose each other over and over again. The core of Tris and Four’s romance is an extension of what the faction system explores: choice. It’s not about soul mates or fated lovers, not for me, and not for Tris and Four. The strongest real-life relationships I’ve seen are between people who respect each other, have inside jokes, and know how to fight without fangs. When you conceive of romantic relationships as friendships, at their core, you and your partner are able to bear up under difficulty in a way that you can’t if what you really want is swooning romance all the time.

I’ve always thought of Tris and Four’s relationship as a strong friendship first and foremost-not necessarily a once-in-a-lifetime romance. Here, she talks about what makes their relationship so meaningful, and the challenges the characters face. Author Veronica Roth has a carefully crafted narrative-the 26-year-old wrote the book over her winter break when she was at Northwestern-and a deliberate way of writing one of the most captivating parts of the series: The breathlessly intense relationship between Tris (played by Shailene Woodley) and Four (played by Theo James). Middle offerings don’t just raise the stakes in terms of the battle, but they also heighten our emotional connection to the protagonists-and their investment in one another. In filmic lore, it is, by all means, the darkest edition. As far as trilogy logic goes, the second act tends to set up the real conflict, highlight the “big bad” and cast the stage for the true battle to come. The second installment of the Divergent Series , Insurgent, is currently in theaters.
