Dystopian Story Shows Similarities to a True War Story

The Divergent series is a dystopia about a society where the people are divided into factions based on their personalities. Once a person turns 16, they have to take an aptitude test that determines which faction they should end up in. Despite the risks of being separated from your family, and everything you know, people will still leave because they know this is the better choice in the long run.

In Tim O'Brien's story, he describes what it is like for him after being drafted into the war. He describes how he could not believe it when he found out, and he could not make a decision over whether he should actually go or not. He says that he could runaway to Canada and risk leaving his family behind forever, or he could actually go to the war. He cannot decide which option would be best, and he ends up having to make the tough decision to go to war. 

Despite many differences, the idea behind Divergent has some similarities to being drafted into war. In both, the hard decision of leaving your family behind persists.