A Connection Between Harry Potter Houses and Factions?

Discuss the June 2014 book of the month Divergent by Veronica Roth. While only Divergent--the first book of the series--is the book of the month, feel free to use this subforum to discuss the rest of the series or to talk about the movies, but make sure not to post spoilers unless noted in the topic title.
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Crazybud
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Re: A Connection Between Harry Potter Houses and Factions?

Post by Crazybud »

The difference is that the Harry Potter houses don't exactly define a personality. You can be Slytherin and yet be loyal, but in the factions you are forced to comply to the rules and regulations of your faction. You are not allowed lie being a Candor.
I do see the similarities though. Seems like Veronica Roth got the idea from Rowling's universe.
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Post by BookishCoffeeBlog »

Wow! This is a really interesting topic that I had not thought about before. When I first thought about this question, I thought there were no connections between Hogwarts houses and factions, however reading the break down of them, I can definitely see where this idea is coming from. I often thought of where I would fit, in the faction system, and I think I would be divergent, with prominence in Erudite and Amity. I can see how this can be a bit related to me being a hardcore Ravenclaw.

However, in both of these cases, it is not possible to be in multiple factions or houses but this is how personality works. I think these systems can be a bit restrictive for people who have different aspects to their character.
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Post by anwidmer »

zjones99 wrote: 18 Jul 2015, 16:22 I get how you see a similarity, but to me I think it is just a coincidence. I mean those ideas are not original in creating ideas around them (intelligence, bravery, selfless, etc.) But that is just my opinion there could be more behind it.
I agree, i believe its coincidence, but definitely an interesting topic to say the least!
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Post by ahmaria »

I definitely see the similarities and the idea crossed my mind too. However, my take is that at Hogwarts, your house is given to you and is derived from who you are, consciously and subconsciously. However, Factions are chosen much later in life, and to me, exhibit what you value or aspire to be.
Also, in terms of drawing a direct one-to-one connection from Gryffindor to Dauntless and such, I don't think it's possible. The houses were made up of a group of characteristics, while the Factions are generally based around one.
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Post by sush_destiny »

It is similar, but, Harry Potter houses are less forceful and also, the sorting hat take your opinion into consideration for the decision. Also, no one who went to Hogwarts worried about being kicked out of their house.
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Post by Michael_Cries-a-ton »

Yes, there is a connection between Factions and Houses, as well as the Districts in "Hunger Games" and Roles in "The Giver" and even Hobbits of "TLOTR".

It is a popular theme to write about that encompasses the burden all teenagers and young adults suffer from; there is the social roles and expectations you are supposed to fulfill and the person you want to be deep down. Often this is resolved in the fictions by the Inner You prevailing and setting a new norm (The Girl from District 12 winning the Games, the little Hobbit saves the day..) but in real life, it's more likely to be reconciled by the compromise between Social roles and Personal ambitions. (Okay, more compromise of the Personal.) But you can see this would make a terrible story.
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Post by dorebri2020 »

I can definitely see similarities between the two, but I personally think that Harry Potter houses are much better sorting categories. They cover a more broad spectrum and still allow people to choose their most definable character traits. Meanwhile, factions are more confining and previously defined. Everyone involved is made a more surface level character.
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Post by girly girl »

I agree that there is definitely a similarity, I've even thought about Veronica Roth being inspired by the houses in Harry Potter. There is still a possibility of it being a coincidence.
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Post by Atara Miles »

They definitely share some similarities. Both series have the houses and factions respectively based off personality and there are certain stigmas attached to them. There's also the label sticking with you as you went on. The houses in Harry Potter look at way more than just the personalities though, whereas that seems to be the whole point of the factions in Divergent.
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Post by tannus »

They do have similarities as you pointed out but it could be just a coincidence. I like the version of houses in Harry Potter because a person could have his own uniqueness and not just be a personification of a similar character in his house.
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Post by NovaFly »

I think there are definitely similarities but separating people into groups based on personality or 'type' is a theme explored in many stories and thus probably a coincidence.
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Post by banevius »

Wow, I never thought about this comparison with the Harry Potter series. This is quite interesting!

For me I'd say:

Hufflepuff = Amity and Abnegation
Gryffindor = Abnegation and Dauntless
Slytherin = Dauntless and Erudite
Ravenclaw = Erudite and Candor

As you can see how I've ordered them, each house has traits that bleed over slightly into another house.
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Post by Nadine1357 »

A also thought of Harry potter when ready divergent but as many have already said this can be found in many books in some form or another, segregation is a popular theme of the world.
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Post by Nadine1357 »

Has any one noticed the similarity between Narnia and the houses, I think this is more noticeable even there colours the oldest brother is brave like Gryffindor, the younger brother of sneaky like slitheron the oldest girl is smart like ravenclaw and the youngest is sweet like huffelpuff.
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Post by Barbara Larkin »

This was honestly my first thought about the factions when reading. It's almost like a clique - who you're for and against.
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