Divergent

by

Veronica Roth

Eric Character Analysis

A young government official in Dauntless, and the rival of Tobias. Eric is a cruel, sadistic man, who believes that the ideal Dauntless soldier is selfish, ruthless, and indifferent to other people’s suffering. Although Eric was ranked below Tobias during their training months, Eric was offered a top government job because Tobias turned it down first. Eric continues to resent Tobias for outperforming him in the rankings years before, and after he and Max stage a coup of the city, he reveals that he still considers Tobias his hated rival.

Eric Quotes in Divergent

The Divergent quotes below are all either spoken by Eric or refer to Eric. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Identity, Choice, and Divergence Theme Icon
).
Chapter 9 Quotes

“It ends when one of you is unable to continue,” says Eric.
“According to Dauntless rules,” Four says, “one of you could also concede.” Eric narrows his eyes at Four.
“According to the old rules,” he says. “In the new rules, no one concedes.”
“A brave man acknowledges the strength of others,” Four replies.

“A brave man never surrenders,” Eric says, and Four and Eric stare at each other for a few seconds.

I feel like I am looking at two different kinds of Dauntless—the honorable kind, and the ruthless kind. But even I know that in this room, it’s Eric, the youngest leader of the Dauntless, who has the authority.

Related Characters: Beatrice Prior / Tris (speaker), Tobias / Four (speaker), Eric (speaker)
Page Number: 95
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 13 Quotes

“Catch on? Catch on to what? That you wanted to prove to Eric how tough you are? That you’re sadistic, just like he is?”
“I am not sadistic.” He doesn’t yell. I wish he would yell. It would scare me less. He leans his face close to mine, which reminds me of lying inches away from the attack dog’s fangs in the aptitude test, and says, “If I wanted to hurt you, don’t you think I would have already?”

Related Characters: Beatrice Prior / Tris (speaker), Tobias / Four (speaker), Eric
Page Number: 165
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 18 Quotes

“What changed?”
“The leadership,” he says. “The person who controls training sets the standard of Dauntless behavior. Six years ago Max and the other leaders changed the training methods to make them more competitive and more brutal, said it was supposed to test people’s strength. And that changed the priorities of Dauntless as a whole. Bet you can’t guess who the leaders’ new protégé is.”
The answer is obvious: Eric. They trained him to be vicious, and now he will train the rest of us to be vicious too.

Related Characters: Beatrice Prior / Tris (speaker), Tobias / Four (speaker), Eric
Page Number: 240
Explanation and Analysis:
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Divergent PDF

Eric Quotes in Divergent

The Divergent quotes below are all either spoken by Eric or refer to Eric. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Identity, Choice, and Divergence Theme Icon
).
Chapter 9 Quotes

“It ends when one of you is unable to continue,” says Eric.
“According to Dauntless rules,” Four says, “one of you could also concede.” Eric narrows his eyes at Four.
“According to the old rules,” he says. “In the new rules, no one concedes.”
“A brave man acknowledges the strength of others,” Four replies.

“A brave man never surrenders,” Eric says, and Four and Eric stare at each other for a few seconds.

I feel like I am looking at two different kinds of Dauntless—the honorable kind, and the ruthless kind. But even I know that in this room, it’s Eric, the youngest leader of the Dauntless, who has the authority.

Related Characters: Beatrice Prior / Tris (speaker), Tobias / Four (speaker), Eric (speaker)
Page Number: 95
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 13 Quotes

“Catch on? Catch on to what? That you wanted to prove to Eric how tough you are? That you’re sadistic, just like he is?”
“I am not sadistic.” He doesn’t yell. I wish he would yell. It would scare me less. He leans his face close to mine, which reminds me of lying inches away from the attack dog’s fangs in the aptitude test, and says, “If I wanted to hurt you, don’t you think I would have already?”

Related Characters: Beatrice Prior / Tris (speaker), Tobias / Four (speaker), Eric
Page Number: 165
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 18 Quotes

“What changed?”
“The leadership,” he says. “The person who controls training sets the standard of Dauntless behavior. Six years ago Max and the other leaders changed the training methods to make them more competitive and more brutal, said it was supposed to test people’s strength. And that changed the priorities of Dauntless as a whole. Bet you can’t guess who the leaders’ new protégé is.”
The answer is obvious: Eric. They trained him to be vicious, and now he will train the rest of us to be vicious too.

Related Characters: Beatrice Prior / Tris (speaker), Tobias / Four (speaker), Eric
Page Number: 240
Explanation and Analysis: