The Hunger Games is a revolutionary series.  It is an idea that nobody had heard of before, something that nobody had ever thought of.  But was it?  The truth of the matter is that The Hunger Games is both a retelling of previous short stories and other choice print, while also being a revolutionary idea.  It's as if the novel was a turning point in which people realized the significance of such downright despicable deeds.  Divergent is a novel thought to be a closely related "re-telling" of The Hunger Games, though the two novels differ on many major points.  Katniss's choices are primarily made for her by her government while Tris's choices are strictly based on personal preference.  The Hunger Games emphasizes a separation of districts by production, while Divergent chooses to put even more focus on personal choice by separating factions by personality.  Familial bonds in the The Hunger Games that were previously weak and destructed are made stronger by The Reaping.  The exact opposite is the case of the familial bonds in Divergent, where the bonds are almost severed completely because of Tris's choice to change factions.  One of the few similarities between major concepts in the two novels is that of the revolts making these familial bonds stronger in the case of both Katniss and Tris.  By looking at how prominent personal choice and the severing of familial bonds are in Divergent, we can see how affected a community and family can be by one person's choice; this is important because it shows how Divergent contrasts The Hunger Games on the exact points that The Hunger Games makes so prominent.
	
The first point of contrast that the reader can see between Katniss's and Tris's societal differences is during both The Reaping and The Choosing Ceremony.  First addressing The Reaping, we can see the governmental interference in terms of how structured and rule-regulated the ceremony is.  There is no choice but for the citizens of the districts, whether being in the pool of names or not, to attend the ceremony.  While there lies a similarity to The Choosing Ceremony on this point, that is where the similarities end.  The Reaping is entirely focused on the unfortunate, and sadly, inescapable choosing of a tribute to compete in the games.  This is where the government interference that rules The Hunger Games comes into play.  The government makes all of the decisions in this case, and not one choice is left to the citizens of Panem.  In Diveregent, The Choosing Ceremony is primarily based on the choices of individuals.  Personal preference takes precedent in Divergent, no matter the repercussions of such decisions. 
	
When considering if Divergent is a retelling of The Hunger Games, we should take into consideration the differences between each sub-sector of the larger community.  In The Hunger Games, Districts are split up and grouped according to how the government sees fit.  This means grouping districts by items of production, for example textiles, coal, luxury, and so on.  Each district is oppressed due to the level of government interference that takes place throughout Panem.  What is produced, as well as how the members of the districts live, is entirely dictated by the government.  In Divergent, the government does not dictate every aspect of everyday life to the extent that Panem does.  Though there is uniformity to how the factions act, dress, or live, there is still a level of personal choice that takes place every day.  The factions are not split up by production either; so much as they are split up according to personalities.  The common theme in Divergent is how personalities affect a person's choices, and it therefore makes sense that the factions would be dominated by personality types instead of production.
	
Another contrast is that of the familial bonds in both novels.  The Reaping, though unfortunate, strengthens Katniss's sense of familial bond to her mother, sister, and Gale.  What else does she have to hang on to but the strong relationships that she has back home?  She is going to, what she thinks, is her imminent demise and the strongest semblance of reality that she can retain is that of her family back home.  Tris, on the other hand, holds no ties to her family as she deliberately severs the bonds that existed when she chooses Dauntless.  It is tradition for Abnegation to stay with their community.  They have a strong sense of selflessness and big hearts, and it is highly unusual for someone to leave Dauntless and successfully transfer into a different faction.  When Tris does this, she instills a sense of betrayal among her parents.  Adding salt to an already deep wound, her brother did the same in choosing to transfer factions.  The repercussions of decisions based on personal preference in Divergent takes the form of a clear destruction in familial bonds, while the bonds formed in The Hunger Games are strong and existent throughout a majority of the novel.
	
One of the few similarities between Divergent and The Hunger Games is how strong familial bonds become either during or after the revolutions in both novels.  The bonds that are formerly considered severed in Divergent, become reinforced and stronger than ever once the revolution against Abnegation leaders begins.  This is partially because Tris's faction is brainwashed to hunt and kill the group of leaders to which Tris's father belongs, but the strengthening of their familial bonds also comes from the realization by Tris that personal choices are trivial when everybody is forced to look at the bigger picture.  Tris seems to believe that she severed all ties to her family in choosing Dauntless as her faction, but what she failed to realize, until the point of the revolution, is that no matter what personal choices a member of her family makes, she will always be her mother and father's child.  Familial bonds take precedent over all, and one of Divergent's key concepts is the process that Tris goes through to realize this.  Katniss, however, has fully grasped the idea that familial bonds take precedent over whatever trivial situations may come her way. She easily takes her sister's place at The Reaping, knowing that the odds are not in her favor.  Even having such a strong sense of belonging and love with her family, their bonds are made that much stronger by a revolution and the idea that any member of her family could be ripped away from her in a heartbeat.  Her mother comes to a sense of "consciousness", compared to her formerly vegetative state, and begins to heal again.  Her sister even pitches in with these efforts.  It takes a revolt and the possibility of losing their families for Katniss and Tris to realize that familial bonds take precedent above all and should never be severed or lost as a result of one person's decisions.
	
When we look at just how much personal choice and the severing of familial bonds takes the spotlight in Divergent, we can see how personal choices affect an entire family and community; this is important because it allows the reader to see the contrast between Divergent and The Hunger Games that may not be so obvious.  The idea of a dystopian oppression came about long before The Hunger Games, and was just made more applicable to modern day life by Suzanne Collins.  Divergent is a novel based more on personal choices and preferences than it is based on a government-overthrow.  The novel prefers personal choice over familial bonds and, though that may seem heartless, it is different than what takes precedent in The Hunger Games, which are those same familial bonds.  It's as if the government oppression forces those familial bonds to become stronger, while personal choice weakens them.  These two novels prove this in their varied views on relationships versus personal choice.  Katniss has a very small span of personal choice, and this in turn allows her to strengthen her relationships back home.  Tris, on the other hand, chooses something completely out of the normal, and loses what bonds she had with her family.  On top of that, her brother added to the sense of severed bonds by choosing to be an Erudite.  When comparing the precedence that personal choice may or may not take in both novels, it is evident to see the comparison that one can make about how personal choices can wreck a home, as well as a community.

