We are all afraid of something; death, failure, intimacy, pain, darkness.  No matter how brave someone appears, there is something in their world that can scare the living daylights out of him/her.  Fear is gripping, it can immobilize us in an instant, but in life we learn to deal with our fears.  By looking at Roth's and Collins' use of fear in Divergent and The Hunger Games, we can see how Tris learns to conquer fear through fear landscapes while Katniss lives in fear and rationality disappears by the jabberjays; which is important, because Roth retells Collins' use of fear with her own twist that teaches the reader to conquer his/her fear, not to fall victim to it.
	There are many similarities between the jabberjay scene and the fear landscape scene that makes Roth's scene resemble a retelling of Collins'.  Both of the scenes deal with a fear that is not actually happening, but a simulation instead.  In Catching Fire, Katniss and Finnick face the fear of a loved one in peril, but these loved ones are not actually there being tortured.  It is through the use of jabberjays that these sounds of terror are elicited to Collins' characters, and Katniss must convince herself and Finnick it isn't real, "It's just a jabberjay.  They're playing a trick on us, [ ] It's not real" (Catching Fire, 342).  The screams are just a simulation performed by a mutated bird, yet they are so real to Katniss and Finnick.  It seems that Roth then wanted to use simulations to show the fear a character has so they can fight those fears.  In Divergent, the simulated fear takes place in the fear landscapes which are developed for initiates to fight their fears and be brave.  Tris while in the fear landscape says, "Simulation.  This is a simulation.  My heart hammering in my chest" (Divergent, 391), so even though she knows the danger is not real the fear is still happening which is shown by her heart pounding. 
The biggest fear Katniss has is that harm or death will come to her little sister Prim.  It is obvious as she is always protecting her sister, especially when she first takes Prim's place in the Hunger Games.  This fear is so strong that when Katniss hears Prim's screams in the woods, she loses all rationality and chases the sound into the woods.  When Katniss finds out that the jabberjays copy sounds and Katniss believes that they must have tortured Prim she is crushed, "My knees turn to water and I sink to the ground.  Finnick is trying to tell me something, but I can't hear him" (Catching Fire, 342).  Katniss is breaking in front of the audience in Panem and in front of the readers.  So not only are the readers getting the message that fear should crush you, but all rebellious district members looking for hope see their symbol of hope losing herself to fear.  Katniss is supposed to be a symbol of strength, so why would Collins show fear hinder her this much instead of showing Katniss regain control of herself and keep fighting on.  Collins even shows the weakness in Katniss mind as Katniss thinks, "I have an image of Prim in a white room, strapped to a table, while masked, robed figures elicit those sounds from her" (Catching Fire, 342).  Katniss is fully affected by these jabberjays, they have paralyzed her both mentally and physically through fear.  Collins use of fear is effective, but Roth retells it in a much more inspirational way. 
Within Divergent, there are many scenes that show a character facing their fears.  When Tobias climbs the ferris wheel with Tris he is facing his fear of heights.  Tori tatoos a black bird on her to remind her of her fear of darkness.  Tris, has to face her fears in real life and in a number of simulations.  The best scene to examine Tris fighting fear is during her fear landscapes.  That scene provides us with Roth's point that we can overcome fear despite how paralyzing or scary fear can be to us. While in the fear landscape, Tris encounters her seven biggest fears and must overcome each of them.  Bird swarm, drowning in a tank, drowning in a raging ocean, burned at the stake, kidnapping with intent of murder, intimacy, and having to shoot her parents and brother.  Fears like these are insanely frightening, and somehow Tris has to overcome these fears in a short amount of time.  Tris knows she can't be hindered by her fears saying, "I have to face the fear.  I have to take control of the situation and find a way to make it less frightening" (Divergent, 394).  Tris knows she can thrive in the face of fear because she never lets it control her.  Not only does she show bravery by fighting fear, but also by being brave and selfless.  Tris reveals her biggest fear, "My worst fear: that my family will die, and that I will be responsible" (Divergent, 395).  Tris under this fear is given the option to kill her family or die, instead she turns the gun on herself and pulls the trigger.  Sacrificing herself for her family is one of the bravest things anyone can do, and it is her Tris shows her selflessness.  Roth shows us through Tris fighting her fears that if this little girl can overcome her biggest fears, so can anyone else. 
 David R. Saliba has a perfect definition of fear that matches to our main characters, "Fear is the emotional response to the perception of an alternating loss of control and regaining of control. By 'control' I mean any conscious act of mind and body. The alternation between control and lack of it must occur in varying degrees of intensity and inconsistent periods of time. This alternation insures an element of surprise and keeps the perceiver off balance emotionally so that he cannot construct a set of mental expectations and thereby reimpose control" (Psychology of fear 5).

Both Katniss and Tris face perfect examples of Saliba's description of fear.  Katniss is surprised by the screams of Prim that come without warning.  Her being surprised causes her to lose control of her situation and she runs towards the screams to regain control.  Sadly, by trying to regain control, she puts Finnick and herself in a life threatening situation.  Fear has gripped Katniss and lead her into a probable death; Collins shows how fear has hindered Katniss and caused Katniss to fall victim to the surprise.  Roth's use of fear is much more inspiring in how Tris deals with her fears.  Tris can assume a few of her fears, but a few of them are surprising and new to her in the fear landscape.  So, if anyone were to argue that Tris knew what she was up against and Katniss was just thrown into her fear randomly, that is valid but false.  Yes, there a few situations that Tris faced during the simulations, but there are a few completely new ones as well.  When Tris opposes the faceless mangled men that try to kidnap her at her Abnegation home Tris says, "I have never faced this fear before" (Divergent, 390).  This new fear doesn't cause Tris to crumple like Katniss did, she regains control and beats her fear.  No matter the fear, Tris finds a way to conquer her fears and regain control.
	
President Franklin Roosevelt in his first inaugural address said, "We have nothing to fear but fear itself."  Roth seems to have taken Roosevelt's words and applied it to Divergent.  Readers must learn that the only fear he/she should have is being hindered in life by a fear.  Katniss and Collins taught the reader otherwise, but thankfully Roth was able to send a much better message.  So anyone who fears something in this world, go out and conquer it.  And even if you can't conquer it, atleast fight it.  Never let fear control life, instead control fear and enjoy life. 


