Insurgent Club - Fear and Fear Landscapes

If you've read Divergent you are already aware that fear plays a huge part in not only the story, but in becoming  part of the Dauntless faction. Initiates must pass what is referred to as a 'fear landscape' in order to become a full fledged member of Dauntless. A simulated exercise in overcoming your fear, the landcapes make you face your worst nightmares.

Fear itself is used a tool throughout the novel. Eric uses it to intimidate, other initiates use it to gain an edge and psyche out the competition. Fear has the power to impact different people in different ways. Some freeze up under it, other come alive and react going on the adrenaline rush that it can create.. Tris is a true Dauntless in that she excels when faced with these situations. She remains strong, brave and in control.

I thought it might be interesting to think about what would be in my fear landscape.

I have a very severe fear of frogs. It stems from my early childhood, and I've always been terrified of them. I would expect either huge oversized frogs, or a crowd of very tiny ones to assault me for sure.

Drowning is a huge fear of mine. Being stranded in the middle of an ocean or something equates to one of my biggest fears. Sharks, drowning, and the knowledge that you have nowhere to go is pretty crippling.

I am also pretty sure I would face being chased by someone down a dark alley. Basically any situation that has someone following me would be something that would cause fear.

Now I have two brave bloggers that have been kind enough to tell me what their fearlandscape would look like.

First up the fantastic Brodie from Eleusinian Mysteries talks what scares her -

In theory, I find I'm as badass as Four with only four fears, but in reality I'm willing to bet the simulation presents me with a dozen more nightmares. I'm hardly dauntless material! First, I'd find myself laying in a tub. Full. Of. Cockroaches. Scuttling all over my body, my face, in my mouth and no matter how much I try, there's no way to bat them all away or get rid of that dirty feeling on my skin *SHUDDER* Second, I'd be faced with both a form of public humiliation (everyone's probing eyes locked on ME in a most crushing moment) and then something that involves loss of control. Even things like alcohol are a big no-no for me because the idea of not being 100% aware and in control of myself, scares the crap out of me. Lastly, would come the big one. Drowning. The whole NOT BREATHING PART is what terrifies me. I failed all my swimming lessons as a child because I couldn't handle having my head underwater for even a second. The past recent years, there's been some terrible floods sweep across Australia (in summer!), with water rising above the roofs of houses. I think my fear landscape would find me in the midst of one of those, without a damn boat to escape.

The awesome Christy from The Reader Bee is up next with her fearlandscape details

Well, my biggest fear would have to be running out of books. haha! Seriously though, I have a lot of phobias, one of my worst being claustrophobia. The thought of being stuck in a confined space, or even a semi-confined space, makes my heart race and makes me nauseous. There are also, of course, my fear of spiders and snakes. But the claustrophobia is definitely the worst.

This all got me thinking about some of our beloved fictional characters and what might be in their fear landscapes.

Katniss Everdeen

I think Katniss would face someone she loved having to take part in the Hunger Games. I don't think Katniss would fear harm coming to herself, but others would be a concern for her. I also think she might be slightly afraid of failure.

Harry Potter

Harry is brave, I doubt there is much that would cause him fear. His friends dying and him not being able to do anything would be up there. I also would like to think that he would have some silly fear equal to Ron's spider fear that would sneak in there. We also know that Harry really only fears fear itself so that would most likely come into play as well.

Ron Weasley

SPIDERS! They would be huge gigantic spiders. I also think Hermoine loving someone else would be in there. I think Harry dying (or another member of his family) would be in there as well.

Veronica successfully used fear as a means to drive plot, enhance characters, and provide motivation. It shows was a powerful emotion it can be - for anyone.

Let me know in the comments what might be in your fear landscape!

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Giveaway

Harper Canada is sponsoring a CANADIAN ONLY giveaway. Win a copy of Divergent AND Insurgent simply by commenting on any of the Insurgent Club posts. Each post you comment on will get you one entry (up to 4 total by commenting on each post). Good luck and a winner will be drawn on May 14th. *be sure to leave a way to contact you if you win in the comments*

To visit the other posts visit these links

Stuck in YA Books - Why I Love Divergent post

Esther's Ever After - Factions post

The Hardcover Obsession - Guys of Divergent post