Book Spoilers
I've read Divergent, Insurgent, and about 300 pages into Allegiant. I know that I risk spoilers but I want to see what other people think. I assume if you're on this subreddit you've already gotten to this topic, but I'm here so I put a Spoiler tag.
If you've read to this point, you know by now that Marcus Eaton was aggressive and abusive towards Four and his mother (a.k.a Tobais Eaton and Evelyn Johnson-Eaton).
My question is— where did Marcus get this from? Was it the result of abusive behaviour passed down from generation to generation (did his father or mother abuse him)?
Did he have some type of tramautic experience? Is it views passed down from him to his faction that became warped in his mind? Does he have a natural tendency towards violence? Is he just f-ed up? Or maybe the reason for his abusive behaviour was just overlooked by Roth?
I know I should probably be patient and finish Allegiant and Four but I am ITCHING for a conversation on this. I might just leave this convo to go on without me then come back once I'm done (assuming I get any responses).
I'm not sure if we get to know this at the end of Allegiant or in Four (the book), but if it does please tell me and I will delete this post. :)
edit: clarity
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We don't really dive into Marcus, but the way he talks(this is for your own good, etc) makes me think he truly believes what he's saying - maybe he was raised the same way.
Yeah that's exactly what I was thinking. It feels like he doesn't even know what he did wrong— like "he was just trying to raise a selfless man" or something.
Yeah, exactly. Like he saw beating four as a selfless act
I haven’t read the books in a while, but I think it’s discussed a little bit further in Four in terms of his treatment towards Tobias. Not letting him socialize with the Abnegation community or be present when Marcus’s colleagues come over, etc. because Marcus is the head of the council and he doesn’t want Tobias to ruin his reputation. I don’t think it ever gives a real reason why he might think he would ruin his reputation though, or where/how Marcus learned to be so abusive. Probably because the text is from the perspective of Four/Tris and they don’t know where it comes from.
I don't think it's ever mentioned, but I'm also curious about his history with Joanna Reyes as well. She seems like she has a good back story we never find out