Chapter 7

Lauren and Four lead all the initiates down a tunnel, the walls and ceiling is stone, lit at long intervals. Lauren takes the Dauntless-born initiates with her, while Four takes the transfers. Four introduces himself and introduces "The Pit" It's a huge underground cavern with uneven rock walls rising several stories, with places built into them to store supplies. Narrow paths connect them, with no barriers to keep people falling off the side. The roof of the Pit is made of glass, above it is a building that lets in sunlight. Blue lanterns dangle at random intervals above the stone paths. People dressed in black are everywhere, shouting, talking, and gesturing. Four introduces the chasm. Behind a railing, water roars, crashing against rocks several stories below. Four then leads them to the dining hall. The Dauntless inside, all applaud once the initiates walk in. This reminds me of Harry Potter :)

Christina and Tris sit next to Four. A platter of an unknown food sits before Tris. Four tells her that it's beef, to put ketchup on it. How does he know she's never had a hamburger before, how does he know that Abnegation don't eat hamburgers? A Dauntless leader named Eric walks toward their table, he is very young but age doesn't matter there. As he is introduced to Christina and Tris by Four, he says, "Oh a Stiff, We'll see how long you last." Eric and Four talk, they seem like rivals. Eric asks him why he won't meet with Max, who wants to give him a job. Four tells Eric that he has been satisfied with the position he holds, and has been for two years. After Eric leaves, Four explains that they were in the same initiate class, Eric was a transfer from Erudite. Tris questions Four on if he was a transfer, and he doesn't answer. He tells her to be careful, but she doesn't back down. Christina's theory is that Tris has a death wish! After dinner Eric, who volunteered to oversee some of the training, leads the initiates through some dark hallways and explains a few rules. You must be in the training room by 8 every day, training is 8-6, after 6 you can do whatever you want, no leaving the compound unless you are accompanied by a Dauntless. Eric then shows the initiates their dorms, and explains rankings. The rankings serve two purposes, it determines what order you will select jobs after initiation (only few jobs are desirable) and only the top ten initiates are made members. This means 6 people could not be members... I don' think that this is fair. Shouldn't the initiates be warned that they could end up factionless?? A lot of them probably wouldn't hae chose Dauntless if they knew they could end up factionless! I would think that the Dauntless would want more members, not less... but I think this just adds to Dauntless being mysterious and exclusive. The 9 initiates fall asleep, in the same room (awkward!!!) Tris starts to think about her family again. Will they come on visiting day? will they recognize me? Soon Tris hears sobbing, form the largest and broadest of the initiates. A candor boy named Al is sobbing. Tris explains how disgusted she is... this surprises me. She wants to comfort him but she realizes she doesn't have to anymore, she's not in abnegation. I haven't learned enough about Tris to know if she's Dauntless enough, but I for sure know she is not an abnegation... no matter how hard her parents tried to brainwash her into being one!

"The chasm reminds us that there is a fine line between braver and idiocy!" A daredevil jump off this ledge will end your life. It has happened before and it will happen again. You've been warned." -Four

Chapter 6

As Beatrice is leaving the compound, following the Dauntless, she sees her parents. Her father's eyes burn into hers with "accusation". I was pretty appalled by this, I knew her father would be dissapointed, but this act was selfish of him, and couldn't her parents suspect that Beatrice was not like the other Abngeation children? She didn't act like the others. Her mother smiled at her though, she probably knew what Beatrice would choose because she's her mother. She is more selfless then the father. Beatrice also sees her brother, he's happy, and it makes her stomach wrench seeing how easy it is for him. I think it was so easy for Caleb to act Abnegation, because he was so naturally smart. He knew the smart thing to do was to act Abnegation, do what he was told, make the right choices.
The Dauntless start running down the stairs, Beatrice thought that only Abnegation took the stairs, but Dauntless don't do it for the same reason Abnegation does it. They take the stairs because it's a wild act.   They run across the street, in front of cars, to the train tracks. Beatrice throws herself on the train, good thing she watched them do this so many times arriving to school otherwise she would be like the Erudite boy, he didn't even make it on the train.

On the train, Beatrice meets Christina, a Candor girl with dark brown skin, short hair, tall. 

 Beatrice thinks about her family, who will do the dishes tonight? Did Caleb always know that he would choose Erudite? 

Once it's time to jump out, they must jump onto a roof (the tracks are seven stories up). Christina and Beatrice jump off together. One boy doesn't jump, he fails initiation, another jumped but didn't make it... she lies dead on the pavement below. Beatrice forces herself to move on, which really surprises me because being in Abnegation there is no aggression. So, how could she move on so quickly, just witnessing what could have happened to her, watching someone die. This just proves that she was meant to be a Dauntless, this was a brave act. 

Checking a wound on her elbow, a boy named Peter says, "Ooh. Scandalous! A Stiff's flashing some skin!" Stiff is a slang for Abnegation, and Beatrice is the only stiff there.
A man named Max explains that he's a Dauntless leader. He explains that below is the compound, you must jump off the roof to get there, initiates first. No one wants to go first, Beatrice is proud and she makes her way to the ledge, knowing something has to be at the bottom. 

With laughs behind her, she jumps. She lands on a net. Rolling off, a man named Four catches her. He asks her name, "Think about it, you don't get to pick again." Beatrice thinks, a new name, a new placce, she will be remade here. "Tris." A crowd cheers for Tris, the first jumper, a stiff, that is something to remember! Christina jumps next, "Welcome to Dauntless!"

"that is how things work here. We do dangerous things and people die. People die, and we move on to the next dangerous thing. The sooner that lesson sinks it, the better chance I have at survivng initiation." -Beatrice

Chapter 5

It's Choosing day. Beatrice follows her parents and Caleb to the hub, and up the stairs (it would be selfish to take the elevator). Beatrice thinks about how her legs are getting sore, her struggle to breathe, climbing the twenty flights of stairs to the Choosing ceremony...


If Abnegation plays sports then they would be really good because they ignore how tired they are to help others!

 In the choosing ceremony, the sixteen year olds of every faction stand together, alphabetically. The families sit in chairs arranged by faction, I can't imagine how huge the crowd would have been since it's practically the whole city. Five metal bowls so huge that they could hold a person, sit in the last circle. Each one contains a substance that represents each faction:

Abnegation, who blames selfishness, are the leaders in government.

Erudite, who blames ignorance, are the teachers and researchers.

Amity, who blames aggression, are the counselors and caretakers.

Candor, who blames duplicity, are the leaders in law.

Dauntless, who blames Cowardice, are the protection from threats within and without.

Once your name is called, you must walk to the center of the three circles, not speaking, offered a knife from Marcus, and cut your hand. You choose which faction by sprinkling your blood in the bowl of your choice. Marcus makes his opening speech which sums up to say, welcome to the day we honor our ancestors that decided that it is not political ideology, religious belief, race, or nationalism that is to blame for a warring world but fault of human personality-of humankind's inclination toward evil, in whatever form that is. They divided into factions that sought to eradicate those qualities they believed responisble for the world's disarray. The ceremony begins and Caleb's name is soon called, he chooses Erudite!!! The Erudite probably love the fact Caleb joined, betraying Abnegation who are now their enemy. Beatrice now knows she must choose Abnegation, she has to after what her brother just did, but she doesn't! She goes with her instinct, Dauntless.

Chapter 4

Caleb finds Beatrice sitting on the front step. Worried, Caleb and Susan ask what is wrong with her and Beatrice lies. Beatrice later tells Caleb that something happened but she can not tell him what. He seems to agree and does not tell their parents.. During dinner, the father speaks about the faction Erudite. He speaks about how valuing knowledge results in a lust for power and about how devestating it is when a Abnegation leaves their faction. Beatrice questions what faction she shall choose and suprisingly, Caleb tells Beatrice to think of herself. Beatrice and Caleb have a lot of thinking to do before choosing day, the next day. Caleb will definitely stick with his parents and choose Abnegation, Beatrice I can't think the same.

"It will require a grreat act of selflessness to choose Abnegation, or a great act of courage to choose Dauntless, and maybe just choosing one over the other will prove that I belong." -Beatrice

Chapter 3

Beatrice awakes in the testing room, this time for real. The Dauntless women giving Beatrice her test looks perplexed. She tells Beatrice that she will be with her in a moment. This leaves Beatrice iand myself! full of questions and concerns, considering even the worse, being factionless. Factionless means to live divorced from society, pretty much on the streets! The Dauntless women soon comes back to the testing room to tell Beatrice the news that her test results were inconclusive. The simulation was suppose to help rule out the factions. Since Beatrice refused to pick the knife or cheese, and told the man no, this provide examples for many different factions. Beatrice is Divergent, this information she must tell no one, not even her parents! Beatrice goes home from school, she has a lot of thinking to do for choosing day the next day. Why can't Beatrice tell her parents that she is Divergent?? Do many become Divergent??

"Choose wisely, little girl." -Factionless man

Chapter 2

Beatrice sits in the cafeteria, waiting to take her aptitude test. She describes the different factions. The Dauntless laugh, shout, and are playing cards (the brave). The Erudite talk to each other about books and newspapers (the intelligent). The Amity are playing a kind of game involving slapping each others hands (the peaceful). The Candor are arguing over some issue (the honest). The Abnegation table sits quietly and waits. When it's Beatrice's turn to take her test, she is beyond nervous still. She follows a Dauntless women to a room with mirrors as its walls. The Dauntless women is kind and has Beatrice drink a vial. Beatrice closes her eyes, opens them again and she is standing in the cafeteria again. She sees a basket containing a knife and cheese. An unknown voice behind her yells at her to choose! A growling dog soon makes its way towards her, ready to attack. Beatrice does not choose the knife or the cheese, she instead carefully lays down in front of the dog! The dog then stops growling and licks Beatrice. A few moments later, a little girl appears. The dog then makes the little girl a target but Beatrice jumps in front of the girl to save her from the wrath of the deadly dog. She falls to the ground, the dog and girl have dissapeared. She is now back in the testing room alone, until she makes her way out the door and finds herself on a bus. A man on the bus holds a newspaper with a murderer on the front page. Beatrice recognizes the murderer. The man asks Beatrice if she recognizes the man, he tells her it could save his life if she did recognize him. Beatrice had a bad feeling about telling the truth, so she said no. I learned a lot more about Beatrice in this chapter, she is witty, sensible, but I can also see the Abnegation in her, I'm not sure which faction she will choose, she seems like she is a little of each!

"Can't tell you that, Just trust me." -Tori the Dauntless test giver

Chapter 1

In chapter one, the main characters are introduced. I start to understand Beatrice and her lifestyle as an Abnegation. One rule shown in chapter one, is that, Beatrice is not suppose to look at herself because that would be against her faction, Abnegation. Beatrice's mother cuts her hair in the one mirror that they do have in their house. Beatrice is caught looking at herself while her mother is cutting her hair, which she would usually get scolded for but not today because today was the day she would take her aptitude test. This part made me start to think that their whole city is very strict, maybe no modern technology, very plain. Beatrice and her brother, Caleb, make their way to school. Beatrice observes how her and her brother differ. She takes note on how selflessness comes so easy to Caleb. She is very worried for the aptitude test she has at school today, Caleb is not. Beatrice then questions other factions and what it would be like to be them which makes me realize that the whole country or city is not like Caleb and Beatrice are. Whatever the aptitude test does, Beatrice really needs or wants to pass it, I'm guessing to stay in her faction Abnegation. A few questions rose in my mind for this first chapter. What exactly is a faction? How does the aptitude test further affect you, other then showing what faction you belong to?

"Today is the day of the aptitude test that will show me which of the five factions I belong in." -Beatrice