I hear my name and a shudder propels me forward. Marcus stands at the podium between the Erudite and the Dauntless and clears his throat into the microphone. For Beatrice Prior, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is. I watch his feet move to the center of the room, and his hands, steady as they accept the knife from Marcus, are deft as one presses the knife into the other. I clench my jaw and stare up at the ceiling, where globe lanterns hang and fill the room with blue light. If Caleb wasn’t fit for Abnegation, how can I be? Marcus adds, “Apart from them, we would not survive.” time will pass, and the hole will be gone, like when an organ is removed and the body’s fluids flow into the space it leaves. I watch her blood droplets fall on soil, and she stands behind their seats alone. Each one contains a substance that represents each faction: gray stones for Abnegation, water for Erudite, earth for Amity, lit coals for Dauntless, and glass for Candor. Gritting my teeth, I drag the blade down. My footsteps falter. I will never smoke one myself—they are closely tied to vanity—but a crowd of Candor smokes them in front of the building when we get off the bus. “Welcome,” he says. My father kisses my forehead and claps Caleb on the shoulder, grinning. The room is arranged in concentric circles. I would wait for him, but the crowd presses me forward, out of the stairwell and into the room where I will decide the rest of my life. He breathes deeply—I watch his chest rise—and, as he exhales, accepts the knife. My blood sizzling on the coals. I can see it now. It stings, but I barely notice. My father holds the door open on the twentieth floor and stands like a sentry as every Abnegation walks past him. It is heavy with our worst fear, greater even than the fear of death: to be factionless. I can barely think straight. I think of the motto I read in my Faction History text- “And those who blamed cowardice were the Dauntless.” Instead I get the distinct impression that my heart will burst out of my chest any minute now, and I grab his arm to steady myself as I walk up the front steps. “Those who blamed selfishness made Abnegation.” He will offer me a knife. won’t, because he left them. They are dressed comfortably, in red or yellow. It is the tallest building in the city. The responsibility to conduct the ceremony rotates from faction to faction each year, and this year is Abnegation’s. Koko Books But then my legs get sore, and I struggle to breathe, and I am again distracted by myself. The silence that follows his words is heavier than other silences. And then he holds his hand over the Erudite bowl, and his blood drips into the water, turning it a deeper shade of red. We need each other’s strength now, just as we did then. Every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. I will cut into my hand and sprinkle my blood into the bowl of the faction I choose. The first faction transfer. When I close my eyes, I see the stack of books on Caleb’s desk, and his shaking hands sliding along his legs after the aptitude test. Then he drags it across his palm with a jerk and holds his arm out to the side. I will be the child that stays; I have to do this for my parents. Without a trace of doubt. Humans can’t tolerate emptiness for long. “James Tucker,” Marcus says. Then he stands with blood pooling in his palm, and his lip snags on his teeth. I have never liked Candor. Abnegation: The Selfless - Faction Manifesto, Erudite: The Intelligent - Faction Manifesto. My blood on the stones. No matter what.” They are arranged in five sections, according to faction. I scan the crowd of the Erudite—they wear smug smiles and nudge each other. He stares back at me and nods a little, like he knows what I’m thinking, and agrees. She holds me for what feels like a long time, even after I let my hands fall. I do not know; I do not know; I do not know. hallways, and he will be a space they can’t fill. Then, with a gasp I can’t contain, I shift my hand forward, and my blood sizzles on the coals. “Welcome to the Choosing Ceremony. “Excuse me,” says Marcus, but the crowd doesn’t hear him. I recognize most of them, but I doubt they know me. The novel is the first of the Divergent trilogy, a series of young adult dystopian novels set in a Divergent Universe. We set an example for our fellow faction members, and soon the three of us are engulfed in the mass of gray fabric ascending cement stairs in the half light. I blame selfishness; I do. Ruling out Erudite was the only part of my choice that was easy. I frown at her back as she walks away. I can see the lights on the two Marcus will give the opening address and read the names in reverse alphabetical order. Caleb seems calm, but so would I, if I knew what I was going to do. My legs go numb, like all the life has gone out of them, and I wonder how I will walk when my name is called. “Decades ago our ancestors realized that it is not political ideology, religious belief, race, or nationalism that is to blame for a warring world. Before my parents sit down, they stand in front of Caleb and me. They will see him as a traitor from now on. When he stands in the center, he looks from the Dauntless bowl to the Candor bowl—the orange flames that rise higher each moment, and the glass reflecting blue light. I am selfish. I stand between Caleb and Danielle Pohler, an Amity girl with rosy cheeks and a yellow dress. We arrange ourselves in alphabetical order, according to the last names we may leave behind today. They stand on the precipice of adulthood, and it is now up to them to decide what kind of people they will be.” Marcus’s voice is solemn and gives equal weight to each word. Marcus offers him the knife. On the edges stand the sixteen-year-olds of every faction. James Tucker of the Dauntless is the first person to stumble on his way to the bowls. Why didn’t I realize that when he told me to think of myself yesterday, he was also giving that advice to himself? I try to lose myself in the blue glow. He nods, and I turn toward the bowls. My blood drips onto the carpet between the two bowls. We climb the stairs instead, following him unquestioningly. A round of applause. Divergent (Chapter 5) Lyrics The bus we take to get to the Choosing Ceremony is full of people in gray shirts and gray slacks . I will not speak. The room is constantly moving, a new name and a new person choosing, a new knife and a new choice. What do I believe? In the world of Divergent, society is divided into five factions – Candor, Abnegation, Dauntless, Amity and Erudite. Amazon The Traitor book. “Those who blamed duplicity created Candor.” Before she pulls away, she turns her head and whispers in my ear, “I love you. The uniform pounding of feet in my ears and the homogeneity of the people around me makes me believe that I could choose this. Welcome to the day we honor the democratic philosophy of our ancestors, which tells us that every man has the right to choose his own way in this world.” One by one, each sixteen-year-old steps out of line and walks to the middle of the room. I have to. More than family, our factions are where we belong. My mother hugs me, and what little resolve I have left almost breaks. When Marcus calls my name, I will walk to the center of the three circles. His blood falls onto glass, and he is the first of us to switch factions. I look at Caleb, who now stands behind the Erudite. The Abnegation, normally so placid, speak to one another in tense whispers and glare across the room at the faction that has become our enemy. Divergent (Divergent #1) In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue--Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). Rows of chairs for our families make up the next circle. The room slowly comes to order. Dauntless fire and Abnegation stones are both on my left, one in front of my shoulder and one behind. Marcus reads the first names, but I can’t tell one syllable from the other. I try to stand completely still, because if my knees are locked and my body is stiff, I don’t shake. Read 610 reviews from the world's largest community for reader… She must know, or she wouldn’t feel the need to say that. Sainsbury’s. My brother, my selfless brother, a faction transfer? Or, it occurs to me, one of five predetermined ways. My brother, born for Abnegation, Erudite? Sixteen years of trying and I am not enough. Marcus continues, “Therefore this day marks a happy occasion—the day on which we receive our new initiates, who will work with us toward a better society and a better world.” The bus we take to get to the Choosing Ceremony is full of people in gray shirts and gray slacks, political ideology, religious belief, race, or nationalism. The first girl to choose decides on Amity, the same faction from which she came. And then in. We give one another far more than can be adequately summarized. Caleb will choose before me. Divergent is the debut novel of American novelist Veronica Roth, published by Harper Collins Children's Books in 2011. His absence will haunt their The room goes silent. I hear mutters that lift into outraged cries. Abnegation has fulfilled our need for selfless leaders in government; Candor has provided us with trustworthy and sound leaders in law; Erudite has supplied us with intelligent teachers and researchers; Amity has given us understanding counselors and caretakers; and Dauntless provides us with protection from threats both within and without. He shouts, “Quiet, please!” Ruling out Erudite was the only part of my choice that was easy. Nook A pale ring of sunlight burns into the clouds like the end of a lit cigarette. But what choice do I have, now that he left us and I’m the only one who remains? I look into his eyes—they are dark blue, a strange color—and take it. A mutter rises from the Dauntless section, and I stare at the floor. “Those who blamed ignorance became the Erudite.” I should be observing the Dauntless; I should be taking in as much information as I can, but I can only stare at the lanterns across the room. Can that possibly be right? He throws his arms out and regains his balance before hitting the floor. We have to climb twenty flights of stairs to get to the Choosing Ceremony. I open my eyes and thrust my arm out. Marcus offers me my knife. I squeeze Caleb’s fingers as hard as he is squeezing mine. I could be subsumed into Abnegation’s hive mind, projecting always outward. Caleb grabs my hand, squeezing my palm so tightly it hurts, but I don’t let go. I set my jaw. My eyes shift to the bowls in the center of the room. She knows what I might do. “See you soon,” he says. Every time I see them, they seem kind, loving, free. How will I know when he calls my name? I settle into their pace. But joining them has never been an option for me. We are not called members yet; our decisions today will make us initiates, and we will become members if we complete initiation. The bus we take to get to the Choosing Ceremony is full of people in gray shirts and gray slacks. Not everyone in each faction comes to the Choosing Ceremony, but enough of them come that the crowd looks huge. In our factions, we find meaning, we find purpose, we find life.” It sounds muffled. I am brave. Her choice shocks everyone, including herself. “Our dependents are now sixteen. I hold both hands to my chest, and my next breath shudders on the way out. book: Faction before blood. I follow my parents off the bus. The last time we held hands was at my uncle’s funeral, as my father cried. He breathes out. I have to tilt my head back to see the top of the Hub, and even then, part of it disappears into the clouds. prongs on its roof from my bedroom window. They divided into factions that sought to eradicate those qualities they believed responsible for the world’s disarray.” Except for a ringing sound. I hold the knife in my right hand and touch the blade to my palm. Caleb squeezes my hand one last time, and as he walks away, casts a long look at me over his shoulder. iBook But I am not selfless enough.

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