What is the choosing ceremony in divergent

About the Aptitude Test: Tests cannot be administered by a member of the same faction as the test-taker. Test preparation is not allowed. The rooms where the tests are administered are used only for the Aptitude Test. The walls in the room are made of mirrors and the ceiling glows white with light. In the center of the room is a reclined chair that looks like a dentist’s chair. There is a machine next to it. After being instructed to sit in the seat, they are attached to the machine by wires and given a vial of clear liquid to drink. The test consists of a series of simulations that eliminates the factions one by one, leaving them with a single faction. The remaining faction at the end of the test is their recommended faction.

At the Choosing Ceremony the next day, they must each choose which faction to become a member of. They can chose to stay with their faction and remain near their family or to change factions and leave behind all that they know. The results of the Aptitude Test are taken into account, but the ultimate decision is left up to them.

During the ceremony, they are called up one at a time to the center of the room where five large metal bowls are located. Each bowl is filled with a substance that represents a particular faction: gray stone for Abnegation, water for Erudite, earth for Amity, lit coals for Dauntless, and glass for Candor. They are not allowed to speak. They are offered a knife and asked to cut their hand and sprinkle their blood over the bowl of the faction they choose. Once they have selected a faction, they stand in a group behind their chosen faction for the remainder of the ceremony.

Without a Faction, we have no purpose and no reason to live. – Natalie Prior.”

“The faction system reflects my beliefs about human nature—that we can make even something as well-intentioned as virtue into an idol, or an evil thing. And that virtue as an end unto itself is worthless to us….everyone in Beatrice’s society believes that virtue is the end, the answer.”

When asked what the advantages to the society that she’s created in Divergent are, Veronica responded:

“All the advantages I see only seem like advantages to me because I live in our current society. For example, the members of their society don’t focus on certain things: race, religion, sexual orientation, political affiliation, etc. I mean, a world in which you look different from the majority and no one minds? That sounds good to me. But when I think about it more, I realize that they’re doing the exact same thing we do, but with different criteria by which to distinguish ourselves from others. Instead of your skin color, it’s the color of your shirt that people assess, or the results of your aptitude test. Same problem, different system.”

“I have been asked in the past if I made the words [for the names of the factions] up. I didn’t, but I did intentionally choose unfamiliar words, for an assortment of reasons. One of them is that I wanted to slow down comprehension of what each faction stands for, so you learn as much by observing as by the name of the faction itself. Another is that the definitions of the more obscure words are more specific, in interesting ways. And a third is (since I’m being honest, here) that they sound cooler.

People have also asked me why the faction names are different parts of speech– three nouns (Candor, Amity, Abnegation) and two adjectives (Dauntless, Erudite). (For the record, I love this kind of grammar consciousness.) I am aware of that, and it was something I thought about in revisions. The reason for the discrepancy is that each faction chose their own names independently, just as they wrote their own manifestos independently, and formed their own customs and rules independently (to a certain extent, anyway). Keeping that in mind, I tried to pick the words that made the most sense for each faction without considering the other factions too much.”

Analysis: Chapters 4 – 6

In these chapters, readers are given a clearer sense of daily life in Abnegation. The faction doesn’t just prioritize humility, it demands it. All of its social norms and requirements – identical houses, simple clothing and hairstyles, limitations on public affection – force people to downplay their individual needs and desires on behalf of the collective good. The faction also plays a central role in the political system. Beatrice’s fictional society assumes that the selfless members of Abnegation make the best political leaders. However, Beatrice’s father reveals that this arrangement has begun to cause tension. Specifically, the Erudite feel that their intelligence is a valuable political asset and have begun attacking the council, which is composed entirely of Abnegation members. These troubling details foreshadow worsening problems between the factions.

Marcus’s speech at the Choosing Ceremony reveals more about the historical rationale for the factions. Decades ago, social leaders decided that war was caused by evils within the human personality, not external forces. This led them to attempt to eliminate the human traits that caused violence. It’s notable that his speech focuses on the desire to eliminate bad traits rather than cultivate good ones. He goes on to say that the arrangement created pools of talent for different occupations, but he doesn’t acknowledge the system’s obvious downsides. The factions separate people into rigid categories, forcing each to cultivate a single virtue at the expense of all others. And even though the factions have lived in peace for decades, their separation invites competition and distrust. The negative reports Erudite has been releasing about Abnegation foreshadow the breakdown of the system amidst worsening faction relationships.

Because Beatrice tells the story in first person, readers experience her inner turmoil firsthand. She is clearly unsure of her proper place both within her family and in society as a whole. As she describes Abnegation, we learn that she respects her faction and finds comfort in its rituals and routines. However, she increasingly chafes at its restrictions. Her sense of alienation will lead her to join the Dauntless faction, in many ways Abnegation’s opposite.

Beatrice is especially sensitive to the personality gap between herself and her brother, Caleb. She considers him a model Abnegation citizen and resents his natural unselfishness. Even though they are in the same grade, he is slightly older, and he acts like an elder sibling. He rebukes Beatrice when she speaks out of turn at dinner, and later he gives her advice about the Choosing Ceremony. Her surprise at Caleb’s decision to switch to Erudite reveals that she isn’t an entirely reliable narrator. Her conclusions about others are often influenced by her own self-concern. For example, the stack of books on Caleb’s desk might have alerted her to Caleb’s Erudite aspirations, but she’s so anxious about her own choice that she doesn’t think about what the books might mean.

The Choosing Ceremony forces Beatrice to confront her conflicted feelings head on, and her desire to break free wins out. She feels guilty about leaving her family, especially since Caleb has also chosen a new faction, but she has convinced herself she is too selfish to stay in Abnegation. As she cuts her hand and drips blood over the coals, she observes, “I am selfish. I am brave.” The statement suggests she can’t imagine being both brave and unselfish. Indeed, the inflexible social order has made choosing a new faction a traumatic experience. Unlike in contemporary American society, in the novel, adolescence means physically leaving one’s family and beginning an entirely new life.

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