Chapter Four - The One Where A Decision Must Be Made

Tris feels that her father
is pressuring her to choose
Abnegation

The most important rule when it comes to the Aptitude Test is to not tell anyone the results of the test. And that means anyone. She couldn't tell her mom, dad, or Caleb anything about the test. This was eating at Tris because she was very nervous about being Divergent and was dying to get some clarity on what exactly it all meant. Tris knows the easy thing to do is to stay in Abnegation, but also realizes that maybe she should consider the other factions as well. I agree with this reasoning. I feel that it is important for her to survey all of her options before making her decision. It would be terrible to make a choice and regret it for the rest of your life.

"Beatrice... We should think of our family... But. But we must also think of ourselves."

Another important event in this chapter is the report by an Erudite attacking the character of Tris' father's coworker, Marcus. Tris' father is a member of the government, which is almost solely comprised of Abnegation members. Having selfless people in charge of the government sounds like a decently safe bet to me. With people thinking of everybody else before themselves, it would make sense that they would be the ideal people to make sound decisions. However, the Erudite don't believe that at all.

Erudite: The Intelligent

The Erudite are the faction that value intelligence. The Erudite and Abnegation have one of (if not) the most heated rivalries between the five factions. The Erudite believe that they should be in control of the government, not Abnegation. There is only one representative of Erudite in the government: Jeanine Matthews. She was selected to become the Erudite representative solely based on her IQ. Jeanine was the person who made the report attacking Marcus' character. The rivalry the two factions have makes sense to me. I understand why the intelligent would want to be in control of the government as they see themselves as intellectually superior to the other factions and feel they would make smarter decisions than the ones Abnegation are making. I have a feeling the tension between these two factions will become more intense in the coming chapers (hint, hint...... again).

"Valuing knowledge above all else results in a lust for power, and that leads men into dark and empty places. We should be thankful that we know better."