Chapter Three - The One With The Test Results

In this chapter, Beatrice's aptitude test is finished and she receives her results from Tori. At first, Tori tells Beatrice that the results are "perplexing". I found this to be kind of strange because I was assuming that the aptitude test results are pretty straight forward, but it turns out that in Beatrice's case they were everything but straight forward.

Now we know how it got its name. Or do we?

Tori erased the results from the computer and reentered them manually. Why would she do that? Tori then informs Beatrice that the results reveal that she is Divergent. Ah. Now we know how the book got its name.

But what exactly is Divergent? Beatrice doesn't even know. Tori informs Beatrice that her results came back inconclusive and that she was equally strong in multiple different categories, which is very rare. The results rule out Candor and Amity, leaving Abnegation, Erudite, and Dauntless to choose from. Beatrice is still not completely sure what being Divergent really means; all she knows is that, according to Tori, being Divergent is very dangerous and she is not to tell anyone about her results. Apparently it is so important to keep being Divergent a secret that Tori recorded Beatrice's results as Abnegation just to keep her safe.

"It's my choice now, no matter what the test says. Abnegation. Dauntless. Erudite. Divergent."

After the test, Beatrice walks home. Along the way, she goes through the factionless sector. The factionless are all of the people who failed the initiation of whatever faction they had chosen. The factionless are the ones who do all of the undesirable jobs; they become janitors, construction workers, garbage collectors, etc. The factionless remind me a lot of the homeless people in our society. Just like homeless people, the factionless were unable to successfully find their niche in society and then were delegated to live empty lives.

The man Beatrice encountered was missing
his front teeth

Anyway, back to Beatrice. She meets a factionless man on her way home. The man asks her if she can spare him something to eat. Initially, she wants to ignore him, but that wouldn't be the Abnegation thing to do. She offers the man some food she had with her, but the man instead grabs her by the wrist. The man starts to say very creepy things to her, as if he is hitting on her. It's kind of gross. She imagines elbowing the man and running away, but he is still gripping her wrist. The man thinks she is very young, but Beatrice informs him that she is sixteen. The man then realizes that she has a big decision to make the next day. He takes the apples and releases her wrist.

"Choose wisely, little girl."