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I walk into my room, and when I close ht be sireat act of selflessness to choose Abnegation, or a great act of courage to choose Dauntless, andone over the other will prove that I belong Tole within me, and only one can win

CHAPTER FIVE

THE BUS WE take to get to the Choosing Cereray slacks A pale ring of sunlight burns into the clouds like the end of a lit cigarette I will never smoke one myself--they are closely tied to vanity--but a crowd of Candor set off the bus

I have to tilt my head back to see the top of the Hub, and even then, part of it disappears into the clouds It is the tallest building in the city I can see the lights on the two prongs on its roof from my bedroom

I follow my parents off the bus Caleb see to do Instead I get the distinct impression that rab his arm to steady myself as I walk up the front steps

The elevator is crowded, so ive a cluster of A hily We set an example for our fellow faction ulfed in the ht I settle into their pace The uniforeneity of the people around me makes me believe that I could choose this I could be subsu always outward

But then ain distracted by et to the Choosing Ceremony

My father holds the door open on the twentieth floor and stands like a sentry as every Abnegation walks past him 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 ed in concentric circles On the edges stand the sixteen-year-olds of every faction We are not called members yet; our decisions today will make us initiates, and ill becoe ourselves in alphabetical order, according to the last names we may leave behind today I stand between Caleb and Danielle Pohler, an Airl with rosy cheeks and a yellow dress

Rows of chairs for our faed in five sections, according to faction Not everyone in each faction coh of thee

The responsibility to conduct the ceremony rotates froation’s Marcus will give the opening address and read the names in reverse alphabetical order Caleb will choose before me

In the last circle are five e they could hold my entire body, if I curled up Each one contains a substance that represents each faction: gray stones for Abnegation, water for Erudite, earth for Alass for Candor

When Marcus calls my name, I alk to the center of the three circles I will not speak He will offer me a knife I will cut into my hand and sprinkle my blood into the bowl of the faction I choose

My blood on the stones My blood sizzling on the coals

Before my parents sit down, they stand in front of Caleb and me My father kisses

"See you soon," he says Without a trace of doubt

My s me, and what little resolve I have left al, where globe lanterns hang and fill the roo time, even after I let my hands fall Before she pulls away, she turns her head and whispers in my ear, "I love you No matter what"

I frown at her back as she walks away She knohat I ht do She must know, or she wouldn’t feel the need to say that

Caleb grabs htly it hurts, but I don’t let go The last time we held hands was at my uncle’s funeral, as th now, just as we did then

The roo the Dauntless; I should be taking in as much information as I can, but I can only stare at the lanterns across the roolow

Marcus stands at the podium between the Erudite and the Dauntless and clears his throat into theCeremony Welcome to the day we honor the democratic philosophy of our ancestors, which tells us that every ht to choose his oay in this world"

Or, it occurs to ers as hard as he is squeezing mine

"Our dependents are now sixteen 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 soleo our ancestors realized that it is not political ideology, religious belief, race, or nationalis world Rather, they determined that it was the fault of human personality--of humankind’s inclination toward evil, in whatever forht to eradicate those qualities they believed responsible for the world’s disarray"

My eyes shift to the bowls in the center of the room What do I believe? I do not know; I do not know; I do not know

"Those who blae smiles They are dressed comfortably, in red or yellow Every ti them has never been an option for norance beca out Erudite was the only part of my choice that was easy

"Those who blamed duplicity created Candor"

I have never liked Candor

"Those who blaation"

I blame selfishness; I do

"And those who blamed cowardice were the Dauntless"

But I a and I ao nuone out of them, and I wonder hoalk when ether, these five factions have lived in peace forto a different sector of society 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; A counselors and caretakers; and Dauntless provides us with protection from threats both within and without But the reach of each faction is not liive one another far more than can be adequately su, we find purpose, we find life"