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The following discussion question was included in some copies of the June book of the month, Divergent by Veronica Roth.

How does initiation change and transform Tris? Do you think she made the right faction choice? How do you think she might have changed if she had chosen one of the other factions?

Tris made the only choice available to her in those conditions. I think she made the right faction choice because she fitted into the Dauntless. Initiation changed her by making her stronger, braver and smarter than before. It prepared her for the uprising as well. If Tris had chosen some other faction, she wouldn’t have been as happy. She felt right at home in Dauntless, more than Four.

I do think she made the right choice. It was the faction where her heart was. It obviously wasn't with Abnegation. I think she would have been bored at Erudite and always itching for the activity and adventure that she got in Dauntless.

I agree that Tris definitely made the right faction choice for herself. Dauntless fit in with her personality and her desires. In the beginning when she was still in Abnegation, she felt like she didn't belong, like she was a misfit. She also constantly admired the Dauntless members from afar, when she watched them jump from the train to go to school, and climb buildings. She clearly always wanted the adventure and lifestyle the Dauntless members lived through so I definitely think she made the right choice for herself.

I feel like Tris made the only choice that could train hear to be the person she wanted and not the person who she was forced to be in Abnegation. I feel like had she stayed in Abnegation she would've ended up being found out anyways just because of how the story ended. That being said, I can't really back my opinion up much more than that as I haven't read the sequels.

gali wrote:Tris made the only choice available to her in those conditions. I think she made the right faction choice because she fitted into the Dauntless. Initiation changed her by making her stronger, braver and smarter than before. It prepared her for the uprising as well. If Tris had chosen some other faction, she wouldn’t have been as happy. She felt right at home in Dauntless, more than Four.

I completely agree with this post. If Tris had joined another faction, she would not have met Four, Christina, Will or the other friends, who helped develop her as a person. Plus, the story would not have been as dramatic and it would have ruined a good book. The author was smart to put Tris in Dauntless, because it helped to describe and develop Tris' character against a dynamically opposite back drop of what was expected of her character.

Tris definitely made the right choice. In many ways, she seemed much better suited to Dauntless than Four, and we all saw how good he was. I don't think she would have fully belonged in any other faction, although I hesitate to say that because I almost feel that she could have been very successful in Erudite (and enjoyed it). But that would have ruined the whole story! lol!

I think it was her destiny to make that choice. She was everything all at once but the conditions she grew up in were the polar opposite of Dauntless so i think for the whole story to work she had to choose that faction and it worked better for her than any of the other factions could have.

I think it was more due to the fact that she was a Divergent that made it seem effortless on her part to choose Dauntless. Tris didn't like her first faction and it was clear that she didn't like the selfless mentality either. This is just a clear example of teenage rebelliousness and she chose the most exciting of the factions.

I do believe that Tris made the right choice. She fit into Dauntless quickly and easily. Not only did initiation make Tris stronger, but wiser and more courageous as well. She comments several times about being in the right faction. I definitely believe that she fits into this faction better than she would have fit into any other.

I believe Tris made the right choice, she's Divergent and Dauntless was the best Faction for her. If she knew that she had to fight for what was right, dauntless would train her for it. In any other faction she would not have reached her full potential, especially Abnegation. If she had stayed there, she would have been a victim of the Dauntless Simulation and would not have been able to save those people. But she is still fragile, under the mask. Will's death still haunts her in the third book and stops her from holding a gun. On the other hand she risked her life to save the other Divergent's in the Second Book.

I do think that Dauntless was the best choice for Tris. Being raised Abnegation meant she was used to putting others before herself (part of what I feel Dauntless stands for). She always felt like something was missing and that she needed a challenge. She was never going to get that with Abnegation. Dauntless challenged her to become her very best self.

She made the right choice. She fitted in. She made friends and felt a sense of achievement and exhilaration during the initiation. Her inner self is not being repressed as it would have been in Abnegation.

I feel like Tris did make the right decision by choosing Dauntless. Being Divergent she didn't fit in perfectly to any one faction. She never displayed any qualities of Candor so that was easily ruled out. She didn't yearn for knowledge and learning like the Erudite. And she wasn't selfless enough to be in Abnegation. I feel the only other sector she would have been able to hide her Divergence better would be Amity. Although, I don't think it would have been an initial top for her I think with her gifts she might have been able to make that work. Of course, then it would have been a different novel, no Four or a different Four.

I do think she made the right choice. If she chose Abnegation, she never would have found her true self. She isn't just selfless. She is courageous. Her story would have been much different is she just stayed in Abnegation and tried to fit in.