Beatrice "Tris" Prior Quotes

I nod. Four told me that Eric's vision for Dauntless is not what it's supposed to be, but I wish he would tell me exactly what he thinks the right vision is. I get glimpses of it every so often—the Dauntless cheering when I jumped off the building, the net of arms that caught me after zip lining—but they are not enough. Has he read the Dauntless manifesto? Is that what he believes in—in ordinary acts of bravery? (21.98)

This vision of the politics within the Dauntless faction tells us that there's a little fight going on over whether Dauntless should choose competition or teamwork as their main goal. So even though all the Dauntless have already made their One Big Choice, they've still got some littler choices to make about what that One Big Choice really stands for.

The faction members are milling around everywhere. Erudite faction norms dictate that a faction member must wear at least one blue article of clothing at a time, because blue causes the body to release calming chemicals, and "a calm mind is a clear mind." The color has also come to signify their faction. It seems impossibly bright to me now. I have grown used to dim lighting and dark clothing. (28.14)

There's that phrase again: "faction norms." What's fun about this moment where Tris invades the Erudite library looking for her brother is that she notes the Erudite norms (wearing blue) and talks about that a fair bit; and then she very briefly mentions how weird this looks to her because she's used to "dim lighting and dark clothes." Why is used to that? Well, because that's the norm of Dauntless faction.

I release the trigger of my gun and drop it. Before I can lose my nerve, I turn and press my forehead to the barrel of the gun behind me.

Shoot me instead.

"One!"

I hear a click, and a bang. (30.90-3)

Tris at one point looks down on Al for not acting—for not making a choice (10.78). But here Tris makes a very heroic, self-sacrificing choice not to act, herself. Instead of shooting her family (in this fear simulation), Tris makes the choice to give her own life. And we get that choice very directly in Tris's italicized wish that she should be shot instead. It may look passive, but it's actually a pretty strong choice on her part.