HOW FACTIONS ARE CHOSEN
Each year, all 16 year old's are required to take an Aptitude Test. The purpose of the test is to discover a disposition towards one of the five traits of the five factions (below). It provides a good indication of what faction a person should choose based on his/her predominant characteristic.The next day in the Choosing Ceremony test-takers must choose which faction they will enter into. They can either leave their family and choose an entirely new faction or they can remain where they are. The aptitude test result should be taken into account but the decision is ultimately their choice.
THE APTITUDE TEST
The test takes place at the school, in dedicated testing rooms. The test administrators consist of mostly Abnegation volunteers, but also include 1 Erudite & 1 Dauntless for the Abnegation-born students. Tests cannot be administered by a member of the same faction as the test-taker. No preparation for the test is allowed.
Electrodes connected to a computer are attached to both the student and the test administrator, and the student is then given a serum to drink. This connects them to a simulation. The simulation provides a series of scenarios which the student must react to. Each stage, monitored by the administrator, should eliminate at least one or more of the factions, ultimately eliminating at least four factions and leaving one single faction as the result. (In the rare case a test proves inconclusive, with the elimination of only three or less factions, the taker is a Divergent.)
THE FACTIONS, THE FACTIONLESS, AND THE DIVERGENT
ABNEGATION FACTION
DEFINITION:
[Pronounced: Ab-neg-ay-shun] l. to refuse or deny oneself (some rights, conveniences, etc.); reject; renounce. 2. to relinquish; give up. --active forms of stripping things from your life. As opposed to relinquish, give up-- more passive.
HISTORY:
Abnegation was formed by those who blamed selfishness for human nature's errors. They believe in selfless actions and attaining peace through the elimination of selfishness. By doing so, they choose to completely forget themselves and only serve others.
TRAITS:
Sit quietly and wait. Bow heads, a sign of respect, when greeting each other. Not manipulative, but not forthright. Their morally incorruptible quality makes them the only reasonable faction to be able to govern the city as political leaders.
PHYSICAL TRAITS:
Clothing is gray and simple. The only adornment allowed is a watch. Female Abnegation typically wear their hair in a bun/knot.
ABNEGATION INITIATION:
The initiates, who will spend thirty days performing community service before they can become full members, sit side by side on a bench while one of the older members reads the Abnegation manifesto. Then all of the older members wash the initiates feet. They all share a meal, each person serving food to the person on his left.
NICKNAME:
'Stiffs'.
RELATIONS:
On good terms with Amity; unknown relationship with Candor; on neutral terms with Daunless but opposing views on violence; rivals to power-seeking Erudite.
CURRENT LEADER:
FACTION MANIFESTO:
DAUNTLESS FACTION
DEFINITION:
[Pronounced: Dawn-t-less] Fearless, undaunted. Courageously resolute, especially in the face of danger or difficulty; not discouraged. Undaunted: resolute, especially in the face of danger. Note: Being fearless and being undaunted are two different things.
HISTORY:
Dauntless was a faction formed by those who blamed cowardice for society's problems. The only answer is to face your fears and find bravery.
TRAITS:
Loud, expressive. Bravery, courage, fighting and physical skills. In charge of security, their primary purpose is to guard the fence that surrounds the city. They began guarding the fence five years prior. Before that they patrolled the factionless sector.
PHYSICAL TRAITS:
All-black clothes, tattoos, piercings, unnatural hair colours.
DAUNTLESS INITIATION:
Taken very seriously. Transfer initiates have to jump out of the moving train that is transporting them to Dauntless HQ, & onto the roof of a building. They must then jump off a seven-story building without knowing what lies at the bottom.
The initiates are separated during the first stage of initiation. The Dauntless born are trained by Lauren, and the transfers are trained by Four and Eric. Initiates all sleep in one room (girls & boys). 3 stages of initiation:
1. Physical- initiates learn how to fight and are pitted against each other to prove what they have learned. Scored based on their victories and losses.
2. Emotional- initiates are put into a simulation where they face their fears. They are not aware it is only a simulation, and have to calm themselves to get out. (The Divergent seem to have a knack for this stage, as they are aware it is not real.)
3. Mental- initiates are put into their fear landscapes, which reaches for every fear within the person subjected to it and creates a simulation in which they must face each one. This time, they are aware that it is not real. Those not in the top 5 of each initiation class typically end up as guards. Those not in the top 10 end up factionless.
RANDOM FACTS:
Only faction to use the train. Muffins and toast for breakfast.
RELATIONS:
On neutral terms with all factions.
CURRENT LEADER:
FACTION MANIFESTO:
ERUDITE FACTION
DEFINITION:
[Pronounced: Air-yoo-dyte] Characterized by great knowledge; learned or scholarly. The word "erudite" focuses on knowledge rather than intelligence-- intelligence being something you're born with, and can't necessarily control, and knowledge being something that you acquire.
HISTORY:
Erudite was formed by those who blamed human ignorance for the faults of society. They formed Erudite as a way of eliminating ignorance and darkness from human minds.
TRAITS:
Chat about books and newspapers; in constant pursuit of knowledge. Curiosity, which drives them to seek knowledge. The faction produces most of the city's librarians, doctors, scientists, & teachers. They keep records of the city & the factions. Most technological advances are due to Erudite, including all of the simulation serums.
PHYSICAL TRAITS:
Most members wear glasses no matter how perfect their vision is, to give the appearance of intelligence. Each member must wear at least one piece of blue clothing as they believe it a calming colour that helps stimulate the brain.
ERUDITE INITIATION:
Mostly unknown, but they most likely study, and take rigorous tests. It is also stated by Therese that there is an initiation intelligence test that, if not passed, results in one becoming factionless. Each of the initiates selects and is trained in a certain subject of expertise in Erudite.
NICKNAME:
'Know it all's'.
RELATIONS:
On good terms with Amity and Dauntless; on neutral terms with Candor; harbours a fierce grudge against Abnegation who form the government, a power they seek. They believe them to not be as selfless as they claim.
CURRENT LEADER:
FACTION MANIFESTO:
AMITY FACTION
DEFINITION:
[Pronounced: Am-it-ee] l. friendship; peaceful harmony. 2. mutual understanding and a peaceful relationship, especially between nations; peace; accord. 3. cordiality. It's not just about and apple-picking. It’s about cultivating strong relationships and trying to understand each other.
HISTORY:
Amity is the faction that dislikes war. They formed Amity in order to have a peaceful society free from conflict and sadness caused by wars and instigation. They are truly a democratic faction, voting on everything, almost unanimously.
TRAITS:
They love music, art, games, and laughter. They give hugs when greeting. They vote on everything, almost unanimously. Their bread has peace serum added to prevent their members from fighting. Amity's essential nature comes from its crop-growing. They run the farms, which provides some of the food for all the factions. They tend to be counsellors, caretakers & artists.
PHYSICAL TRAITS:
Members dress comfortably in red and yellow clothing. Their dress code is less formal than other factions, as long as it is bright and pleasant.
AMITY INITIATION:
Like Erudite, very little knowledge of Amity's initiation process is given away in the books. From what we can gather, though, it involves fruit-picking and singing songs.
NICKNAME:
'banjo strummin' softies'.
RELATIONS:
On good terms with Abnegation; on very good terms with Erudite who provide them with farming inventions; opposing views on violence to Dauntless but on neutral terms; a slight rivalry with Candor, who believe "those who seek peace will always deceive to keep the waters calm" suggesting Amity can be dishonest.
CURRENT LEADER:
FACTION MANIFESTO:
CANDOR FACTION
DEFINITION:
[Pronounced: Can-der]; l. the state or quality of being frank, open, and sincere in speech or expression; candidness. 2. freedom from bias; fairness; impartiality. The faction is not just trying to develop honesty, they're also trying to develop impartiality.
HISTORY:
Candor was a faction formed by those who blamed duplicity and deception, who believed that dishonesty is the key fault in human nature which began evil and war. They believe in the principle that honesty and openness would lead to a more peaceful and perfect society.
TRAITS:
Honest, trustworthy, and able to read body language to detect lies. They greet each other by shaking hands. They provide sound leaders in Law.
PHYSICAL TRAITS:
Black & white clothes, because they see the truth as black & white. They dress formally, with suits & ties being standard uniform with men, & women seen in long skirts, while their everyday clothing is typically black pants & white shirts.
CANDOR INITIATION:
Initiates must take lie detector tests all day, every day. During the final test initiates get "truth serum" and must sit in front of everyone as they ask questions. They believe if you reveal all of your secrets, you'll have no desire to lie about anything, ever again because the worst is already in the open.
NICKNAME:
'Candor smart mouths'.
RELATIONS:
A slight rivalry with Amity, who they believe would deceive in order to ensure peace; unknown relationship with Abnegation, though its likely they would see them similar to Amity, seeing self-denial as a form of lying (to oneself), on good terms with Dauntless, probably because honesty & bravery can tie together; to Dauntless, on neutral terms with Erudite.
CURRENT LEADER:
FACTION MANIFESTO:
DEFINITION:
Without faction.
TRAITS:
Divorced from society, separated from community. Living in poverty and discomfort. Often become factory workers, garbage collectors, janitors, or other low paying, undesirable jobs. In return they receive a little amount of food and clothing. They are described as being homeless and considered by some as 'worse than death' because of how the factionless suffer. Abnegation will often give food to the factionless.
FACTIONLESS INITIATION:
Failure or inability to complete initiation into a chosen faction results in a person becoming factionless. However, occasionally there are some who do not agree with the views of the faction they chose, and therefore choose to leave.
DEFINITIONS:
[Die-ver-jen-t]; 1. diverging; differing; deviating.
2. pertaining to or causing divergence.
3.(of a mathematical expression) having no finite limits
Diverge: 1. to move, lie, or extend in different directions from a common point; branch off.
2. to differ in opinion, character, form, etc.; deviate.
3. Mathematics . (of a sequence, series, etc.) to have no unique limit; to have infinity as a limit.
4. to turn aside or deviate, as from a path, practice, or plan.
DIVERGENCE:
is the tendency to the diverge from the norm which is, in this case, the mindset and way of thinking the factions are meant for.
Being Divergent is considered dangerous. Since a Divergent mind cannot be controlled or made to adapt to one certain way of thinking (at least for not for long), faction leaders are terrified as to what Divergent people are capable of.
There are two ways to find out if someone is Divergent:
The Apitude Test;
The aptitude test determines which faction someone is suited to. People whose results are inconclusive, with a result of more than one faction, are Divergent.
Simulations serum;
The simulation is injected into a person in order to bring on a simulation. The serum stimulates the amygdala, which is the part of the brain involved in processing negative emotions—like fear—and then induces a hallucination.
The serum also contains a transmitter which transmits the brain’s electrical activity to a computer, which then translates the hallucination into a simulated image to be monitored on screen.
A common characteristic among Divergent's is the ability to control simulations. Unlike a non-Divergent person, they will have full awareness of the fact that they are in a simulation.
OTHER FACTS:
The majority of people born Divergent are from Abnegation.
There is also a high population of Divergent's in the factionless, as someone who has aptitude for multiple factions may find it hard to adapt to one way of thinking.
The most factions a Divergent person has ever gotten in an aptitude test is three. (If you've read Divergent you'll know who this was!)
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