171 pages • 5 hours read
Veronica RothDivergent
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2011A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Chapters 26-30 Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 26 Summary
Trying to remain logical while Tobias holds her hand and leads her to the chasm, Tris mentions his four fears and he says that he has not made any progress. Tris asks about his aptitude test, and he reveals that the result was Abnegation. Tris is deflated, but she remembers that her own result was faked to conceal the fact that she was Divergent and wonders if Tobias could be lying. When she asks why he chose Dauntless, his reaction tells her that it was to get away from his father. Tobias reveals that he does not feel that he belongs in Dauntless, but Tris points out that having only four fears is impressive by Dauntless standards. Tobias, however, does not seem to care.
Tobias believes that bravery and selflessness are similar and that he could have belonged in Abnegation. This makes Tris aware that her first instinct is still self-preservation, but Tobias points out some of the selfless acts that she has demonstrated during her time at Dauntless, which include protecting Tobias against the simulation of his father. Tris remarks that he has been watching her closely, and he says that he likes to observe people. When she says that he is a bad liar, his manner becomes bold and he admits that he watched Tris because he liked her. She says that she does not understand why he should feel this way given that she is not pretty, but he says that he likes how she looks, as well as her personality.
When Tobias first kisses Tris, she feels unsure of herself, but he kisses her more firmly as the water roars around them. Tris subsequently realizes that, had they chosen their factions differently, they “might have ended up doing the same thing, in a safer place, in gray clothes instead of black ones” (338).
Chapter 27 Summary
Tris wakes in a happy mood the next day, though her heart pounds at the knowledge that she will see Tobias sometime within the next half hour. She feels dejected when Tobias sits next to Zeke and wonders if he regrets the kiss.
It is fear landscape day, but Uriah explains to the others that they will not be see their own landscape but rather go through one of the instructors’ landscapes. Christina says that she would like to see Four’s fear landscape, as he acts so tough that she wonders what his fears could be. Tris, however, knows that Tobias would not let anyone see the simulation of his father.
Their instructor, Lauren, stands outside the fear landscape room and tells the initiates that, two years ago, she suffered numerous fears, such as spiders and suffocation. She adds that most initiates will have between 10 to 15 fears in their landscape, with the lowest number in recent years being four. The initiates will not find out their number that day though; instead, they will make their way through Lauren’s fear landscape and each of them will face a single fear. Tris is assigned the fear of kidnapping. The other initiates cannot see one another’s simulations but they can see the reactions, for example, Will brushing off spiders.
When it is her turn, Tris imagines herself failing to break free from the grasp of her kidnappers. She then imagines falling into darkness and screams until her throat hurts. When the simulation ends, she is aware that logic had left her and Lauren’s fears had blended with her own, that is, her fear of being kidnapped and held over the chasm’s railing again. When Tobias tells her to get a grip she slaps his face and tells him to shut up before walking out of the room.
Chapter 28 Summary
After the fear exercise, Tris is conscious that she has at least convinced Peter and his friends that she is not a threat. She wants to go home but knows that doing would be seen as a betrayal of Dauntless. However, there is no rule against visiting other factions, and Tris remembers her mother asking her to visit Caleb. Though initiates are not supposed to leave without supervision, Tris boards the train and departs for the Erudite buildings.
Becoming Dauntless has made Tris noticeable, and the Erudite crowd parts for her as she makes her way through the central building. The building is a library, and Tris is angry to see a large portrait of the Erudite representative, Jeanine, who has been criticizing her father. Tris wonders how Caleb could have wanted to be one of these people, but he would probably ask her the same thing about Dauntless.
Tris walks up to the desk and asks where she can find her brother, but the man at the counter insists that he cannot give out this information. Tris gets angry again, drawing looks from the Erudites, but then she hears a voice calling her Beatrice. She turns around and, seeing Caleb, throws her arms around him in a hug. The remark on each other’s changed appearance, and Caleb leads her to a place where they can talk privately.
Away from Erudite headquarters, Caleb takes off his glasses and runs a hand through his hair. He glances at Tris nervously, as though he is ashamed, and asks what has prompted her visit. She notices his aloof manner, and he says that he is thrilled to see her but that there are rules. She replies that she does not care, but he tells her that she should care and that he would not want to get in trouble with her faction. Tris knows that he is merely referring to her faction being the cruelest of the five.
Caleb tells Tris that she does not need to be so angry with him, and he asks her what has happened while she has been in Dauntless. She says that nothing has happened, and he asks her if she feels that she made the right choice. She answers that she does not think there was a right choice, but she asks him the same question. Perceiving his nervousness, she asks what is wrong. He replies that something big is happening, though he does not know what. People are rushing around and whispering, and Jeanine is constantly giving speeches about how corrupt Abnegation is.
When Tris asks whether he believes this, Caleb says that information is freely available in Erudite whereas people in Abnegation were not allowed to ask questions. Tris then points out that Erudite is not Candor—there are liars here. She adds that these people are arrogant and greedy, and that she at least has no delusions about the faction she has joined. She imparts their mother’s message and then leaves, feeling a renewed sense that Dauntless is her home. However, she is intercepted by two Erudite men.
Tris is led to an office where Jeanine orders her to sit, and Tris realizes that the voice in the simulation was Jeanine’s. She also knows that Jeanine is the danger that her mother warned her about. Jeanine states that, apparently, there had been a problem with Tris’s test results and they had to be recorded manually. What is more, Tris is one of only two people who have achieved an Abnegation result yet transferred to Dauntless. Though she does not reveal this to Jeanine, Tris is shocked that she and Tobias are the only ones. If Tobias’s result was genuine, though, it was really just him.
Jeanine asks Tris why she chose Dauntless, but Tris is uncooperative and wants to know why she has been brought to this office. Jeanine replies that curiosity is an Erudite quality, and that this curiosity has been piqued by the fact that another of Tris’s simulations has failed to be recorded. She claims that, as Erudite developed the simulation technology, she is concerned that it is not working properly. Tris knows that Jeanine is lying, though she wonders why her ability to manipulate the simulation is so important to the representative of Erudite.
Tris says that the liquid that she was injected with before the simulations make her sick, and suggests that this caused the test administrator to become distracted and forget to record her result. Jeanine then comments on how well Tris has done in the simulations, asking what makes them so easy for Tris. Tris decides that the best option is to play up the Dauntless stereotype as much as possible, boasting of her bravery and claiming that she is the best initiate that Dauntless has ever had. When Jeanine asks whether Tris misses her family, Tris pretends that she does not, and Jeanine follows up by asking whether Tris agrees with the reports released about the political leaders of the city. Tris wants to strangle Jeanine but replies, “Wholeheartedly” (360).
When Tris returns to Dauntless, Eric confronts her. He reiterates the “faction before blood” credo and says that he could accuse Tris of being a traitor. He is unusually poised and controlled as he says these words, and Tris recognizes him as an Erudite in disguise. As Tris begins to explain, Tobias enters the room. Tobias says that Tris is just a foolish girl, but Eric says that a mere foolish girl would not be the top-ranked initiate. Tris feels as though Tobias is trying to tell her something, and she remembers his advice to feign vulnerability. She starts stammering and alluding to an embarrassing event; Tobias plays along, telling Eric that she tried to kiss him and he rejected her. Tris wipes away a tear and Eric accepts this story, though he warns Tris never to leave the compound without supervision again.
When they are alone, Tobias asks Tris how she is, but her temper flares up. She is still upset by his behavior after her fear landscape ordeal and accuses him of flip-flopping between the roles of cruel instructor or concerned boyfriend. He says that he was not being cruel but protecting her by throwing the other initiates off the scent—if Peter and his friends knew about their relationship then they would claim that Tris was being given preferential treatment. Tris wants to object but knows that Tobias is right.
Seeing how upset Tris is, Tobias says that he sometimes forgets that she is capable of being hurt. Tris feels that no one has ever believed in her strength as much as Tobias does, and she kisses him and tells him how brilliant he is for always knowing what to do. He says that, hopefully, their cover story managed to convince Eric, but Tris is not so sure about the lies she told to Jeanine. Tobias’s expression becomes grave and he instructs Tris to meet him secretly later that night, as there is something he needs to tell her.
When Tris returns to the dormitory, Christina reveals that Will kissed her. Tris’s instinct is to reveal her own relationship with Tobias, but she knows that he is right about the other initiates’ likely reactions. When they start discussing the various factions, Christina mentions that she could not deal with the constant lie detector tests or the final test administered in Candor, which hinges on complete honesty. This prompts Tris to think about all the lies that she has told.
Later, Tris meets Tobias, who pulls her into a train carriage. They spend the journey kissing and embracing before making their way towards Erudite headquarters. Tobias remarks that the headquarters are lit up even though it’s night, which made him wonder what they were doing that required night light. He reveals that, a few weeks ago, he found a way to access secure Dauntless files and saw that Erudite has been supplying Dauntless with what look like war plans. Tris asks if they are planning war against Abnegation, and Tobias confirms that this is the case. The two factions have teamed up because, unlike Erudite, Dauntless has weapons and the ability to fight. Tobias wonders how Erudite is going to get Dauntless to fight, and Tris remembers Caleb saying that the Erudite know how to manipulate people. Still, there is the question of how they are going to do this.
Chapter 29 Summary
It is the day of the faction initiation ceremony again, but Tris stays in the dormitory. Looking at the food that she brought back to eat in the dorm, she observes its blandness and feels close to her old faction again; especially given the war that is brewing. She resolves to find a way of warning her family, but, first, she must experience her fear landscape.
Tris joins the other initiates and sees a series of screens broadcasting their reactions. As Tris is scheduled to go last, she will know how the other initiates did and how well she needs to do to beat them. Finally, the time arrives and Eric injects Tris with the serum.
Chapter 30 Summary
When Tris steps into the room, a crow’s talons dig into her shoulders again, but she does not hit back at it this time. Instead, she imagines a gun and shoots at the numerous birds swarming in the sky. She then finds herself in the glass tank again and tries to break it as the water starts to rise. This time, the glass does not break as quickly, but Tris imagines it as thin ice and finally succeeds. As she materializes in a dark room, she reflects that she cannot afford to lose any more time.
Next, Tris is in the sea, with harsh waves slamming her against a rock. After trying in vain to cling to the rock, she manages to find a hole in which she can get a grip and drag herself forward. She then finds herself tied up and hoisted onto a pole by Peter and the other initiates. Peter is carrying a torch and sets fire to some logs placed at the base of the pole. Peter taunts her but Tris says that she does not smell the fire; rather, she smells rain. Thunder consequently roars and leads to rainfall that puts out the fire.
In the next scenario, Tris is in a bedroom in the Abnegation sector of the city, though one of the walls is covered with mirrors. She looks out of the window and sees the man with the scarred face she encountered in the aptitude test. He is accompanied by two faceless individuals and, the next thing Tris knows, countless fists are pounding against the window and the three figures are walking towards her. She presses her palm to the mirrored wall (which is really a closet door) and slides it open, revealing a gun. She then shoots at the scarred man and his companions, but more hands emerge and start scratching at the window, shattering the glass. Mangled human bodies topple into the bedroom but Tris does not have any more bullets. She consequently retreats into the closet and sees a door behind her. She emerges into the upstairs hallway and smells something baking—she is at home.
When the image of her house fades, Tobias is standing in front of her. As she looks behind him, she sees a bed. She stares at Tobias and he kisses her, causing her to forget that she is in a simulation. She has been wary of affection all her life, but she had not realized how deep this wariness ran. Unlike the other simulations, though, this one involves “nervous panic rather than blind terror” (393). Knowing that he must face the fear, she tells Tobias that she will not sleep with him in a hallucination, and she kisses him again before he disappears. Her face reddens as she realizes that she must be the only initiate with this fear.
In the next scenario, Tris is holding a gun and a voice—which sounds like that of Jeanine—is ordering her to shoot her parents and brother. The barrel of a gun presses to her temple, and Tris sees that Jeanine is indeed the one threatening to kill her. Her family tells her that she has no other option, and Tris tells herself that this is just a simulation. However, she remembers Tobias saying that bravery and selflessness are not all that different. She presses her forehead to the gun barrel and thinks shoot me instead. This is followed by the sound of a click and a bang.
Chapters 26-30 Analysis
In Chapter 26, Tobias leads Tris to the chasm, having said that there is something else he wants to show her. Tris again wonders if Tobias may be Divergent: he says that his aptitude test result was Abnegation, but, since Tris’s own test result was faked, there is nothing to say that his result was genuine.
Tobias reveals that he does not feel that he belongs in Dauntless, whereas he could have belonged in Abnegation. In this respect, then, he seems the opposite of Tris—he would like to have stayed in his native faction were it not for his father. Tobias does not fit the mold of the more brutal vision of Dauntless set up six years ago, and he voices one of his key beliefs in this chapter: the similarity between bravery and selflessness. Tris feels deflated by this, as one of the reasons she left Abnegation was that she feels that she is selfish by nature. As Tobias points out, though, some of her actions in initiation have shown otherwise. If she were wholly selfish, then she would not have taken Al’s place in the knife-throwing task, nor would she have tried to protect Tobias from his father.
When Tris notes that Tobias seems to have been watching her closely, he merely states that he likes observing people. However, when she pushes him on this matter, he admits that he likes her. Tris does not feel that she is pretty or stands out among the other female initiates, and she lacks confidence in this respect. She knows that she is not conventionally beautiful and therefore cannot imagine why Tobias likes her, but he offers the straightforward, honest reply that he likes her looks and personality—in short, he likes her.
When Tobias and Tris reach the chasm, they kiss for the first time. Tris is not accustomed to such intimacy and feels weak and unsure at first, but Tobias kisses her more passionately against the backdrop of the roaring water; indeed, it would seem that he has chosen this location purposely for such a moment. Suggesting the possibility of fate, Tris muses that were she and Tobias to have chosen their factions differently, they may still have ended up doing the same thing. The difference is that they would be in a safer place and wearing gray rather than black clothes. From this, we infer that their feelings for each another go beyond any artificial faction system.
The initiates go through the fear landscape for the first time in Chapter 27, though they do not face their own fears; instead, they face those that the instructor, Lauren, used to experience. When the instructor tells them that that the lowest number of fears recorded is four, we know that this refers to Tobias. This being the case, it is unsurprising that he was the top-ranked initiate when he went through training. In fact, the average number of fears is substantially greater: between 10 and 15. This is a trial exercise, though, and initiates will not find out their number until they experience their own fear landscape.
Tris is assigned the fear of kidnapping and finds the simulation extremely distressing; especially as her own fears blend with Lauren’s. Indeed, though the instructor probably did not make the connection, assigning Tris this particular fear was bound to be traumatic given that Tris has recently undergone a similar experience when she was kidnapped by Peter and his gang and held over the chasm. Having witnessed her reaction to the simulation, Tobias snaps at Tris to pull herself together, and this turns her distress to anger. The fear landscape was already traumatic for Tris, so for Tobias of all people to speak to her like that causes her to snap. She consequently hits him with as much brute force as she can, telling him to shut up.
In Chapter 28, Tris rightly observes that there is one good thing about the fear exercise: it made her seem vulnerable, and the other initiates are therefore less likely to see her as a threat. However, the focus in this particular chapter is on Tris’s visit to Erudite.
Though Dauntless members are allowed to visit other factions, they are not supposed to leave the compound without supervision. Still, Tris has not forgotten the message that her mother instructed her to give to Caleb, and, as Caleb himself once observed, Tris is hardly immune from bending the rules. Of course, Tris is not just paying a regular family visit but imparting a confidential message, so it makes sense to try to keep the visit a secret.
Upon Beatrice’s arrival, we get our first look at the Erudite compound. This is the faction that values knowledge above all else, and, fittingly, the main building is a library. Abnegation may be the faction that Erudite is at odds with but, on a superficial level, Beatrice’s Dauntless appearance makes her stand out. This prompts looks from the Erudite citizens, but Beatrice is focused on finding Caleb.
Seeing a large portrait of Jeanine Matthews makes Beatrice feel angry, and this is not helped when the man at the reception says that he cannot give out any information. Beatrice’s angry responses again draw looks from the members of Erudite, as this is a faction that promotes composure and logic—not tattoos and tirades. Luckily for Tris, though, one of the people to have noticed her is Caleb, and he leads her to a place where they can talk.
Caleb appears nervous and, even though he is glad to see Tris, tries to remain detached; again, in keeping with the rules of the faction. Picking up on his nervousness, Tris asks what is wrong, and Caleb reveals that something big is happening in the faction. No one has said anything outright, but there has been a lot of whispering and Jeanine is making regular speeches condemning Abnegation.
Caleb seemed to have been influenced by his faction in the same way that Tris has been influenced by Dauntless: he says that information is freely available in Erudite and that people are allowed to ask questions. Indeed, being discouraged from asking questions had been a source of annoyance for Tris in Abnegation. However, Tris makes a vital point: Erudite is not Candor, and there is no reason to believe that people are not spreading lies.
Having experienced a taste of Erudite life, Tris is all the more certain that Dauntless is her home. She feels alienated from Caleb and is annoyed that he seems to have been swayed by his new faction. Tris does not want to spend any more time than she has to in Erudite and delivers her mother’s message before preparing to leave. However, she is intercepted by guards who take her to Jeanine’s office. We have heard about Jeanine indirectly thus far but, now, we finally meet the woman behind Erudite’s damning reports about Abnegation.
As one would expect of an Erudite, Jeanine is cool and composed in demeanor. She says that she has heard about Tris’s faulty test results and claims to be concerned with flaws in the technology; however, it is clear that she is harboring suspicions about Tris. As Tris told Caleb, then, Erudites are fully capable of lying, though the burning question remains: why is being able to manipulate simulations so dangerous?
We also learn that only two people who received an Abnegation result have ever transferred to Dauntless. Jeanine does not give names, but we know that they are Tris and Tobias. Tris is surprised that they are the only two, but she is conscious that her result was false. This means that either Tobias is the only one or that Tobias’s result was also faked and that he is Divergent too.
While Jeanine has shown her capacity to lie, Tris shows that she is also skilled in this area. As well as lying about her test results, Tris makes up a ruse to explain why she has been completing the simulations so easily. Here, she becomes cocky and starts bragging that she is the best Dauntless initiate that Dauntless. Likewise, when Jeanine asks her if she agrees with the reports released by Erudite, she confirms that she does—despite her real instinct, which is to strangle Jeanine. Tris’s years of acting in Abnegation therefore have a plus side, as Tris is able to quickly adopt a fake persona here.
When Tris returns to Dauntless, she finds herself in another tense situation; this time, with Eric. He censures her for going against the “faction before blood” motto. His controlled demeanor alerts Tris to the fact that he is an Erudite in disguise. Tobias tries to excuse Tris’s behavior by dismissing her as a foolish young girl, but it is apparent that his comment is intended to convey something to Tris. She takes the hint, remembering his advice to act vulnerable. She consequently starts stammering about an incident that caused her to run away, and Tobias says that she tried to kiss him and he rejected her. Tobias and Tris work well together in this scene, quickly coming to a shared, implicit understanding of how to proceed and Tris shows off her acting skills again.
Eric seems to accept their story and one might expect Tris to be relieved, yet she remains upset with Tobias on account of his behavior following the fear landscape. She feels as though she does not know where she stands with him, as he can be hard to read and inconsistent in his behavior. As he reminds her, though, it is not a good idea for the other initiates to know about their relationship, as they would assume that Tris’s first-place ranking is due to favoritism. Initiates such as Peter would relish this extra ammunition against Tris, and it is likely that the initiates as a whole would react badly.
Tobias does not want to upset Tris, and tells her that he sometimes forgets that she is capable of being hurt. Knowing that Tobias believes in her to this extent and sees her as strong lifts Tris’s spirits. She realizes that he is not simply being mean or uncaring, and she no longer feels anger towards him. She also recognizes his quick-witted reaction to her grilling by Eric. However, whether she has managed to pull the wool over Jeanine’s eyes is another matter.
When Tris rejoins the other initiates, we learn that Will and Christina’s relationship has blossomed into romance and that they have kissed. As Christina is Tris’s closest friend, Tris would like to be able to discuss her own relationship with Tobias, but she knows it would be unwise. As she reflects, she has accumulated so many lies by this point that there is no way that she could deal with life in Candor.
Later that night, Tris and Tobias make a clandestine visit to the Erudite sector, as Tobias has something that he wants to tell Tris. Several important plot points emerge here, as Tobias reveals that he has been doing some investigating. Having noticed that the lights are on at Erudite headquarters all night, he started wondering what was going on. Upon accessing secure Dauntless files, he found that Erudite have been planning war. Ironically, while the faction system was supposed to prevent war, in reality, it has fostered ongoing resentment that has now reached its zenith.
Tris was therefore correct in her suspicions about Erudite, but, as Tobias explains, Erudite cannot launch war on Abnegation on their own. Dauntless are useful in that they have weapons and know how to fight—in short, Erudite are the brains and Dauntless are the brawn. However, the last piece of the puzzle is how Erudite are going to get the members of Dauntless to fight.
Chapter 29 finds Tris in a pensive mood. She now knows the full extent of Erudite’s plans and this makes her feel closer to her native faction. This is highlighted by the choice of food that she has brought back to eat in the dormitory: the kind of bland fare favored in Abnegation. It is not in Tris’s nature to stand by while Erudite go ahead with their scheme, and she feels loyal to her family and her former faction. She is therefore resolved to warn them about Erudite’s plans but she must first go through her fear landscape.
Chapter 30 details Tris’s fear landscape, which constitutes the final exercise of the initiation process and is steeped in symbolic imagery. We see how Tris has progressed during this time, as she now reacts differently to the simulation involving the crows. Whereas she had initially let them envelop them, she now imagines a gun and shoots them—a much more fitting response for a Dauntless member and akin to choosing the knife in the aptitude test.
As Tobias commented earlier, the simulations should not always be interpreted literally and Tris has confirmed that she does not have a fear of crows. What she realizes now is that the crows symbolize her fear of being left powerless; using the gun this time around means that she is taking control of the situation rather than letting it overwhelm her. The crows are also notable as they are another instance of bird symbolism in the novel: Tori’s tattoo was of a hawk and this prompted Tris to get a tattoo of three ravens to represent her family.
Tris then finds herself in the glass tank filling up with water and, again, manages to break one of the walls. As with the crows, Tris confirms that her fear is not of water but her inability to escape the tank. Rather than giving up and accepting that she is weak, she must prove to herself that she has the strength to break the glass. Moreover, breaking free from this enclosed space can be seen to reflect Tris’s motivation for transferring from Abnegation to Dauntless. She felt constrained by life in her former faction and experienced a newfound sense of freedom in Dauntless. Breaking the tank can therefore be seen as symbolic in this respect.
The subsequent simulation is new and involves Tris floundering in waves that are slamming her against a rock, but she manages to find a hole in the rock and to pull herself ashore. The fear of powerlessness or helplessness is a recurring theme in Tris’s fear landscape. It is only when she is able to take control of the situation that she can move on.
While all the simulations are based on real life fears, though often in distorted form, Tris’s next simulation has an obvious real life counterpart and features her fellow initiates. As her chief tormentor in reality, Peter emerges as the leader in this simulation, with Tris finding herself tied to a pole while Peter sets fire to some logs below. In the same way that she caused the gun to materialize in the first simulation, Tris gets through this scenario by creating rainfall that douses the fire. She is therefore able to regain the control that she lost in real life when Peter kidnapped her or left her naked and vulnerable by removing her towel.
The next simulation is more surreal: Tris is in the bedroom of a house in Abnegation and sees the man who she encountered on the bus during her aptitude test, along with two faceless individuals. As they start walking towards her, countless fists start pounding the window, and Tris recognizes the real life parallel: “They are here to take me, like Peter and Drew and Al; to kill me. I know it” (391). Once again, this simulation is a manifestation of her fear of being kidnapped.
Tris consequently takes refuge in the closet where she finds a gun, but the gun does not have enough bullets to fend off her attackers. This time, Tris focuses on the other method of moving the simulation forward: becoming calm and registering a regular heartbeat. Now, she notices a door inside the closet and finds that it opens onto the hallway, where she finds herself safe at home. Despite being unable to reconcile herself to Abnegation life in various ways, we see that she still sees her former home as a sanctuary.
The next simulation is the most personal and embarrassing for Tris and, unlike some of the others, it is not veiled in cryptic imagery. Seeing Tobias standing in front of a bed, it is immediately obvious that this scenario deals with Tris’s fear of intimacy. Tris feels a strong attraction to Tobias, but her Abnegation background means that she is not used to dealing with these feelings or expressing them physically. When Tobias kisses her, she forgets that she is in a simulation. However, she manages to move the simulation on by telling Tobias that she will not sleep with him in a hallucination. So, once again, she deals with her fear and takes control of the situation.
The final simulation is the most stark and distressing to Tris on a personal level, and, again, its connection with her real life situation is clear. In this scenario, Jeanine holds a gun to Tris’s head, threatening to shoot her if she does not shoot her family. The theme of selfishness versus selflessness runs throughout this novel, with Tris having originally believed herself to be a selfish person. As she has learned, however, she is not as selfish as she imagines. She has demonstrated her concern for others several times during initiation, and this reaches its apex here when she concludes shoot me instead. In doing so, Tris shows that she is willing to sacrifice herself for her family.
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