Chapter 11

The day begins in what I would consider a terrible way. The pain of the fight is coming back to haunt her, and I am not talking about emotional pain. She is covered in bruises and her body aches, but Tris still forces herself out of bed. She makes sure to stay caught up with the other initiates. This is what I like about her. No matter how hard things get, she has made a promise to herself to never give up, and she keeps her word.

Another thing I found to be a reoccurring theme in this chapter was that nearly everyone she encounters shows her some sign of Abnegation deep down. Christina is the first to display selflessness when she offers to get breakfast for Tris and helps her out of bed, to the train. Al helps her in the car once she finds her sore body makes it much more difficult for her than before. I guess what they say is true; there is good within everyone. Not that I thought Al and Christina were bad, but I guess I never really thought about others being intentionally kind to each other outside of Abnegation.

Once on the train, Tris spends a few seconds admiring Four's hot bod, but I mean, who could blame her, right? That boy sounds F-I-N-E! Anyway, enough of me fan-girling. The initiates are on a field trip. My first thought was that this would be exciting, but then I remembered that they are in Dauntless, and therefore meaning it would probably include something that risks their lives. You know, no big deal. Just an everyday occurance.

It turns out to be not so bad after all. They arrive near the gates of the city to find guards from none other than the Dauntless faction. The purpose of this little trip is to inform the initiates of what types of jobs they can get once they become a member. I guess that is if they even survive initiation. Four shares that he was ranked first, so he could have gotten nearly any job he wanted, but chose not to take a government job. This perplexed me a little. He seems so concerned with how Dauntless is changing, but yet he still doesn't take the opportunity he has to change it.

But hold on a minute. Surprise! Tris has a visitor. Well, not really, it was more of an unexpected meeting. She is called out by Robert, her old neighbor from Abnegation, who has become an Amity initiate. He tries talking to her, but she gives him quite the cold shoulder. He strikes a thought in her brain though. Wouldn't life be easier if the goal was to be happy? Anyhow, the chapter wraps up with a short conversation between Tris and Four, and finally, the initiates returning to the Dauntless compound.

"The goal of my life isn't just . . . to be happy."
"Wouldn't it be easier if it was, though?"