Divergent Chapter 16 Summary

How It All Goes Down

  • Back in the dormitory, Tris and Al have a heart-to-heart.
  • Among topics that Al covers: how his parents wanted him to join Dauntless; how he wants to protect people; and, oh yeah, how he has a crush on Tris. But Tris doesn't have a crush on him, so that's awkward.
  • Later that night, Tris and friends are talking about the aptitude test. Tris has to lie about it, but all her Candor friends (Christina and Al) are pretty good at telling when someone is bluffing. 
  • Later later that night, Four reveals the rankings for the first round. And Tris is 6 out of 9, which isn't bad. Looks like she listened to mama.
  • For reference, Peter is 2nd and Molly is 5th—and pissed about it. Molly even threatens Tris. But Peter is calm, which is scary considering how much of a whiner he is.
  • Later that night, Edward (ranked #1) gets stabbed in the eye, which is going to ruin his ability to fight. And, surprise, surprise, Peter and Drew aren't around. It's all very suspicious. Shmoop smells sabotage.
  • Tris and Will talk about how the leaders of Dauntless won't be interested in punishing Peter for stabbing someone in the eye.
  • That's when Will remembers the Dauntless manifesto, which says that courage is about standing up for others. That certainly doesn't sound like the Dauntless we know. 
  • Tris think that maybe Dauntless can become good again, and she repeats that line to herself: "I believe in ordinary acts of bravery, in the courage that drives one person to stand up for another" (143).
  • But that night, in the dormitory, Tris learns that Edward and his girlfriend Myra both dropped out. They're factionless now. And Peter is #1. Ugh.