Power Quotes in The Selection

That's one interpretation of the situation. Another is that the Illéan government uses the Selection as a way to keep the masses placated under the assumption that they too someday might become royalty. It sounds a little conspiratorial, we know, but is it wrong?

We don't think we have to spell out the subtext of this statement, but needless to say, it's quite troubling. It's bad enough that Illéa is a totalitarian state, but now America literally has to submit her body to the royal family's power. Knowing America, however, she's not likely to give up her freedom so easily.

Although you might have expected America to willingly submit to the Illéan government's authority, she refuses to be pushed around by anyone. That's an admirable quality. But how long will it last once she's inside the palace walls?

America rightly sees the Selection as an overly elaborate, painfully vapid show of power, but Maxon takes it deadly seriously. This actually makes America like him more. Instead of being the vain, detached ruler that she expected him to be, Maxon is a sincere guy who has no desire to exploit his status for his own advantage.

We get that Maxon's feeling are hurt, but he's naive if he doesn't understand the nature of the Selection. He has all of the power in the situation; the girls have none. Now, we're not advocating throwing knees into crotches all willy-nilly, but it's hard to blame America given the circumstances.

As America gets closer to Maxon, her assumptions about him keep on being proven false. He's not the spoiled brat she assumed him to be; he's really quite sensitive. He's not stiff and arrogant; he's just a tad shy. In this way, we see how Maxon is potentially limited by others' expectations of him, given his high status.

One of the ways that the Illéan government retains its power over the people is by controlling the information they receive. After all, the country's biggest news show is shot on location in the palace. That doesn't seem too fair and balanced to us.

The more we hear about the rebels, the more we doubt the Illéan government's official narrative regarding the conflict. It just doesn't add up. In fact, now that we're doing the math, it seems like the government conveniently uses the rebels as bogeymen to scare its people. That's a classic technique from the totalitarian playbook.

We gain some insight into the formation of Illéa during the girls' history lesson, and it's an interesting story to say the least. How could some random dude just start a country? Why would he do that? And why did he create this infernal caste system? Unfortunately, this is one mystery that doesn't get revealed in The Selection—guess we'll have to wait for the sequel on that one.

This is an important moment for America because it shows that Maxon does care about the struggles of his people and sincerely wants to use his power for good. But it's even bigger for Maxon. For him, this represents the first time that he takes full advantage of his status to do something that's important to him—and important to his country. It's a big step.