Reading Response on Four by Veronica Roth

To have a successful fife in the right faction when a boy or girl turns sixteen they must take the aptitude test which helps them pick their faction. However, they may choose their faction based off of opinion or interest. There are five factions to choose from. Abnegation, the ones who value selflessness, Candor, the ones that honor honesty, Amity, the ones that honor the peaceful, Erudite, the ones who honor the intelligent, and Dauntless, the ones that honor the brave. Each faction honors a certain trait. They believe that if a person was brave, or selfless, or kind, there would be no war and only peace.At the Choosing pick their factions. They may choose to stay with Ceremony the teenagers their faction and their families or they can abandon them. Later on, if they prove to be unfit for their new factions they will become factionists; these are the people that have no family, no home. They live together or alone in abandoned buildings or homes, and even on the streets. Tibias Eat on, originally from Abnegation, has turned sixteen and has to decide what he was going to do with his life and what faction he will spend it in. However, one thing is clear for him.He will run from Abnegation, and he will run from his father. Tibias has to escape his father, and find a place where he is safe, and hidden. Tibias is tired of living in fear and is ready to take on his own path in a different faction. When Tibias returns to his plain Abnegation home he goes to his room and reviews his most precious possessions that were given to him by his mother. Tibias was informed that his mother died of child labor when he was a young boy. This made his family fall apart and caused the tension between him and his father.The author made this connection teen Tibias and his mother to show how his mother was the glue of their family and that Tibias was closer to her than he is to his father. When Tibias reviews all of his possessions he is caught by his father and has it all taken away from him. His father throws all of his treasures around the room, destroying them in the process. Tibias is now deprived of the only connection he had to his mother. Yet, we are about to discover more about Tibia's and his fathers relationship. Tibias has developed a fear of his father and this is because of the abuse his father puts on Tibias. His hands oiled with my chest. I stumble back and hit the dresser. Then he draws his hand back by his face to hit me, and say my throat tight with fear ‘ ‘The Choosing Ceremony, Dad! † † tomorrow was Tibia's Choosing Ceremony. His last chance to escape, to be free of fear. â€Å"When we get there, my father puts a hand on my shoulder as we walk to the entrance, sending shocks of pain through my body. Have to get out. † The day of the Choosing Ceremony is the day Tibias changes his life and the person he will become. Tibias is desperate to escape Abnegation and to escape his father.As the ceremony goes on, Tibias is thinking of what faction he will choose. Where will he fit in the most? Where will he be safe? He decides that Candor, Erudite, and Amity are not choices that he can live with. His only choice is Dauntless. â€Å"l open my palm over the coals. Feel like they're burning in my stomach, filling me to the brim with fire and smoke. I am free. † The minute the ceremony is over, Tibias begins initiation. He and the rest of the initiates must prove their bravery by jumping on to a moving train, then jump off of a moving train on a roof, and finally they must jump off of the roof.My stomach drops and my limbs fumble in the air for something, anything to hold onto, but there is nothing, only the drop, the air, the frantic search for the ground. † As initiation goes by Tibias changes his name to Four. After facing his worst fears Tibias and his initiation instructor Mar find out that he only has four fears. This new name gave Tibias new power, a new identity. â€Å"My name is Four,† I say. â€Å"Call me ‘Stiff again and you and I will have a problem. † During initiation, Four makes many friendships and becomes close to Mar. However, he is still quite different from the rest.He likes to be alone, to have a peace of mind once in a while. The first stage of initiation is physical training and combat. Four has the drive and the practice from his childhood abuse to become the best initiate. He proves his bravery by beating the other initiates in combat fights and using his strength and his thinking skills to his advantage. By the end of stage one, Four is ranked first out of his entire class and is considered someone to look out for. In the second stage of initiation Four has to prove that he can overcome his fears mentally using critical, fast thinking and by asking decisions that may be risky but courageous.However, Four thinks differently and beats the system by being aware during his stimulations that it is not reality. By being able t o do this he gets out of the stimulation by realizing that if he jumps he won't die because it's not real. Its just a test. Later on, Mar teaches Four to go through the stimulation like any other Dauntless would; with bravery. At the end of initiation the initiates are ranked to show who has more potential and more strength than others. For Four, his rank surprised him a bit. â€Å"Instantly, some of the tension disappears. I follow he list up, and panic stabs me for just a second when I can't find my own name.But then, there it is, right at the top. 1. Four. † After initiation Four becomes a full pledged Dauntless. Finally, he is rid of Abnegation, rid of his father. When Four gets his apartment he also gets a job offer to become a dauntless leader. Even though Four wanted to have a job where he would be the initiation instructor, like Mar, he was expected to have a more prestigious job since he was ranked first. Four agrees to take the job but his heart isn't with it. Later on, Four realizes that if he becomes a leader he will eve to face his father, an Abnegation leader. My fingers start to go numb. I've faced my fears so many times in simulations, but that doesn't mean I'm ready to face them in reality. † Four has to learn what it would be like to be a Dauntless leader but he also needed to learn the basic lifestyle of the Dauntless and needs to learn that Dauntless is more ‘out there' than Abnegation with their feelings, thoughts, and emotions. When Four goes to the meeting for dauntless leadership he quietly disagrees with the way the leaders handle situations and the changes that they want to make to aunties initiation.As the days go by, Four takes multiple tests that will determine if he has what it takes to become a leader, there is still tension and competition between Four and Eric and the fact that Eric has information that threatens Fours identity, and Four still has the suspicion of an intruder coming into his apartment. Four f inally faces his new life as the new â€Å"best† initiate of Dauntless. After a day of hard work, Four returns home to find that once again somebody was in his apartment. This time they left a note. â€Å"On the day you hated most. At the time when she dies. In the place where oh first jumped on. Four figured out that someone that had some connection to his childhood wanted to meet him. Instinctively, Four thinks its Marcus, his father. Four decides that he needs to know what Marcus wants and why he risked getting caught to contact him. When Four arrives at the platform in the middle of the night, its not Marcus that shows up. Its Evelyn Eaton. His mother. Right away Fours mind races with memories of his mothers the death. The funeral, the gathering, the ashes. The only thing Four can say is â€Å"You're supposed to be dead. † Fours mother tries to explain to IM that she didn't leave to hurt him.She had to get away from Abnegation, from Marcus. Just like Four. The aut hor here shows a similarity where both the mother and the son needed to escape from Fours father and his lifestyle. This show that Marcus might hide his temper and his real self from the public and only shows and acts like him true self at home. However, Four doesn't want to hear her pity story and he acts like she is the last person he wants to talk to. â€Å"Stop wasting my time. What are we doing here? † Evelyn reveals to Four that she is a leader to the factionists and that there is a big chance of a pricing among the factions and that Four should be on her side. Our city is changing, Tibias. The factionists are coming together, and so are Dauntless and Erudite. Sometime soon, everyone will have to choose a side, and I know which one you would rather be on. I think you can really make a difference with us. † Four doesn't care about any Of the problems, really. He just can't let go of the fact that Evelyn hasn't talked or reached out to him in seven years and now she actually wants something from him. A favor. Four chooses to run from her. Like he ran from him. Now that Four is trying to find who he ally is he wants to get a tattoo that will represent him as a person.While Four is getting the tattoo, Tort, the tattoo artist tells him about being Divergent. â€Å"That's a word for people who are aware during simulations, who refuse to categorize. † Four realizes that fits the description of Mar. Mar was aware during the Simi ululations. Divergent fit Mar, and it fit him. When Four meets with the dauntless leadership group again, he proves to have a less strategic protocol for initiates than no one other than Eric. Four realizes that this is his chance to change jobs and to escape leadership. To be honest, sir, I don't think that this is the right place for me.I told you when you first asked me that I'd like to be an instructor, and think I'm realizing more and more that that's where I belong. † Days have passed by after Four's meeti ng with Evelyn. He had time to think if leaving Dauntless, betraying his faction to join the factionists is the best thing he can do right now. He decides that it's not. He has friends that support and understand him and he knows that no way is he leaving them behind. â€Å"If the factions are deteriorating, as my mother loud have me believe, this is not a bad place to watch them fall apart. Four makes the choice to stay loyal to the faction that set him free. Two years later, Four is the initiation instructor for a group of transfer initiates which means that they come from other factions. There were initiates from Candor, Erudite, Amity, and Abnegation. The girl from Abnegation sparked Fours interest. Her name was Tries. She had a small form and looked as if she can snap like a twig in a second. Whenever Four is next to her he acts a certain way. He loses his hard, mean personality and opens up to her like he doesn't veer do to anyone.