Competition Quotes in Divergent
How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"Your ranking serves two purposes," he says. "The first is that it determines the order in which you will select a job after initiation. There are only a few desirable positions available."
My stomach tightens. I know by looking at his smile, like I knew the second I entered the aptitude test room, that something bad is about to happen.
"The second purpose," he says, "is that only the top ten initiates are made members." (7.93-5)
We only get to hear a little bit about how other factions handle initiation. (In Candor, they have a truth-off, but in Amity do they have a friendly-off?) In Dauntless, it's all competition all the time. And it's not just about initiation. It also influences what kind of life these Dauntless will have, since the winners get to pick their jobs first.
Quote #2
If conflict in Dauntless ends with only one person standing, I am unsure of what this part of initiation will do to me. Will I be Al, standing over a man's body, knowing I'm the one who put him on the ground, or will I be Will, lying in a helpless heap? And is it selfish of me to crave victory, or is it brave? I wipe my sweaty palms on my pants. (9.51)
Tris is thinking something that we would like to write a paper on: Does competition reveal identity? Faced with competition for the first time (unless she used to play dodgeball in school, which we doubt), Tris has a question about how she will do and what that will reveal about her. Is she brave or selfish—or not selfish enough?
Quote #3
I stare at my name on the board. My cheeks feel hot. Al and Christina are just trying to help, but the fact that they don't believe, not even in a tiny corner of their minds, that I have a chance against Peter bothers me. (10.25)
Competition calls up all sorts of feelings for Tris, and even leads her to question her friendships. Seriously, what are friends for if now to give you a whole bunch of false hope?
Quote #4
"What do we get if we win?" someone shouts.
"Sounds like the kind of question someone not from Dauntless would ask," says Four, raising an eyebrow. "You get to win, of course." (12.23-4)
As Tris notes, the Dauntless are very interested in pride (13.9). So they don't reward winning a competition with a stuffed animal or kewpie doll. The real prize of competition is bragging rights and proving that you're better than other people. That sure sounds like a nice community to live in said no one ever.
Quote #5
Once they're halfway through the Dauntless-born initiates, I have an idea of what it is. With the exception of Will and a couple of the others, we all share the same body type: narrow shoulders, small frames. All the people on Eric's team are broad and strong. Just yesterday, Four told me I was fast. We will all be faster than Eric's team, which will probably be good for capture the flag—I haven't played before, but I know it's a game of speed rather than brute force. I cover a smile with my hand. Eric is more ruthless than Four, but Four is smarter. (12.44)
While the initiates have their competition, the older Dauntless have theirs. Eric and Four were in the same initiate group, so they've probably been competing non-stop for two years. Because once you're in Dauntless, you're constantly judging yourself against others. Who is more ruthless? Who is smarter? Who's got better tattoos?
Quote #6
"Come on, Tris," she says. "You're already the hero of the day. And you know you can't reach it anyway."
She gives me a patronizing look, the way people sometimes look at children when they act too adult, and snatches the flag from the branch. Without looking at me, she turns and gives a whoop of victory. (12.187-8)
We love Christina, but from where Tris is standing, she sure seems like a jerk here. (Especially that "you can't reach it anyway line.") But this is an interesting moment where friendship collides with competition directly: even though Tris and Christina are on the same team, only one of them gets the bragging rights of getting the flag. And in Dauntless, bragging rights matter.
Quote #7
In the hallway, it is easy to forget about Al and Molly's revenge and Peter's suspicious calm, and easy to pretend that what separates us as friends does not exist. But lingering at the back of my mind is the fact that Christina and Will are my competitors. If I want to fight my way to the top ten, I will have to beat them first. (16.90)
Ever notice how Tris has this habit of saying one thing and then saying kind of the opposite thing? Like here, she starts off saying "it is easy to forget" that we're competing; but in the very next sentence she notes that she's going to have to beat her friends. This is a pretty clear example of how friendship and competition are constantly tugging in her different directions (and getting her to say opposite things).
Quote #8
"Is he right?" Will asks quietly. "Are you trying to manipulate us?"
"How on earth would I do that?" I scowl at him. "I'm just doing the best I can, like anyone else."
"I don't know." He shrugs a little. "By acting weak so we pity you? And then acting tough to psyche us out?"
"Psych you out?" I repeat. "I'm your friend. I wouldn't do that." (21.45-8)
We know Tris isn't manipulating her friends. But it must be super weird to be friends with people most of the time and then try to beat them into unconsciousness the rest of the time. No wonder Will is unsure if he's being manipulated.
Quote #9
But what is so threatening about my ability to manipulate the simulations? Why would it matter to the representative of the Erudite, of all people?
I can't answer either question. But the look she gives me reminds me of the look in the attack dog's eyes in the aptitude test—a vicious, predatory stare. She wants to rip me to pieces. I can't lie down in submission now. I have become an attack dog too. (28.92-3)
All the competition with friends is complex and troubling. So it's almost a relief to get down to some competition with enemies. Here Tris is in a meeting with Jeanine Matthews, and by "in a meeting," we mean something like this. But even while Tris knows that Jeanine is "an attack dog," she doesn't understand why they are fighting. Which points to a larger theme of the book—are these factions and this system of government really worth all the hullabaloo?
Quote #10
It amazes me how easy it is to tune out everything else—thoughts of war on Abnegation, Tobias, Caleb, my parents, my friends, my new faction fade away. All I can do now is get past this obstacle. (29.27)
You know how in the last few Harry Potter books, people start to realize that maybe they should stop playing Quidditch and start, you know, fighting the evil magician who will kill and enslave them all? Well, Tris hasn't quite reached that point yet. Here she is, ignoring all sorts of other issues—like war—and concentrating on her initiation competition. Which means that in this case, competition is getting in the way of both friendship and long-term survival.