Chapter Nine

The fights between the initiates start today, but because there were an odd number of initiates, Tris got a pass for the day. All has to fight Will, an Erudite born Dauntless initiate. Al is much bigger and stronger than Will is.

"A brave man acknowledges the strength of others." - Four

Eric says that the fight will end when the other can no longer continue. Four says one may also concede, because a brave man recognizes another's strength, but Eric believes that a brave man never surrenders.

I think I would agree with Four. It takes courage for a person to recognize the strength of others when they know they cannot win. Fighting to the death is more cowardly than to realize that you have been defeated and acknowledge that fact.

Al seems to not want to hurt Will any further since he has shown that he will win anyway, but Eric insists that the fight end. Al takes a final swing and knocks Will out cold, winning the match.

Unfortunately, Christina has to fight a monster of a girl named Molly. I picture Molly looking like the cheesy stereotype of a strong girl. You know like on TV when the have the mole on their cheek and say in a Russian voice "My name is Helga!".

"Stop! Stop! I'm...I'm done." - Christina

Their fight is much more brutal and Christina is bleeding profusely when she concedes. Eric, however is not pleased by this and orders the initiates and Christina to follow him to the river. Eric says that if she can hang over the chasm for five minutes, he will forget her cowardice.

Once in Hawaii, I jumped off a thirty foot rock into the ocean. The thing is, in order to jump off you had to wait until the waves came up just right, otherwise you would hit the sand or rocks below and probably break something. That was one of the scariest things I have ever done, and it pales in comparison to what Christina has to do.

Towards the end of the five minutes Christina nearly falls off, but just barely manages to stay on. When the clock reaches five minutes, Eric tells her she must pull herself back over the ledge. Al jumps to her defense and says she did what he asked and rushes over with Tris to help her up.

In my opinion, Al defying Eric's orders was the bravest act I have seen so far. Eric is a Dauntless leader and standing up to him like that took more courage than jumping of any trains.