The Choosing Ceremony

The Choosing Ceremony takes place on the twentieth floor of the Hub, which is the former Sears Tower. They take the bus to the ceremony.

The room is arranged in circles, like ripples of a pond.
On the outside circle stand the sixteen-year-olds who are about to pick their faction. They are arranged in alphabetical order by last name, and they are all mixed. Erudites might stand next to Amities, who could stand next to Candors.
The next circle is where the factions sit. They are arranged into the five sections for the five factions.
The innermost circle contains the platform where there are five giant metal bowls, representative of the five factions. This is where the student goes up to choose their faction.


The responsibility of conducting the ceremony rotates between factions, and this year falls on the Abnegation leader. They make a speech, and then call the names in reverse alphabetical order.

Once the student is called, they make their way up to the choosing platform, where they are given a knife. Silently, the slice their hand and drip their blood into the bowl representative of the faction they choose. In each bowl is a substance representative of the faction: grey stones for Abnegation, water for Erudite, earth for Amity, lit coals for Dauntless, and glass for Candor.