How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
In the past four days, I faced four fears. In one I was tied to a stake and Peter set a fire beneath my feet. In another I was drowning again, this time in the middle of an ocean as the water raged around me. In the third, I watched as my family slowly bled to death. And in the fourth, I was held at gunpoint and forced to shoot them. I know what fear is now. (21.9)
The Dauntless initiation is about 1/3 fighting and 2/3 psychological torture. But note how symbolic all these fears are for Tris: she's not really afraid of fire or drowning. (There's not even a lake anymore in this "setting.") Why does she get these symbolic fears? Why isn't she just afraid of spiders like the rest of us?
Quote #8
"My first instinct is to push you until you break, just to see how hard I have to press," he says, his fingers squeezing at the word "break." My body tenses at the edge in his voice, so I am coiled as tight as a spring, and I forget to breathe.
His dark eyes lifting to mine, he adds, "But I resist it."
"Why..." I swallow hard. "Why is that your first instinct?"
"Fear doesn't shut you down; it wakes you up. I've seen it. It's fascinating." He releases me but doesn't pull away, his hand grazing my jaw, my neck. "Sometimes I just...want to see it again. Want to see you awake." (24.92-5)
Okay, you may beg to differ here, but this makes us look at Four a little nervously. On the plus side, he does resist his urge to push Tris until she breaks, so, yay. What a gentleman. But his first comment is more than a little creepy. Still, aside from the fact that he himself is a bit scary here, what he teaches Tris about fear is just as important. He's showing her that fear can make her better, more alive in some ways.
Quote #9
My fear is being with him. I have been wary of affection all my life, but I didn't know how deep that wariness went.
But this obstacle doesn't feel the same as the others. It is a different kind of fear—nervous panic rather than blind terror. (30.58-9)
We talk about fear as if it's always the same, but Divergent makes a good case that there are different types of fear: there's dread, panic, terror. (Yay for thesauruses.) In this, part of Tris's fear is wrapped up with something that she wants but doesn't quite trust. Tris doesn't have the same fear when it comes to jumping off buildings, for instance.