The Selection

America Singer lives with her mother, father, younger brother, and sister in the country of Illéa. As a family of Fives in a caste system that ranges from Ones to Eights, America’s family struggles to get by as a family of artists and musicians. When a letter arrives at the Singer house announcing the Selection, “an upcoming opportunity to honor the great nation of Illéa” by competing for the chance to marry Prince Maxon Schreave (7), America doesn’t want to sign up. Her mother pushes her to consider applying since “[t]he families of each participant will be generously compensated [...] for their service to the royal family” (7). America knows that if she is chosen to participate in the Selection, her family will receive money, and America could become queen of Illéa one day. Still, America resists. For one thing, she’s aware of frequent rebel attacks on the royal palace, and she’s reluctant to place herself in that situation, even though she acknowledges that sometimes “they [are] in the right” (3). But more than the danger, America doesn’t want to humiliate herself by “being entered into a contest for the whole country to watch” as she fights for the prince’s attention on national television (8).