Summary
America’s maids wake her the next morning. Although she is reluctant to wake, she is endeared to their kindness and thinks that they might be the easiest people in the palace for her to befriend. America is the only one of the Selected girls who chooses a simple dress and jewelry for her first breakfast with Maxon. This causes America to feel doubt, as “everyone here looked like a One. I looked like a Five in a nice dress” (121). She feels a “minor consolation” in the fact that she at least looks like herself still (121). Silvia enters and tells the girls that she will be instructing them in “conduct and protocol” (123). The prince enters and proceeds to speak with each of the girls one by one.
When it is America’s turn to speak to Maxon, she apologizes for being mean to Maxon the night before. Maxon tells her he appreciates her honesty, and asks if there is any possibility that she might develop love for him. America tells him she does not think she will, as she is in love with someone else. Maxon asks if she would like him to send her home to her love that day, but America tells him she did not want to go home, as her family needs her there. America offers Maxon her friendship in exchange for letting her stay in the competition.
After Maxon meets with all the girls, he asks a select few to stay behind and sends the rest off to the dining room, where they will finally eat breakfast. Maxon returns without the eight girls who stayed behind and America realizes that they were dismissed from the competition. As America enjoys her meal, she realizes she is the only Five left in the competition. During the meal, Maxon singles out America after noting with amusement that she is enjoying her food. They engage in a wager about whether her little sister might cry at enjoying such a treat, and Maxon has a box of strawberry tarts sent to the Singer residence along with a letter from America. If America wins, she will gain the ability to wear pants for a week. If Maxon wins, they will go for a walk around the grounds together the following day. The interaction gains America the approval of the Queen, who looks at her “like I was less of a foreigner to her now” (136). A butler comes to America later that night to tell her she had lost the wager, and that the prince will collect her from her room the following evening.
During their time together, Maxon asks America about her family. Their interaction is friendly and full of laughter. But when America asks about Maxon’s intentions with her, and he steps closer in order to respond, she automatically knees him in the groin and then warns she will do worse if he ever attempts to touch her. The implication that Maxon might have taken advantage of America upsets him, and he quickly leaves. Although he tells her she should not join the group for dinner in the dining hall, that night he sends her three pairs of pants in a gift box and thanks her for her company.
At breakfast the next day, the other Selected girls hound America for information about her date. Her vague responses are interrupted by a commotion as rebels infiltrate the palace. America thinks that it makes sense that the rebels would strike during the competition, as “at its barest of bones, the Selection was kind of disturbing” (150). Instead of cowering, America runs forward to help the royal family pull metal shades over each of the windows in the Dining Hall. Something crashes into the window, which sends her reeling back. She huddles with the rest of the girls in the back of the room. America notes which of the contestants remain calm and poised in the commotion and which don't. She imagines the future queen will have to be strong in order to face attacks like these. She sees Marlee crying and tells her to stand up straight and wipe her face.
When Maxon approaches America to ask if she is alright, she asks what will happen to her maids. She looks at him, “shaming him into acknowledging that only a choice minority of the throngs who lived in the palace were actually being protected” (152). Maxon seems confused and derisive at America’s concern at first, but in looking at America eventually realizes “that I was only one step up from being a maid myself” (152). Maxon assures her they are probably safe. America then apologizes for the night before, and tells him about the official who had warned her to give Maxon whatever he asks of her. Maxon is disturbed by the information. America gives Maxon advice on how to console the many girls around the room who are still crying. Maxon asks America if she wants to leave, and she tells him that she will stay as long as he keeps her around. He asks her to tell the others that he will never take advantage of them, and America agrees.
America asks Maxon who the rebels are, and he tells her that there are multiple groups that try to attack the royal family. He tells America that they are operating out of “some dissatisfaction or another, tired of living on the fringes of society,” but that by living as rebels, “they’re not even Eights technically, since they have no part in the social network” (158). Maxon tells America that his theory about the actions of the rebels is that they are looking for a specific object within the palace, and points to the fact that the Northern rebels rarely kill but often kidnap workers in the palace when they arrive. America wonders if they are simply stealing possessions so that they might be able to sell them and survive. Maxon takes his leave from America, but takes her suggestion in approaching Marlee to speak to next.
When America returns to her rooms, she sees that Lucy is particularly panicked about the skirmish. Lucy resists receiving medical care because that will make those in charge think she is unfit to be a maid and relieve her of her role. The three maids are worried about how America will react to their distress. America has Mary and Anne put Lucy on her bed and pulls Anne to the side. Anne tells America that many of the maids had been born in the castle; Anne herself was raised there because she was an orphan, and Lucy had been sold to the palace when she was younger. She tells America that during an attack the previous year, Lucy had been taken and molested by one of the rebels before being saved by a guard. Lucy had been treated for her physical injuries, but her trauma was paid no mind and she was sent back to work. America determines that she will do whatever she needs to ensure Lucy never goes through that again.
Analysis
America’s maids offer the opportunity for an interesting critique of the ways in which class operates in the palace. America is positioned as a challenge to the status quo, and this is emphasized by her thoughts of befriending her maids. But although the book has so far been overwhelmingly critical of the caste system in Illéa, the maids undermine this criticism. For example, Anne is depicted as being “absolutely happy with her task,” as she pulls back America’s curtains in the morning in order to wake her (119). This description of individuals in positions of servitude as satisfied with their roles in life ends up validating the caste system. America’s maids are not characters in their own right, but rather tropes of satisfied servants, overwhelmingly eager to play their roles in society and benefit the upper castes. Ultimately, the servants in the palace are used as props in order for the author to designate which of the characters are meant to be protagonists, and which are meant to be antagonists. Prince Maxon, for example, is depicted as being kind to the servants and has a moment with a butler in which he makes him laugh. By contrast, Celeste is depicted as being rude and demanding to the servants around her.
America’s deal with the prince, that she might be his friend and confidant in the competition, and therefore relieve him of some of the pressures of choosing which of the girls to marry, immediately puts her at an advantage over the other girls. Maxon singles her out during the meal for a flirty conversation in front of everyone, and she gains the privilege of having the first one-on-one interaction with the prince. Although this causes the other competitors to be jealous, America maintains to herself that she and the prince are simply friends and she is not actually competing for his love. The prince, however, seems to be most taken by America of all the other individuals, and it is implied that he might have other intentions in singling her out. By building a friendship first, America feels able to be more honest about who she is and what she wants. The message is clear: love is best built upon a foundation of friendship and honesty.
America’s resistance to being kissed by Maxon offers different levels of analysis. On one hand, it builds the perception of America as a morally righteous person as well as emphasizing her strong will. On the other, it calls back to the scene where the royal official warned America in her home that she should not deny the prince anything he asks of her. This dynamic causes America to feel incredibly dirty in the moment, but it also hints at a darker status quo, where girls with little to no social capital might feel pressured into engaging in illegal acts because of the simple fact that they are dealing with a prince. It is made clear that Maxon does not intend to take advantage of his situation, and he is so offended by the implication that he sends America away and denies her the ability to have dinner with the rest of the girls that evening. Although America later feels “humiliated” about how she acted, her reaction is revealing of the fear that comes when placed in a situation so far out of one’s control.
America’s conversation with Maxon about the rebels illuminates the royal perception of their aims. Maxon admits to being kept in the dark about certain aspects of their attacks. The fact that there are two rebel factions in the country, and that they are large enough to evade state power and routinely attack the palace, illuminates that there are a large number of people involved. Coordinated attacks hint at the presence of, at the minimum, leadership and organization within the groups. Maxon tells America that the King told him “they just want to bother us, disrupt our governing,” but although Maxon doubts this and has his own theories about the goals of the groups, no one seems to know anything about their intentions or political goals (158). When Maxon describes the role of the rebels in society, he calls the caste system a “social network” (158). This is a euphemism for their stratified society, and it indicates that Maxon might not be fully aware of the consequences his high status in society has on millions of his subjects.
The story of Lucy’s technical enslavement contrasts sharply with Maxon’s euphemisms and seeming ignorance at the injustices in his country. Anne tells America that it was “an honor to be a maid in the palace,” as they are the “front line,” those “deemed fit enough and smart enough and attractive enough to be seen by anyone who comes to call” (164). America realizes that while she has been assuming that all the servants in the palace are Sixes, “there were rankings even within that, statuses that I didn’t understand” (165). The story of Lucy’s lack of freedom questions the morality of the royal family as much as the story of her molestation questions that of the rebel groups. America seems to not register the atrocity of enslavement and focuses instead on her fear of the rebel groups. America comes to understand that these women have no resources with which they can protect themselves, and resolves to do whatever she can within the system to help them.
