The Selection

The girls arrive at the palace, and America notices that it is heavily guarded. The girls are quickly brought into “a huge room full of bustling people” (89) to get their new wardrobes and makeovers, and all 35 of the Selected girls are gathered. America has an “aversion to all things fake” (90), and she refuses to change herself for the sake of a complete stranger.

America doesn’t want heavy makeup or gaudy jewelry, and she tries to encourage the other girls who seem anxious about the makeovers. The Selected girls are taken on a tour of the palace, and they are warned that they are “not to go outside under any circumstances” due to security reasons (98), although they may go into the garden with permission. Their guide, Silvia, warns them that “rebels have gotten within the grounds before” (98), which unnerves America. Each girl is assigned a room and a group of maids, and they won’t meet Maxon until the following day. America starts to feel the grip of “Too many rules, too much structure, too many people” (99). America meets her maids, Lucy, Anne, and Mary, then watches the Illéa Capital Report’s coverage of the day’s events.