Divergent | Veronica Roth
This story takes place in the city of Chicago in the near future. The city is divided into 5 factions: Abnegation, meant for the selfless; Amity, meant for the peaceful; Candor, meant for the honest; Dauntless, meant for the brave; and Erudite,
meant for the knowledgeable. On a given day each year, all
sixteen-year-olds take an aptitude test that will tell them for which
faction they are best suited. After receiving the results of their test,
they must decide whether to remain with their family or transfer to a
new faction.
Sixteen-year-old Beatrice Prior was born into an Abnegation family,
but selflessness has never come naturally to her like it does to her
brother, Caleb. She feels lonely and constricted by her environment and
feels like she does not belong. When the time comes for Beatrice to take
her aptitude test, the results are inconclusive: instead of fitting
neatly into any one faction, she shows equal aptitude for three:
Abnegation, Erudite, and Dauntless. This makes her "Divergent" and she
is warned never to share this information with anyone for fear of her
life. Even for a Divergent, it is very rare to have results with three
factions. On her way home from the aptitude test, she encounters a
factionless man who grabs her hand and frightens her. This makes her
feel very nervous because she does not want to end up like him and is
worried about risking her normal lifestyle and failing. She does not
want to upset her father, who is certain that she will remain in
Abnegation even though she is skeptical.
On Choosing Day, much to her and her parents's surprise, Beatrice
makes the decision to leave Abnegation and join Dauntless, while her
brother Caleb chooses Erudite. She immediately leaves to join her new
faction and her new home. Beatrice, who renames herself Tris when she
reaches the Dauntless compound, becomes good friends with fellow
transfer initiates Christina, Al, and Will. Another transfer initiate,
Peter, quickly sets out to antagonize her as he does not believe Tris is
good enough to be in Dauntless. Peter also has two friends, Drew and
Molly, who back him up as he tortures Tris. She is also introduced to
their instructor, Four, who explains that they must pass an initiation
process before they are accepted as full-fledged Dauntless members. They
must rank in the top ten at the end of initiation, or else they will be
dismissed and become factionless.