In a society where people are divided into five factions based on their personality types, Tris Prior is a young woman who is forced to make a choice between staying with her family in the Abnegation faction, or leaving them to newly discover a new identity and pathway in life. When she takes the mandated test to evaluate her skills and interests, Tris is shocked to discover that the result indicates she is Divergent - showing traits of all five factions, and therefore never fitting into any one group. Afraid of the consequences of being labeled as Divergent, Tris keeps her result a secret, yet this doesn't stop her from being confronted by Jeanine Matthews, the leader of the Erudite faction, who recognizes Tris' threat as a Divergent, and puts forth a plan to eliminate them, starting with Tris and those closest to her.