Divergent Summary: Plot, Characters and Ending
Divergent is set in a future Chicago where people are divided into five factions, each devoted to one virtue. Sixteen-year-old Beatrice Prior learns she is Divergent, fitting more than one faction, which makes her a threat. She joins the fearless Dauntless and uncovers a plot to take control of the city.
It is the first book of Veronica Roth's trilogy.
| Character | Who they are |
|---|---|
| Tris (Beatrice) Prior | Divergent girl who joins Dauntless |
| Four (Tobias Eaton) | Initiation instructor Tris falls for |
| Caleb Prior | Tris's brother, who chooses Erudite |
| Natalie and Andrew Prior | Tris's parents in Abnegation |
| Christina, Will and Al | Fellow initiates |
| Peter | Cruel rival initiate |
| Eric | Harsh Dauntless leader |
| Jeanine Matthews | Leader of Erudite |
How does the world work?
The city is divided into Abnegation, the selfless; Amity, the peaceful; Candor, the honest; Dauntless, the brave; and Erudite, the intelligent. At sixteen everyone takes an aptitude test and then chooses a faction for life. Beatrice, raised in Abnegation, gets an inconclusive result: Divergent. Her tester warns her to tell no one.
↑ Back to the topWhat does Beatrice choose?
At the Choosing Ceremony, her brother Caleb chooses Erudite and Beatrice shocks her family by choosing Dauntless. She jumps from a moving train onto a roof and into a dark hole, the first to do so, and renames herself Tris.
↑ Back to the topWhat is initiation like?
Initiation is brutal: fighting, knife throwing and fear simulations. Only the top initiates will become Dauntless; the rest will be factionless. Her instructor Four sees her potential. Tris makes friends with Christina, Will and Al, but Peter's gang attacks her, and Al, ashamed and hopeless after joining in, is found dead in the chasm. Tris discovers that Four is Tobias Eaton, son of an Abnegation leader, and that he is also Divergent. They fall in love, and she finishes first.
↑ Back to the topWhat is Erudite's plan?
Erudite leader Jeanine Matthews injects the Dauntless with a serum that puts them into a simulation, turning them into an obedient army to attack Abnegation and seize the government. Divergents are immune, which is why they are hunted. Tris and Four stay awake, but Four is captured.
↑ Back to the topHow does Divergent end?
Tris's mother rescues her, revealing she was born Dauntless, and dies protecting her. Tris is forced to shoot Will, who is under the simulation. She finds her father, Caleb and Four's father, Marcus. Her father dies helping her reach the Dauntless control room. There Four, under a special simulation, attacks her, and she breaks through by refusing to fight him. Together they stop the attack and take the data. Tris, Four, Caleb, Marcus and Peter board a train toward Amity, with no faction left to call home.
↑ Back to the topMore about Divergent
This summary reveals the whole plot, including the ending.