n a post-apocalyptic Chicago, survivors were divided into five factions based on their dispositions: Abnegation, for the selfless; Amity, for the peaceful; Candor, for the honest; Dauntless, for the brave; and Erudite, for the intellectual. Each year, all sixteen-year-olds take an aptitude test that describes the faction for which they are best suited. After receiving the results, test takers choose a faction, no matter what their results were. Those who do not complete initiation into their new faction become "factionless" and are forced to live in poverty on the streets of the city.