In Veronica Roth's dystopian novel Divergent, five factions divide the society of postwar Chicago.
The factions are Abnegation, Amity, Candor, Dauntless, and Erudite. Each claims to cultivate a particular virtue: selflessness, peace, honesty, bravery, or intelligence. At the Choosing Ceremony, sixteen-year-olds select a faction, although most are expected to remain with the group into which they were born.
The faction system is central to the novel's conflict because it turns personality and morality into rigid social categories. Beatrice Prior, later known as Tris, discovers that she is Divergent, meaning she does not fit neatly into one faction's behavioral expectations. The number five is sometimes confused with the title's meaning or with the number of faction virtues, but it refers specifically to the established social groups.