Beatrice Prior has always felt different from the rest of her family. She lives in a society divided in five different factions. She was raised in the Abnegation faction, where she was taught to be selfless. The other factions are: Candor (the honest), Erudite (the intelligent), Amity (the peaceful), and Dauntless (the brave). Despite her upbringing, she has never felt comfortable with being selfless. She is conflicted by her feelings of loneliness.

I close my eyes and picture my mother sitting at the dinner table in silence. Is it a lingering tint of selflessness that makes my throat tighten at the thought of them is it selfishness, because I know I will never be their daughter again?  (Ch 6, page 63)

At this point Beatrice feels conflicted about her future. She knows that the comfort and safety of her parents' house will disappear after she makes the choice she will do. My first reaction to the setting described in the first chapters of the novel was that her house and her life in Abnegation was so safe and quiet that it was even boring for her. She saw herself as different from the rest and needed a place where she could be free.