In The Struggle, Uri sets fire to his house by accident right before his bar mitzvah, killing his mother. He will spend many years searching for relief from the guilt that plagues him. His status as a foster kid, his burn scars, and his monstrous appearance leave him lonely and suicidal in high school. Then, in his college years, he falls under the spell of The Professor, head of a cult called The Struggle.

To please the insatiable and expensive demands of The Professor, he becomes a brutal debt collector. He allows The Professor to control him, even telling him who to marry. FBI agents, investigating the cult for the leader's sexual molestation of underage girls, pressure Uri to testify or face prison for battery. Uri's wife urges him to testify.

Will he remain loyal to The Professor or choose prison? What is his obligation to the many children he discovers the Professor has sired? Without The Professor to guide him, who will help Uri find a path to the future he has long wanted?