The plot of The Collector is pretty simple. It is the story of a man who kidnaps a girl and keeps her hidden in a subterranean room until she eventually dies. The book is divided into four sections. The first, third, and last sections are narrated by Frederick, the kidnapper, and the remaining section is narrated by Miranda, the kidnappee, in the form of diary entries.

Basically, in the first section, the reader is introduced to Frederick. We see his preparations and rationalities for kidnapping Miranda. He is slightly apologetic but matter-of-fact about his misdeeds. He is reverant towards his victim, and will give her anything she asks him for, except her freedom.

In the second section, the reader sees things from Miranda's point of view. Her viewpoint is typical for a person in her situation. We see her disdain and utter lack of regard for her jailer. She feels she is above him. This section serves a dual purpose: to make the reader hate Frederick, and to make the reader sympathize with Frederick. We are pushed to hate Frederick simply because seeing things from Miranda's eyes makes his actions seem ever the more heinous; but we are encouraged to pity Frederick because he is in love with Miranda, but she despises and has no respect for him. The second section ends with Miranda's last diary entry, when she is very ill and dying because Frederick refuses to bring her to the hospital.

The third and fourth sections tell the story of Miranda's illness and subsequent death from the eyes of Frederick. The book ends with Frederick noticing another girl he may want to "collect," giving the book its last eerie punch.

It may be noted that this book contains a constant allusion to Shakespeare's The Tempest. The names of the characters in The Collector correspond with their counterparts in The Tempest. It is interesting that Miranda is always Miranda, whose character has often been taken as the depiction of complete innocence, but Frederick sees himself as Ferdinand, who was a prince of Naples and who was loved by Miranda, yet Miranda sees Frederick as Caliban, who was a deformed and savage slave.