An unnamed narrator introduces a couple living in London—Kelso, a carpenter from Antigua, and Olivia, a nurse from Jamaica—and states that this is the last day of Kelso’s life.

Kelso is trying to open the window on a hot Saturday, but is hindered by the intense pain of a recently broken thumb. Kelso’s brother Mal visits while Kelso tries to read a story in the Reader’s Digest, but Kelso cannot concentrate on either because of the pain. He has struggled to understand the story thus far, but he at least relates to the protagonist’s suffering. Olivia works on her embroidery. Kelso suggests they go to the Speakers’ Corner instead of the movie theater, because he considers movies mere American advertisements. This reminds Olivia of the older Kelso’s previous life and marriage in America, but she never asks him much about it.

At the Speakers’ Corner, a French poet argues that narrative is a form of manipulation. An American woman delivers a speech about racism. Kelso cannot think due to the pain in his thumb. At the station, he sees newspapers announcing murders and crimes, with headlines like “SIGNS AND SYMBOLS” and “FORESHADOWING.” Olivia is unnerved by a hateful-looking woman on the train and, tired, goes to bed when they get home.

Kelso, unable to bear the pain in his thumb, goes to St. Mary’s Hospital. A doctor re-sets his thumb and gives him a prescription in the form of creative writing advice regarding “show don’t tell.” Kelso walks home late at night, reflecting on the years he wasted in America and his longing to be younger. The narrator describes a group of young white men—one of whom stabs Kelso to death—who never face legal repercussions for the murder. The killer’s police statement is given in the form of a poem: he blames the stabbing on the two Black men who unsuccessfully tried to save Kelso’s life after they found him bleeding in the street.

The narrator then describes Kelso’s funeral, which over a thousand people—most of whom did not know Kelso—attend as a political display. The mourners disapprove of a Marxist handing out a political newspaper because it prematurely transforms the dead man into words. The newspaper’s headline is “ALL THE WORLD IS A TEXT.”