A middle-aged, widowed man realizes his new wife and her brutish brother are slowly taking over his farm.

Protagonist Walter Brickman strains against the protective bounds set by his daughter Barbara, who has cared for him and monitored his obsessive tendencies since his suicide attempt following the death of his wife. He works on his garden relentlessly, going through the motions of family life whilst confiding in a secret friend, finally triumphing as he escapes his daughter’s admonition and makes it to the fair to see his tomatoes have won first prize.

A supposedly peaceable day for the Werner family simmers with the annoyances and insecurities of each family member, finally boiling over in a public parental outburst. Emigrant father Werner Hartmann judges the strengths and flaws of his wife and daughters over the course of the day, finally boiling over in unwarranted anger when his daughter Annette makes a small mistake.