The fates of various people from different social strata are described: the manufacturer Roloff, who has lost his belief in technological progress, the teacher Johannes, who calls for social reform in popular assemblies, and Marja, who turns into a revolutionary to fight against the armed forces.

“Young Marja is about to get married to Richard, but has actually loved Johannes since childhood, who has become a kind of mouthpiece for the branded people and demands social reform; when he rejects her love, which he replies but cannot reconcile with his biblical code, she takes revenge by accusing him of rape.

Her brother, the factory owner Roloff, who has long since given up his belief in technological progress, swears in court that he has observed the attack: his psyche has long been marked by war and destruction, and soon he will be completely mad.

Marja later withdraws the accusation and becomes the leader of a revolutionary group: she wants to build on Johannes' ideology, replaces his pacifist approaches with gun violence.

In the end, even Roloff's wife, until then the only person who was perceived to be untouched, goes mad: she sets fire to Johannes' house and kills his blind sister, and then goes to the monastery to do penance.