George Eastman is a poor young man working as a hotel porter in a Chicago hotel. Despite being poor, George has wealthy relatives among them Charles Eastman, his uncle. Charles loves George and he arranges to meet him when he comes to town. The low social class status and a religious mother complicate things for George but he never gives up. Finally, George meets his uncle who offers him a job at his factory. As a religious individual, George’s mother is not preoccupied with the material world. However, George is antagonistic toward his mother’s opinions. On the contrary, his uncle holds similar beliefs with George and he encourages him to work hard.
The factory’s policies bar workers from having intimate relationships. But, George went against these policies and starts seeing Alice Trip. Before becoming a factory worker, Alice was a farm girl. Therefore, she is not exposed enough like her colleagues. Besides, she hails from a poor background. When the two workers start dating, Alice’s love for George is real. Unfortunately, George perceives Alice as a person of low social status who doesn’t befit him. This prompts George to start another girl, Angela Vickers. George meets Angela when both of them attend a party held by Charles.
Following an encounter with Angela, George starts avoiding Alice. One day, during Labor Day, George lies to Alice and visits Angela. The two lovebirds go to Loon Lake to spend time together. When Alice finds out through a newspaper, she threatens to expose him. During all this period, Alice is pregnant. George feels nagged by Alice and executes a plan to exterminate her. The two go to a lake hires a boat to have fun on the lake. Unfortunately, the boat capsizes and George refuses to rescue Alice willingly. George is aware that Alice doesn’t know how to swim and instead of rescuing her, he leaves her to drown. The incident shows immorality. Ultimately, George is captured and sentenced to capital punishment.
