The story begins with Tommy Wilhelm taking the elevator down to the lobby of the residential hotel that he is staying in to have breakfast with his father. Being in his early forties, he feels out of place among the mostly old people who live there. Wilhelm has financial trouble, as his dream of becoming a movie star in Hollywood did not come true, and he lost his job a few months ago. He has to pay alimony to his children and wife, who does not want to divorce him so that she can continue to get more money.
Wilhelm admires Dr. Tamkin, a psychologist in his building. Tamkin is especially impressive to Wilhelm for his knowledge of the stock market, and thus he trusts Tamkin to invest his last dollars in lard. He hopes he can be successful, but for the time being, he is worried since he has no more money.
Wilhelm has asked his father, a retired doctor who lives in the same hotel, for financial help many times but is always denied. His father does not respect Wilhelm, considering him slovenly and a failure in his work and marriage.
Dr. Adler’s disapprobation distresses Wilhelm, but there is little he can do about it. He joins Tamkin to go to the brokerage, and Tamkin asks about his relationship with his father. Wilhelm is honest, but his forthrightness is rewarded with Tamkin telling increasingly outlandish stories about all manner of things. He has long wondered if Tamkin is a charlatan, and though Wilhelm does not trust him, he has to given that all his money is invested with the man. Tamkin has put some of their investment in rye, which initially appears to be going up. However, it does not end up making any money and lard loses them a great deal.
Wilhelm has lost everything and is incredulous at his predicament. In the hubbub at the brokerage, he loses Tamkin but tries to find him in order to hold him accountable for what happened. Unable to find Tamkin, he visits his father in a massage room. He asks for help and his father flatly refuses and criticizes him. Sorrowful, Wihelm leaves. He returns a call from his estranged wife, and she harangues him for money.
After this call, he goes back out onto Broadway. He thinks he spots Tamkin at a funeral parlor, and rushes over there to confront him. Tamkin vanishes in the crowd and Wilhelm is left in a line to view the open casket. Seeing the dead man before him makes his feelings of despair and shame swell, and he begins crying loudly. The other funeral-goers wonder who he is.
