The main character, Richard Shelton, realizes his whole class is populated with phonies pretending there are no problems in the world because they have money and they don't have to see them. He sees the problems in society, especially for the poor. As a result of his association with a few poor people, he finds he is unable to be a proper, phony good British citizen. He rejects the idea that Britain is good and that his class is good and becomes something of a moral outcast.
