The novel is set in the town of Sampilong which is under the conjugal dictatorship of Donya Leona and Don Severo Grande. They control the wealth and power in the town and use the institutions of politics, Church and law for their own ends. The townsfolk are composed of farmers and people living in depressed areas. Bandong, a teacher, serves as their leader and adviser. He educates the people and tries to bind them together to fight the wealthy and greedy couple.

The novel has wonderful set-pieces that vividly show the gap between the rich and the poor— the feast in the house of the rich as opposed to the imprisonment of Andres, the slum-dweller; the wake and the setting up of the cooperative; the wicked ways of the people under the control of the Grande family and the corrupt politicians. The novel ends when the townsfolk discover that the Grande family does not own the land they are claiming as theirs. The townsfolk have awakened from their slumber and decide to change the unjust system. They now have a newfound faith in themselves and their capacity to change their lives and the destiny of their country.