Clara and the father-in-law she has been trying to dislodge ever since she married who is a tough, asthmatic old wreck combining all the pride and cunning of his age with the simplicity of a baby. His son, Glenn, is tossed helplessly from one loyalty to another, and Clara has grown desperate enough for anything, even an attempted love affair with another man, anything to release her from this burden. When Pop finally gives up the fight to remain in his son's home, it is left to his granddaughter, Susan, to see with the compassion that only youth can feel for age, the true tragedy of his going.