After being orphaned, a boy is raised by his grandfather and uncles, rich rural landowners, on a sugarcane plantation where he grows up, studies, learns about politics, love and disillusionment.
The youngest daughter of a rich man has been raped by five black men in the slums of Rio de Janeiro, and her father arranges her marriage to one of his employees in order to save the family’s honor.
In the 1930s, novelist and politician Graciliano Ramos is accused of being a communist sympathizer. He is then arrested and sent to the Ilha Grande prison, where he experiences the disturbing treatment reserved for common prisoners.
