Tamsir returns to Senegal after 17 years in Europe. His uncle gives him a patronage job in Dakar, virtually without duties. He visits his family's village to see his parents, and there he meets the beautiful Lissa. Tamsir espouses traditional ways, as does Lissa, but when her parents agree to marry her off to a corrupt and well-spoken member of parliament, Tamsir and Lissa dishonor the family and she becomes pregnant. The MP's response, his and Tasmir's uncle's plan to capture the village farmland, the reactions of Lissa's parents, who are strict followers of Islam, the disaffection of Dakar youth, and the dreams of a village mechanic to find "Saaraba" (Utopia) complete the story.