The opening scene unfolds under a solar eclipse in July 1938. The main character, Lucien Cordier, watches a group of starving African children eat sand to quiet their hunger. When the Sun is briefly covered, he lights a small fire so the children can warm themselves.
In a small town in French West Africa, 1938, [Lucien Cordier] is the sole policeman who is scorned by everyone and unable or unwilling to assert his authority. His alluring wife, Huguette Cordier, openly lives with her lover, Nono, presenting him as her brother. Cordier is drawn to the playful young bride Rose, Rose Mercaillou, but allows her abusive husband to beat her in the street without intervention. The head of Vanderbrouck, the timber company, insults him publicly every day. A pair of deceitful pimps flout the law and humiliate him as well.
It's these pimps who push him over the edge, prompting him to consult his superior, Chavasson, who urges decisive action. On the train back, he meets the attractive new French teacher, Anne, whom he warms to at once. Upon his return, he confronts the two pimps alone, shooting them dead and disposing of their bodies in the river. When Chavasson discovers this, Cordier implicates him in the act. Having outsmarted his boss and eliminated his main tormentors, Cordier sets his sights on others who have made his life miserable. Rose's husband meets the same fate as the pimps, and Vanderbrouck is dumped in a privy. Nono, who spied on Cordier, gets beaten (not severely) by him after peeping Anne in the shower. When Rose's husband's servant returns with his master's body and furious Rose accidentally spills Cordier's dark secret, he kills the African boy as well (accusing him of sucking up to white people).
On the day of Rose's husband's funeral, the twin brother of one of the pimps arrives in the city to talk to Cordier. Soon after, the policeman confesses his general despair and specific crimes to Anne. He then steals the money Huguette had been saving to leave him and visits Rose. Huguette and Nono, suspecting he plans to flee with Rose and the money, go to her house to confront Cordier. They find Rose alone—none of the three realizes Cordier is hiding in the yard, waiting passively for events to unfold. In a struggle, Rose shoots them both in self-defense. Cordier gives her the money and urges her to flee and to support herself by working as a prostitute. He is left with only Anne in his life.
In the closing scene, he's alone under a tree, observing a starving native child, ready to kill with his revolver, when more children show up (the same group as in the opening scene). He pauses, caressing his revolver.
