With light luggage and open, uncorrupted eyes, this modern good-for-nothing wanders through the world, and in the end, nothing comes of him but the pleasure of the reader. Like his author, the hero of the book, Simon Tanner, is possessed by an unbridled desire for freedom and views the world and people with complete innocence, not with a "cluttered, obstructed mind." This leads him into the most curious conflicts with the world of conventions, with the conformists, those compromised by career and competition. Through his naivety, he provokes them and simultaneously shames them for what they have lost: imagination, humor, common sense, and material incorruptibility.