Jean Berthillot and his wife Anne-Marie settle in Guinea. He is a primary-school teacher, fully occupied with his job. Anne-Marie is bored and has the pain of seeing their baby die. Depressed, she tries to hold on to an engineer, Carlier, whom she met when she first arrived in the country. She won't leave with him, but the disagreement between the couple is growing. Convinced that he is leading the best life, Jean does nothing to keep his wife. It's up to the natives to reconcile them and help the young woman share her husband's ideal.