The story is meant to be that of an everyman (early in its development Steinbeck had thought of calling the play Everyman), so the setting for each of the three acts recasts the four characters in different situations: the first act is set in a circus, Saul and Victor are trapeze artists and Friend Ed, a clown; in the second act, Saul and Friend Ed become neighbouring farmers and Victor appears as Saul's farmhand. In the final act Saul is the captain of a ship, Mr. Victor, his mate, and Friend Ed a seaman about to put out on a different ship.
The narrative intends to depict an ordinary individual (Steinbeck initially considered naming it Everyman), with each act's setting reinterpreting the four characters in various roles: Act One is set at a circus where Saul and Victor are acrobats, and Friend Ed is a clown; in Act Two, they become neighboring farmers while Victor works for Saul. In Act Three, Saul becomes the ship captain, Mr. Victor his mate, and Friend Ed another sailor about to embark on a different vessel.