Bobby Eroica Dupea (Jack Nicholson) abandons his preordained career as a concert pianist. He left the confining world of his upper class family of classical musicians for a life of adventure on the road. He eventually winds up as a rough neck in the Texas oil fields, living with the simple but compassionate Rayette (Karen Black). The motony of his new life becomes as stifling as his old life. He takes a trip with Rayette to see his family in Washington state after learning that his father is not well. He leaves Rayette at a motel close to the family home before the trip concludes and he confronts the wealth and privilege he has forsaken.