Karl Rossmann arrives in New York Harbor and catches sight of the Statue of Liberty from the ship's deck.

A man on the ship reveals himself as Karl's wealthy uncle, Edward Jakob, and publicly discloses the reason for Karl's exile from Prague.

Karl departs the ship with his uncle Jakob, leaving the stoker behind and beginning a new life in America.

Karl settles into Uncle Jakob's lavish New York home and begins adjusting to a privileged lifestyle.

Karl accepts Mr. Pollunder's invitation to visit his estate outside New York, despite sensing Uncle Jakob's disapproval.

Mr. Green delivers a letter from Uncle Jakob permanently banishing Karl for the offense of visiting Pollunder's estate.

Karl arrives at a roadside inn after his second exile and shares a room with two strangers, Delamarche and Robinson.

Karl returns to Delamarche and Robinson to find his belongings scattered and his parents' photograph missing.

Karl accepts an offer to work as a lift-boy at the Hotel Occidental, eager to start fresh.

A drunken Robinson shows up at the Hotel Occidental asking for money and causes a scene that gets Karl dismissed.

Karl is fired from the hotel, and the Head Porter assaults him and steals his only means of finding shelter.

Karl ends up at Brunelda and Delamarche's apartment and is forced to remain as their servant.

Karl secretly uses a cart to transport Brunelda out of Delamarche's apartment under cover of night.

Karl sees a poster advertising the Theater of Oklahoma, which promises to hire anyone regardless of background.

Karl is accepted by the Theater of Oklahoma and boards a westbound train toward a new life.

Karl Rossmann arrives in New York Harbor as an exile from Prague and is immediately rescued from obscurity by his wealthy uncle, Edward Jakob, with whom he enjoys a privileged lifestyle. He squanders this fortune by visiting Jakob's business associate Pollunder against his uncle's wishes, receiving a letter of permanent banishment delivered by the scheming Mr. Green. Cast adrift again, Karl falls in with the unscrupulous Delamarche and Robinson before landing a job as a lift-boy at the Hotel Occidental, where he works diligently to rebuild his life. Robinson's drunken reappearance leads directly to Karl's dismissal and a brutal encounter with the Head Porter, leaving him trapped in servitude under Delamarche and his companion Brunelda. Karl eventually engineers Brunelda's escape from Delamarche and, after further hardship, discovers the Theater of Oklahoma — a utopian employer that accepts everyone. He boards a train westward, leaving his cycle of exile and exploitation behind and heading toward a hopeful new beginning.

Karl Rossmann's rise, fall, and ultimate redemption in America.

Karl gets lost below deck and encounters a German stoker who complains bitterly about his Romanian boss, Schubal.

Karl demands that the stoker's grievances against Schubal be heard before the ship's captain and officers.

Uncle Jakob purchases a piano for Karl after learning his mother once taught him to play.

Karl impresses his uncle by reciting an English poem, showing rapid progress with his hired tutor.

Karl is introduced to the confident Mr. Mak and joins him for horseback riding lessons near his uncle's home.

Karl has an uncomfortable dinner at Pollunder's estate where Mr. Green's boorish behavior leaves him deeply unsettled.

Karl and Klara have a physical fight after he calls her a wildcat, and she pins him down and chokes him.

Karl accepts a third-class train ticket to San Francisco from Mr. Green and leaves Pollunder's estate alone.

Delamarche and Robinson persuade Karl to surrender his fine suit, which they sell and pocket most of the profit.

Head Cook Grete Mitzelbach takes Karl under her wing at the Hotel Occidental because they share a German background.

Karl befriends Therese, who recounts how her American father abandoned her and her immigrant mother shortly after their arrival.

The Head Cook pleads with the Head Waiter to give Karl a second chance following Robinson's drunken arrival at the hotel.

Delamarche threatens to hand Karl over to the police as a runaway thief to prevent him from leaving the apartment.

Karl demands food from a refusing rent-woman and plates together a decent breakfast from available leftovers.

Karl reunites with his old acquaintance Fanny at the Theater of Oklahoma hiring event and climbs up to join her on a pedestal.

Karl's journey begins below deck on the ship where he meets the German stoker, whose unjust treatment by his supervisor foreshadows the exploitation Karl himself will face throughout the novel. At his uncle's home, Karl enjoys genuine pleasures — a new piano, English lessons, horseback riding with Mr. Mak — before a disastrous evening at Pollunder's estate ends with Green coldly sending him away with a third-class train ticket. On the road to Butterford, Delamarche and Robinson strip Karl of his suit and his salami before he finds a new ally in Head Cook Grete Mitzelbach, who hires him at the Hotel Occidental out of shared German kinship. Karl builds a meaningful friendship with Therese, whose painful immigrant story contrasts sharply with his own earlier privilege, and the Head Cook fights to save his job when Robinson's drunken arrival threatens everything. After losing his position, Karl navigates Delamarche's threats and a hostile rent-woman before reaching the Theater of Oklahoma, where he joyfully reunites with his old acquaintance Fanny. These secondary events flesh out the human connections that sustain Karl through each devastating reversal of fortune.

The supporting characters and moments that shape Karl's journey.

Uncle Jakob tells Karl to stop championing the stoker's cause and accept the responsibilities of his new privileged position.

Mr. Pollunder lies to Karl that Uncle Jakob is not angry about the estate visit, hiding the gravity of the situation.

Karl is stunned to discover that his friendly horseback riding companion, Mr. Mak, is actually Klara's fiancée.

Karl accuses Mr. Green of deliberately withholding Uncle Jakob's letter until midnight to prevent Karl from getting home in time.

Delamarche eats Karl's cherished Verona salami and insults Jakob's company while Karl stays silent about his connection to his uncle.

Karl wanders the Hotel Occidental's crowded buffet for hours, overwhelmed and unable to figure out how to get served.

Karl realizes he is the hotel's most expendable employee after meeting the strict Head Waiter and the self-serving lift-boy Rennel.

Rennel informs Karl that Delamarche has been asking about his whereabouts at the hotel, signaling danger ahead.

Karl takes a drunk Robinson to the dormitory to sleep it off, unknowingly abandoning his elevator post.

Karl learns that the Head Waiter is secretly in love with the Head Cook and feels a brief surge of hope for his job.

Therese tells Karl that escaping the hotel at all is a victory, reframing the humiliating end of his employment.

Karl awakens in Delamarche's apartment and strikes up a conversation with the studious neighbor Josef Mendel on an adjacent balcony.

Josef Mendel unexpectedly advises Karl to remain with Delamarche for now and wait patiently for a better opportunity to arise.

Karl calmly talks his way past a suspicious policeman while secretly transporting a hidden Brunelda through the city streets.

Karl gives the name 'Negro' rather than his real name when registering for a role at the Theater of Oklahoma.

Karl's journey is defined by pivotal moments in which hidden truths are exposed and critical decisions made, each reshaping his understanding of America and himself. From the very start, Uncle Jakob forces Karl to choose between loyalty to the humble stoker and acceptance of his new privileged status, a tension that echoes throughout the entire novel. Karl slowly uncovers the deceptions surrounding him — Pollunder's lie about Jakob's anger, Green's manipulation of the midnight deadline, and Rennel's secret friendship with Delamarche — each revelation exposing how thoroughly he is outmaneuvered by those around him. His time at the Hotel Occidental marks a turning point as he grasps his own expendability, only to lose his position through a moment of misguided kindness toward Robinson. Trapped in Brunelda's apartment, a conversation with the studious neighbor Josef Mendel shifts Karl's perspective and teaches him patience, leading to his confident handling of the escape. By the time Karl registers at the Theater of Oklahoma under the assumed name 'Negro,' he has transformed from a naive, reactive boy into a self-possessed young man ready to forge a new identity on his own terms.