Nora Walker is told that her British fighter-pilot husband is missing in action and presumed killed in World War II. On V.E. Day, Nora gives birth to their son and names him Tommy. When Tommy is an adolescent, Nora marries shifty camp-counselor Frank; shortly thereafter, Tommy suffers an emotionally traumatic experience associated with his father and stepfather which, based on things told to him at that time, results in him becoming deaf, mute, and blind, and several people exploit this situation for their own pleasure. As Nora tries several things to bring Tommy out of his psychosomatic disabilities, he, now a young man, discovers pinball. Playing by intuition he becomes a pinball master, which makes him--and Nora and Frank by association--rich and famous. Nora literally shatters Tommy to his awakening, which ultimately leads to both the family's rise and downfall as people initially try to emulate Tommy's path then rebel against it.