Arranging the narrative chronologically, Maugham offers readers a lucid, straightforward plot line. The style, marked by idiomatic, colloquial, and fluent English, approaches the ideals of simplicity, lucidity, and euphony that Maugham recommended.

The plot readily divides into important episodes, dependent upon Philip's location or his quest for a profession.

The trip to Germany, for example, convinces him that he does not want to be a clergyman, and the sojourn in Paris leaves him with a lasting interest in art but convinces him that he should not become an artist. Through trial and error and many false starts, he finally adopts medicine as a career.