Howdy folks, here is my paper on the parallelism between the two Jacobs. Cheers
Jacob vs. Jacob
Isaac Singer’s Jacob shares deliberate parallels with the biblical Jacob in a number of different ways.
From the very beginning of The Slave, the reader finds Jacob enslaved by Jan Bzik, father of the beautiful Wanda. This scenario is similar to that from Genesis 29, in which Jacob serves Laban for seven years in order to marry Rachel. Upon completing his seven years of labor, the biblical Jacob is given Leah in marriage, instead of Rachel. Jacob asks Rachel’s father,
“What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?” Laban said, “This is not done in our country—giving the younger before the first-born.”
-Genesis 29:25-26
Here, a barrier has arisen due to the cultural differences between Jacob and the traditions of Rachel and her family. Similarly, in The Slave, a cultural and religious barrier stands in between Jacob and Wanda. For one, Jacob is a strict Jewish man, faithful to the law that states one must not inter-marry or have any sexual relations with gentiles, and two, Wanda is of gentile birth and cannot by law marry an unconverted Jew.
As the story progresses and Jacob and Wanda give in to their love for one another and lead a new life together, Singer uses the bible’s influence even more profoundly. As in the Book of Genesis, Jacob assumes the role of a patriarch. He lives a life of discipline and honor, performs the duties of an educator and most importantly, lives by the laws of the Torah (minus the small fact that he married a gentile); in fact it could be argued that Singer’s Jacob lived a life even more honorable than that of the Bible’s Jacob. Singer’s Jacob is constantly looked up to by the people around him. Even at times when his social status says differently, those who surround him are affected by his essence of patriarchy. While enslaved, Jacob’s discipline for his Jewish traditions became common knowledge among the villagers and though it provoked a variety of responses, people overall accepted and respected him, notably Jan Bzik.
“Jan Bzik had been good and just, had never ridiculed him, nor called him by a nick-name. Jacob had become accustomed to him. There had been a secret understanding between the two men as if Bzik had somehow sensed that some day his cherished Wanda would belong to Jacob.”
- The Slave, 89
This passage reflects the way in which Jacob is respected by those who know/glimpse his true character, the character of the patriarch.
While assuming the role of the patriarch, the biblical Jacob is not without his flaws, as is seen in Genesis 27.
Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me; now sit up and eat of my game, so that you may bless me.”
- Genesis 27:18-19
Esau said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright; and look, now he has taken away my blessing.”
- Genesis 27:36
The name Jacob literally means ‘He supplants’ or ‘He takes by the heel’. This is what Esau refers to when he asks, “Is he not rightly named Jacob?”, for a more perfect name could not have been given to a person of such character. Perhaps this is why God changed Jacob’s name to Israel; maybe he thought his chosen people would be more accepted if the name of their universal father did not reflect his attributes at his least respectable hour.
At first glance it doesn’t seem that Singer’s Jacob possesses such base characteristics, as those displayed from the biblical Jacob, put parallels do exist. With Jacob’s decision to steal back Wanda and his son, it could be Singer’s symbolization of the biblical Jacob’s theft of Esau’s birthright and blessing. It is also at this time that Singer’s Jacob is most notably seen fulfilling his namesake of ‘one who supplants’ when he claims the two things he loves most; Wanda and his son Benjamin. Though Jacob is justified in his actions, he is breaking in accordance with the law at the time, just as the biblical Jacob does when cheating Esau out of his birthright and blessing. As a reader, we see no wrong in (Singer’s) Jacob’s actions, and perhaps this is how we are meant to interpret Jacob’s story within Genesis. Perhaps we are not meant to see his actions as acts of cheating but as fulfillment of God’s will. As the son who was destined to father the nation of Israel, he is justified in his actions against his brother because his fate could not have been fulfilled without committing those acts of trickery.
Finally, one more major similarity presents itself through the deaths of Rachel and Sarah/Wanda. Both women, wives of Jacob, meet their end while giving birth to a son, a child named Ben-oni. This ‘child born of sorrow’ is responsible for taking away the women who both Jacobs loved most in this world, thus their namesake. Singer acknowledges this connection directly after Jacob reclaimed his son.
“At that instant, the name he must give the boy came to Jacob: Benjamin. Like the first Benjamin, this child was a Ben-oni, a child born of sorrow”
- The Slave, 278
As a reader I must ask the question why Singer uses such obvious biblical foundation for The Slave. Upon reflecting I can only conclude that, while Isaac Singer was a religious man taking inspiration from the holy texts, the Bible is also the foundation for all stories. There is really no such thing as a new story because it has already been told in some form or other in the Bible. Singer simply chooses to directly influence his text through the bible, rather than indirectly, like so many other storytellers.
“Everything remained the same: the ancient, the ancient grief. Perhaps four thousand years would again pass; somewhere, at another river, another Jacob would walk mourning another Rachel. Or who knew, perhaps it was always the same Jacob and the same Rachel.”
- The Slave, 279
