The Books of Jacob

“Poverty is nondenominational and has no national identity.”

For the remainder of the novel, Jacob will lead his followers in a search for meaning and identity across several countries. One of the few constants during this time is material wealth. Poverty transcends religion, race, and national identity, though the characters rarely relate to one another on this level. Jacob tries to reunite people under a different identity while willfully ignoring the commonalities which transcend traditional demographic divisions.

“Both sides accuse each other of the worst sins, both engage in a war of intelligence. Each is as pathetic as the other, thinks Asher.”

Asher is a medical man who seems to have no interest in religion. He characterizes the disputes between Jews and Christians as petty squabbles over fundamentally similar ideas. Unfortunately for Asher, society does not agree with him. He may consider himself to be above such disputes, but, to the others, he will always be a Jewish man. Jewish identity is still separate from actual religion, especially in a society which is hostile to the very existence of Jewish people.

“Father Chmielowski knows the world only through books.”

Father Chmielowski illustrates the power and the limitation of books. By writing his encyclopedia, he has exposed himself to a wealth of knowledge which is denied to most people. At the same time, however, this knowledge has inherent limitations. He has learned so much but the cost of this learning is that everything else in life is secondary.