Jacob, the protagonist of the novel, is an honorable and learned man who suffers great misfortune, such as the murders of his wife and two children during a pogrom, his subsequent enslavement, and the death of Wanda/Sarah after she gives birth to their son, Benjamin. Singer mentions, "Like the first Benjamin, this child was a Beboni, a child born of sorrow." The sorrow derives from Jacob's determination to marry a gentile rather than a Jew and to marry for love rather than for social approval and money.

Jacob could have married the wealthy and practical widow of Hrubyeshoyv, but he risks his life and social position to marry a woman whom he knows his community will shun. Jacob is an idealist rather than a pragmatist, and Singer manifests how Jacob's idealism leads to his misfortunes.

Yet Singer's ambivalent portrayal of the widow demonstrates that Jacob would never...