The Assistant is a morality drama in which human kindness and honesty, despite appearance, triumph over callousness and greed and transform lives. Morris Bober and his family live in poverty because he refuses to exploit his equally impoverished neighbors. Honesty and morality prevent the realization of the American Dream for him and his family. An attempted robbery at his store acts as a catalyst in forging a surprising working relationship and friendship that transforms the arrogant and antiSemitic attitude of a petty thief, who learns to respect the Jewish values of integrity, honesty, and the redemptive power of suffering.