The Books of Jacob

The Books of Jacob is presented as a compendium of written sources, as well as third-person narration and source material. As such, books play an important role in the depiction of Jacob and his life, becoming a central motif.

In the novel, the written word is the dominant form of media. Books symbolize authority, either in the form of religious texts, law books, or the status acquired by being an author. The innate power contained within these books is emboldened by the limited literacy of some of the characters: Not everyone can read and access the information contained within books, which is a way to access knowledge and power. Druzbacka acknowledges this, writing to Chmielowski to criticize him for writing in Latin (a language of the elite) rather than vernacular Polish, especially given that his encyclopedia is an attempt to increase the knowledge available to the average Polish citizen. Chmielowski’s efforts to acquire the knowledge that he enters into his encyclopedia also indicate the symbolic power of books. He covertly tries to acquire Jewish texts, even though he cannot read Hebrew, and he offers to shelter books for Elisha Shorr. Books are to be read, protected, shared, and—for those in power—potentially destroyed because they contain such valuable information.