Content Warning: This section discusses antisemitism, infant loss, loss of children, Nazi Germany, and racism.

“What Esther recalled about the story of Job was that his wife had gone crazy with grief over the loss of those children.”

Jewish religious beliefs and cultural practices play a significant role throughout the novel, but they are particularly prominent in the exposition, establishing the way the Adlers understand the world. Here, Esther recalls the story of Job, whose faith God tests via a series of misfortunes. However, Esther does not exactly look to the story for comfort when dealing with a similar loss; rather, she notes that the death of their children destroyed Job’s wife, pointing both to differences in the way mothers and fathers experience grief and to the story of Job’s focus on the male experience.

“Esther had always wondered how mothers buried children, and now she knew. One shovelful of dirt at a time.”

The quote develops the theme of Grief and Loss as Catalysts for Change by highlighting the banality of grief. Esther previously assumed there was a secret to handling loss, but the death of her daughter forces her to realize that this is not the case: The only way to cope with loss is simply to keep going. Much of the sincerest grieving in the novel is quiet and pragmatic.