Family Drama – Philosophical Literature
The Assistant focuses on the financial and personal trials of the Bober family—Morris, Ida, and Helen. The protagonist of the novel is arguably Frank Alpine, but his story is theirs. He enters their lives and their store. He helps determine their future. As Frank comes to have responsibility for their livelihood and for his sins against them (theft, lust, rape), he becomes a primary cause of their family drama. Frank brings them hope for a better future, but also disappointment, embarrassment, dread, and hatred.
The Bobers don't just feel these emotions; they also think about them a lot. They're a deeply philosophical family. Morris, Ida, Helen, and Frank struggle to understand the poverty and suffering and bad luck that never seems to give them a moment's peace. For Morris and Frank especially, the apparent relation between the Bobers' suffering and their Judaism gives them much food for thought. Frank's own pain and guilt lead him to become a Jew.