40 pages • 1 hour read
William LandayDefending Jacob
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2012A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
The Murder Gene
The possibility that violence is inherited through a “murder gene” appears throughout the text. After hearing Andy’s family history, Laurie is the first person to alight upon this possibility. As the Barbers prepare for the trial, it becomes clear that the murder gene cuts two ways: Logiudice might cite it as a possible cause for Jacob’s violence, but it could also be an excuse for violence. Jonathan therefore prepares a defense to mitigate Jacob’s crime: if one inherits the irresistible urge to murder, is their crime completely their fault?
Later in the text, we learn from Dr. Vogel that Jacob, Andy, and Billy all have the MAOA Knockout gene associated with male violence. At the end of the novel, it is understood that the Barber family has a violent history, and it is strongly suggested that Jacob is a murderer. It is left for the reader to decide whether genetics play a role in his crimes and whether Andy himself ever displays evidence of his violent lineage.
Suffering Animals
It is broadly culturally understood that children who hurt animals lack empathy and may hurt other humans later in life. Derek reveals that Jacob once found a stray dog and later stated he had buried it. He strongly suspects that Jacob killed the dog. After speaking to Derek about Jacob’s mean streak, Andy is heartbroken, presumably in part by this anecdote.
Later, Logiudice tries to bring this evidence to the trial, but Jonathan objects, and the evidence is never heard. Nonetheless, another suffering animal appears in the text: on the eve of Jacob’s trial, Laurie and Andy hear the sound of a cat being tortured. They do not connect this sound with Jacob; however, it is suggested that Jacob may have killed it.
Leopards
This symbol is related to the Murder Gene and the theme of Nature vs. Nurture. Andy states that “we do not punish a leopard for its wildness” (130). This connects to the common idiom, “a leopard can’t change its spots.” In Andy’s version, however, wildness—and violence—are just as intrinsic to a leopard as its exterior markings. Andy compares his father Billy to a caged leopard, implying that Billy cannot change his spots. It is left for the reader to determine whether Jacob and Andy bear these same spots—this same tendency towards violence.
Crumbling Institutions
Andy describes federal buildings and courtrooms as decrepit, decaying structures. The courthouse is a “sick building” (34) full of asbestos and other toxins. The courtroom where Jacob’s trial takes place is depressing and windowless. The ugliness of these buildings connects to Andy’s feeling that the law is not reliable or sturdy. He implies that, over time, the legal system has become less and less capable of achieving justice as right and wrong have become more complex.
