Sanderson holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in fiction writing and is an independent writer. In this essay, she points out that Bernard Malamud's short story not only includes references to the story of Jacob, Rachel, and Laban, but also incorporates the experiences of American immigrants in the early twentieth century.

As the son of Russian-Jewish immigrants who came to the United States early in the twentieth century, Bernard Malamud understood the obligation he carried as a second-generation American to do better in life than his parents had done. Malamud's parents ran a grocery store and worked there seven days a week with the hope that their son would not have to keep such a grueling schedule. Unsurprisingly, Malamud's stories are filled with immigrant shopkeepers who have high hopes for their children's futures.

Malamud also wove the stories and styles of the "old country" into his...