 The police detain Jacob, a young lawyer, following a death. He tells his story in flashbacks. His parents are stubborn: his mother, whose name he takes, is mute with him and rejects offers of marriage from his father, Dreverhaven, a stern and imposing bailiff. Dreverhaven, for his part, will not acknowledge Jacob in public, save for legal ploys to keep Jacob impoverished. Jacob, first a debt-ridden office boy, rises through intelligence, hard work, and single-mindedness to become a lawyer. His success is tempered by his mother s silence, his misjudgment of a young woman s feelings, and his father s cold, fierce aggression. Is his father merely building Jacob s character?