Eisner, by the way, is the man who coined the term graphic novel, suggesting that comics could be more than cheap childrens' fodder. He is also the author of The Spirit, and is so famous and renowned within the comic book community, that the prestigious yearly comic awards, the Eisners, are named after him.
Warning: Slight spoilers ahead.
As the cover suggests, the collected volume that I read covers three story arcs, the original A Contract with God, A Life Force, and Dropsie Avenue. Each story arc takes place on Dropsie Avenue, a Bronx neighborhood which houses a variety of characters throughout the course of the book, which covers a nearly hundred year span of time. Most of the storyline takes place during the 20s and 30s, before and during the Great Depression. These stories star a predominantly Jewish cast of characters, and for that reason is often categorized as Jewish literature.
The first arc of the book, A Contract with God, covers four short stories, the titular A Contract with God, The Street Singer, The Super, and Cookalein. These all take place during the same persiod of time, the 1930s Depression, and portrays how the poor Jewish population of the area deal with the economic stress. These stories are pretty short, but really capture the anxiety and general unease of the time. Interpersonal relations suffer, and everyone seems to be caught in their own personal struggle, unable to live comfortably or relate with their family or neighbors. Characters stoop to nefarious behavior to gain money or pleasure, further degrading the community as a result. This arc helps set the tone of despair prevalent throughout the novel, and establishes a formula of not concentrating on any one person as a main character, but rather on the neighborhood itself.
The second story arc, A Life Force, revolves mostly around the life and dealings of Jacob Shtarkah, a middle-aged Jewish carpenter, for whom the Depression has caused an existential crises. It is by far the longest section of the book, and extends from the 1930s through the 1940s. Throughout Jacob's story, Eisner examines the rise of Socialism in America and Nazism. The Dropsie neighborhood, where Jacob resides, is torn in two over the issue of socialism and workers' rights. Union recruiters are portrayed as greedy thugs, who harass legitimate business owners and capture the minds of the inner city youth. Jacob himself is also often in a state of perpetual confusion and wonderment at his predicament. He begins the story as an out of work carpenter, and ends it as a successful lumberyard owner. He ponders whether life has any meaning, or if we as humans are like cockroaches, whose only instinct is survival. He finds that though his station in life has improved, his happiness haas not, something which he attributes to his cold marriage. At this point, we are introduced to Jacob's first love, Frieda Gold, a woman who is now pleading for his help. Jacob immigrated to America from Germany, leaving his old flame and his old life behind. With Nazism on the rise, Frieda fears for herself and her family, and begs Jacob to send funds to help them relocate to America. Her husband has died, and to Jacob, helping Frieda seems like his only chance at happiness. Learning about Frieda's experiences with anti-Semitism also begin to cause unease in Jacob's mind about his daughter, who is in love with a Gentile. Though he does not dislike the young man (to the contrary, they're actually quite good friends!), he takes a stance against their desired marriage, worried about what will happen to them if the Nazi attitude spreads to America. In the end, Jacob must continue searching to find deeper meaning in the universe.
A Life Force is probably the heart of the collection and perhaps the pinnacle of Eisner's work. It explores complex moral situtions, in which right and wrong are not always so evident. Jacob's marriage is one of convenience, not of love, and his children are grown. Does this mean that is alright for him to leave her? Is his relationship with Frieda wrong, even though he saves her from possible imprisonment? His teenaged son, Willy, is enthralled by Socialism, only seeing the possibilities for good, and ignoring the misery and violence it is causing around him, even when it harms a close family friend. Jacob cares deeply for his daughter and her beau, but refuses permission for their marriage because he is frightened for their safety. What is right and what is wrong in these situations? For Jacob, who is perpetually tired and bewildered by the situations he finds himself in, morality is a moot point.
Finally, Dropsie Avenue, serves as a sort of demonstration of the life cycle of a neighborhood, and of the human tendency to fear the new and renounce what is different. Dropsie Avenue begins by showing the land in it's infancy, barely cultivated by English farmers, and highlights its progression, often by introducing a new culture into the area. Irish follow the English, Italians follow the Irish, Jewish follows the Italians, and on and on ad nauseum. With each new arrival, the older paradigm bemoans the fate of their homestead, insisting that "the neighborhood is going to hell". Dropsie Avenue provides a fascinating bubble in which to observe race relations and shifting perceptions. The neighborhood itself also goes through physical changes, transforming from farm land, to sophisticated townhouses, to inner-city, to slum, and eventually being torn down and rebuilt anew. It offers hope that things can get better, while reminding us that people, will essentially remain the same. Near the end of the story, set in contemporary time, the next set of "interlopers" makes their appeareance, but at this point, the ethnicity no longer matters. They are instead characterized as having "funny clothes, and weird customs". It does not seem to matter, who the newcomers are, only that they are in fact, new.
A Contract with God and its associated stories is a thoughtful and realistic portrayal of people and how they live when the going gets tough. None of these stories describe "the best of times" and none of these characters could really be described as "noble".
But they're doing the best they can.
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