Defending Jacob

by William Landay

I do believe in the power of the ritual. I believe in the religious symbolism, the black robes, the marble-columned courthouses like Greek temples. When we hold a trial, we are saying a mass. We are praying together to do what is right and to be protected from danger, and that is worth doing whether or not our prayers are actually heard.

Our marriage settled into a rhythm, we believed we knew each other, and we were each happy with our conception of our partner.

Every father knows the disconcerting moment when you see your child as a weird, distorted double of yourself.