A Contract with God #[nn]
"A Contract with God" by Will Eisner is a powerful, quietly devastating story that begins with a man’s desperate plea to God for safe passage to America, sealed in a moment of faith on a stone. Years later, in the heart of a New York tenement, a childless man finds an abandoned baby on his doorstep, and his life becomes a quiet testament to love, loss, and the fragile line between hope and despair. The story, written and illustrated by Will Eisner with full creative control over both interior art and cover, is a landmark in the evolution of the graphic novel form.
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Frimme Hersh, en route from Europe to America, writes a contract with God on a stone. He promises to live a pious, devout life, doing good deeds if God allows him safe passage to his new home. One day, having settled in his New York tenement home, Frimme finds a basket with a baby girl in it upon his doorstep. Frimme tries to raise the girl to the best of his ability, but she dies tragically from an illness at a young age. Filled with bitter rage, Frimme spits upon his contract, throws it out the window and decides to become a successful businessman.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).