Life Force is the second part of what is commonly referred to as "The Contract with God Trilogy". This story shares the Dropsie Street setting but no characters. It is the closest Eisner comes to making a true-blue graphic novel. We have eleven chapters about a single family, though we focus on different members at different times. Various aspects of life are presented such as devotion, romance, sex and deception.
We see the Shtarkah family confront and evade various hardships brought on by the onset of the Great Depression, and it is easy to identify with the struggle. Jacob and his wife Rifkah are dedicated to each and to their family. Rifkah is controlling and can be deceptive, and Jacob feels that burning need to prove himself as the breadwinner. But most of all the message is to carry on.
The central theme has to do with cockroaches and how much humans resemble them. As our "hero" says, both humans and cockroaches "just want to live". That desire and possible instinct to keep living is what gives this story its focus and its oomph.
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