Benjamen is a six-year-old boy living in a predominantly Jewish community in Brooklyn. Benjamen has a habit of playing pretend to extremes, pretending to be different types of candle sets that are used in Jewish tradition, from a Havdalah candle to a Menorah. Though at first his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Israelovitch, are only annoyed at Benjamen's behavior, it quickly becomes a more dangerous situation. Benjamen goes from not eating or sleeping for a day to pretend to be a candle, but when he tells his parents that God has informed him to be a Menorah, their distress heightens, fearing that he will actually attempt to remain object-like for eight days. The parents call in a doctor, and he attempts to slyly suggest that Benjamen could benefit from seeing a therapist, which Mr. Israelovitch immediately rejects. Mr. Israelovitch says that all children need is a good spanking in order to be straightened out, and that they should be seeking out advice from their Rabbi. Mr. Israelovitch adds that Benjamen must be acting out because of his recent visit to Mrs. Israelovitch's sister, who isn't devoutly Jewish enough for his taste. Though Benjamen's older brother, Paul, pleads with him to eat or sleep, he refuses, saying that if he does their entire family will die. Benjamen's health becomes dire and sends him to the hospital, warranting a visit home from his other older brother, Alan, who is in college. In the hospital, as Benjamen is unconscious in bed, an argument breaks out between Alan and his parents, them accusing him of moving on and forgetting about his family, his faith. Though Alan still practices, he concedes that there are other ways to live and that no one way is better than another, mentioning that his aunt is just a woman who has chosen to live her life in a way that pleases her. He tells them that they simply fear new ideas and change. When the tension dies down, the family is inquired by the doctor about possible causes for Benjamen's predicament. The whole family knows Benjamen has been saying that it is God telling him to be a candle, but only Paul knows that Benjamen does so because he fears they will all die, and he informs them now. Alan recognizes that this thought pattern bears resemblance to his father's and their Jewish teacher, reminding the room that his father constantly says that the light of the Jewish people is being extinguished, that in his lifetime he will see the death of all true, devout Jews. The father realizes that the sickness his son is experiencing is one that he has induced. By the eighth day, Benjamen has died.