In mid-20th century Chicago, Woody Selbst is unsure how to mourn after the death of his father, Morris. Morris had abandoned Woody, his sisters, and his mother when Woody was a child, and took Woody’s money that he got from his work as a caddy for the gas to run off with his mistress, Halina. Yet after Morris’s death, Woody feels awful. Woody’s reflection of Morris’s death is coupled with reflection on his and his family’s faith. They are ethnically Jewish, but Morris’s brother, Reverend Kovner, converted to Christianity, as did Woody — who went to a seminary for a while — his sisters, and his mother. Growing up, Reverend Kovner criticized Morris' life of vice outside of their Christian ideals. Woody felt a strong belief in the reverend, which lead in part to his joining the seminary. Woody recalls when Morris tricked him into taking him to one of the women who funded the reverend’s church, Mrs. Skogland, to ask for money because Halina had taken money from her husband to pay Morris’s gambling debts. Woody and Morris went to her house, and Morris explained the situation. Mrs. Skogland said she would need to pray on her decision whether or not to give Morris the money, and left the two downstairs while she excused herself. At that point, Morris stole a silver dish from the living room, and said he would only keep it if Mrs. Skogland didn’t give him the money. Woody tried to wrestle it away from his dad, but to no avail. Mrs. Skogland came back and said she would give Morris a check. Her servant, Hjordis, then arranged a bed for Woody and Morris at the YMCA, given that they were on the opposite side of Chicago. While Morris claimed to have put the dish back, he did not. A few days later, Mrs. Skogland realizes the dish is missing, which results in Woody getting booted from the seminary and going out of favor with his other family members. Still, Morris insists that his actions were not harmful to Woody. Woody recalls sitting in Morris’s hospital room as he died, holding his father. He feels Morris’s warmth leave his body, and sees it as his inability to hold down his strong-willed father.