Jacob more or less starts as the immature father of our main character, Parker. He is not taking his responsibilities head on and has instead become lazy and a poor example to his 8-year-old son. In his mind, it isn't fair that he lost his job at the local mill simply because banks and the government screwed up completely and gave a bunch of homes and cars and whatever else to people who couldn't afford it. Now he's become one of those people that banks shouldn't give loans to, as he's been jobless for about a year now.

However, there is still hope for Jacob (or Jake as he's more affectionately called by his wife, Sarah), and he may yet rise to meet the challenges of his life and become a better husband and father.

Jacob is approximately 30 years old, perhaps closer to 35. Perhaps he feels he may have had his son too young and never got to explore more or work on his career. Nevertheless he is happy with Sarah and Parker and somewhere inside him he wants to be better.