The Power of Life

Nathan Rabinowitz, a bookkeeper for Feinberg Dress Company, devotes his spare time to his inventions. Nathan is offered $3,000 for an invention, and he promises to give an answer by the next day. When he learns that Sam Schindler, his daughter Leah's fiancé, needs $500 to avoid going to jail for embezzling money from the bank where he works, Nathan visits Sam's father, who refuses to loan Sam the money. Nathan argues that the power of life comes through finding happiness in one's children's lives and that parents must not forget their obligations to their children; however, Schindler replies that Sam stole from his account and that few children love their parents. He contends, in fact, that children are the enemies of their parents. Later that night, Feinberg gives Nathan $2,000 in cash and a $3,000 check to deposit because he must leave town to be with his dying father. Nathan then learns that his son Julius has decided to give up his law studies and leave town. After the prospective buyer of the invention calls and promises to close the deal the next day, Nathan hears a scream and finds Leah, who has tried to poison herself, struggling with her grandmother. Nathan gets $1,000 of the company's money, which he tells his family the buyer left as an option, and gives up $500 to Leah for Sam, $300 to Julius for tuition, and $200 so that his young son Maxie, who is sick, could be taken to the country. Two years later, a new bookkeeper has found out about the stolen $1,000. At Leah's wedding, when Feinberg confronts Nathan, Nathan explains that because the invention was never sold, he has not been able to pay back the money. Feinberg, who is interested in Leah, tells Nathan that she can save him, but Nathan, who values her happiness more than his own freedom, accepts the fact that he will go to prison. Nathan is released three years later, but Sam, now a partner in his father's firm, does not want Nathan to live with him and Leah. Nathan now agrees with Schindler's view of children. Julius, who is a lawyer, is loathe to accept Nathan because his wife is sick. Nathan cannot find work, and when Maxie, who coughs up blood, needs money for medicine, Nathan gets it from an old friend. Five years later, Maxie has died and Nathan has disappeared. Grandma invites the family to meet a Mr. Guderman from Los Angeles, who has word of Nathan. Sam, who now is considerate, offers to put up Nathan when his father tells him that Guderman said that Nathan, destitute and sick, has been staying in old men's homes. Julius argues that he wants Nathan to stay with him, and Schindler points out that they at last appreciate the value of parents. Nathan himself then appears well-dressed, having become wealthy from his invention, and Julius and Leah are ashamed. Sam asks Nathan's forgiveness, and Nathan explains that this is the power of life -- no matter how much he has suffered, he is ready to forgive his children and forget.