In Jacob Have I Loved, there are several values,virtues,morals, and themes in the story. Self discovery is at the heart of the book as Louise feels that she is not as important as her isster, Caroline. She does seem to live in the shadow of hiser sister's abilitiies. Louise has to find her own way by exploring her own talents.
The allusions in this story refer to the story of Jacob and Esau in the Christian bible. These are two brothers who are jealous of one another. Parallelling this plotline, this story is the story of two sisters.