In House of Leaves’ Chapter 11 discusses Tom and Will’s relationship through the relationship of Jacob and Esau from the bible. However, there are different opinions throughout this analogy that lasts about six pages. The main opinion is “Eta Ruccalla’s treatment of Will & Tom as contemporary Esau & Jacob [and] has become the academic standard.” (Danielewski: 247). Per Johnny’s description of Esau and Jacob he says, “Esau’s a hairy, dimwitted hunter. Jacob’s a smooth-skinned, cunning intellectual” (247). In which, Tom is Esau and Will is Jacob. In the story, Esau was supposed to receive the inheritance but Jacob ends up tricking his father and receives the inheritance. The way this particular relationship relates to Will and Tom is because Will has had many accomplishments in his life in relation to photography. Whereas Tom hasn’t had any accomplishments in his adulthood and he “drift[ed] into an unremarkable and for the most part internal existence.” (250). Jacob’s trickery explains the difference between the brothers’ identities. Ruccalla claims that Tom “never hid behind the adjunct meaning of a career.” (250). Therefore according to Ruccalla, Tom’s identity and public image is completely exposed, whereas Will’s true identity is masked by his career. Ruccalla reiterates this point by explicitly saying, “Tom wears no mask, Will wears a camera” (251). This tradeoff between being successful or wearing no mask, further supports Ruccalla’s statements of Tom and Will’s interdependency within their relationship.

Rucalla’s opinion about their relationship also connects with Johnny’s opinion of their relationship. His opinion constitutes of only one word “lost”. In the footnotes on pages 250 – 252, Johnny creates six of them saying, “lost”. However, he uses the footnote after statements that discuss certain descriptions of both Tom and Will’s lives. Therefore his footnotes claim that both Will and Tom are lost in their own regard. This similarity that Johnny believes Tom and Will have, can potentially be a factor towards the interdependence discussed in Ruccalla’s literature. While both of they’re opinions may not completely agree with each other, they both have similarities that connect with the overarching statement.