Bread givers is a novel that focuses on the life of how difficult life can be to be raised in a household where cultural aspects affect the living conditions. This novel explores this conflict in the perspective of a woman growing up in a household where males are considered to be more paramount than women. Degraded while growing up by her father, Sarah, the protagonist, battles to rid of the standards that her father has placed in her life. This included the ridicule of not finding a man to support her, her working to support her family from a young age and his disbelief of her working to be the independent woman that she would like to be. Nevertheless, she overcame all of her family’s expectations by independently going off to work in a …show more content…
career of her own. Throughout the whole novel, Sara is surrounded by pressure given to her by not only her dad, but her whole family.
In the beginning of the novel, Sara’s dad reveals what their culture thinks of women by saying The prayers of his daughters didn’t count because God didn’t listen to women…Women could get into Heaven because they were wives and daughters of men.” (page 9). As the book continues, she lives watching one by one her dad marrying off her sisters to whom he believes are the perfect fit to the family. When her dad finally finds someone who he believes is worthy of calling a son in law, she refuses to go with him, her dad then replies with the comment, “What’s a woman without a man? Less than nothing” (chapter 15). This gives an insight to the reader on how her father’s point of view of women remains the same as it was in the beginning. Growing up in this kind of home inspired her to work harder to leave her home. As soon as she had the chance, she would leave in order to make an attempt in living with by herself without the help of a man, even if it meant defying the wishes and the culture in which she grew up …show more content…
with. A recurring motif in the novel is poverty. From when she was at home to when she began living for herself most of the time there was a lack of money to pay for the basic necessities such as food and shelter. It is shown when the landlord comes to knock angrily at their family's household to demand the rent money which is long past due, yet the family has no way at the moment for paying it (Page 17). As the novel progresses, she continues to push out of this poverty by herself, the first example is shown by her going out to peddle on her own and earning her first 25 cents. Nevertheless, as stated, “the more people get, the more they want.” (page 29). This proves true as Sara is inspired to be more independent and work for herself, learning soon that she does not need a man in order to earn a living. Not only does the novel explore the concept of poverty, but as well as the struggle of going from having nothing and being no one, to making it to have a comfortable lifestyle.
It took a while for Sara to even find a place where she could settle in in New York. When she did, the reader could tell by her words that she saw the place by not only what it was, but as well as what it could be. As soon as she looks at the door which withholds her room, she states, ”This door was life...the bottom starting point of becoming a person.”. This translates to that room symbolising a new beginning to her life, the first stepping stone to where she’d go from an unknown immigrant to someone who can make a living for
herself. The whole theme of the novel revolved around Sara becoming a self relying independent person who would not need a man to depend on. Once she got her motive to begin her journey, nothing was going to stop her. At times she would reject invitations to go places in order to continue her studying. An example of this is when she rejected her mother over going to college, she told her, “I could see you later. But I can’t go to college later” (page 171). This shows to the author how dedicated Sara has become to finish her education, picking her studies over family. Later in the novel, her married sisters come visit her in New York to see how Sara is doing. After they find out that she has yet to marry anyone, they attempt to pressure her into finding someone that she can settle with. Nevertheless, Sara is set to finishing college and replies with,”I don’t want to get married. I’ve set out to do something and I’m going to do it, even if it kills me” (page 177). This showcases to the readers on how stubborn and dedicated Sara is in finishing what she began. In conclusion, the author uses this novel in order to showcase the journey of a young woman’s conflicts to becoming independent. From the beginning of the novel, Sara knew her worth and how she did not need a husband to be happy or to sustain her even. By the end of the book, the reader can connect to theme of struggling for independence such as Sara. By leaving her household, she was given the opportunity to escape the poverty and ridicule by beginning her independent study, eventually becoming a successful and valued teacher in which she wanted to be.
For awhile she feels deathly lonely "cheated and robbed of the life that more fortunate girls seemed to have (Chapter 16)." However, Sara manages to get into college and despite all the discouragement and hard work she graduates and gets a job as a teacher. She gets her own apartment, which she vowed to keep clean and empty, a dramatic change from her small and filthy childhood home she shared with her whole family on Hester Street. And even despite her mother's death, her father's rapid remarriage, and then his diamond earring wearing new wife's attempt to blackmail her into losing her teaching job, Sara still manages to find happiness. She gets married to the principal at her school, even when she thinks that her step mother drove him away. Yet, in the midst of all her good fortune, "[her] joy hurt like guilt (Chapter 21)." So much in fact that even through all her hatred for him, she still developed a longing to see her
For an immigrant, entering into the United States during the early 1900s was a time in search for new beginnings, new possibilities, and a new life. Similarly, this concept was the same for Sara. In the early chapters of the novel, Sara's character is introduced as a young, courageous girl who works hard every day providing money and food for her family. Her job consisted of working in shops and going out into the streets of New York as a beggar
Sara feels horrible that she didn’t come to see her mother and spend more time with her. She knows that she should’ve come to see her mother instead of investing so much time in school. Then, her mother died a couple of days later. She decides to stay and visit her father, Reb Smolinsky, often but doesn’t visit him after he gets married again only thirty days after her mother died. A couple months later, she sees Reb again, but he’s working.
... while she still has time (257). She fails at first, thinking her father is “bereft of his senses” in his second marriage (258). She believes this despite the Torah saying, “a man must have a wife to keep him pure, otherwise his eyes are tempted by evil” (259). Gradually, Sara begins to understand her father: the only thing he has in life is his fanatical adherence to traditions; “In a world where all is changed, he alone remained unchanged” (296). Reb has a deep and true fear of God, to expect him to change beliefs that he believes have been handed down by God, beliefs that have persisted for thousands of years, is illogical. It is impossible to reconcile fully the New World with the Old, and it is the responsibility of the New to be the more flexible, unfair as it may be.
Perhaps the best example of Sara’s deviation from her Jewish heritage and her attempt to assimilate was her refusal to allow the undertaker to tear her suit during her mother’s funeral service. The clothing that she wears is a symbol to her of wealth and of being an American. For Sara the ripping of her clothing had become an “empty symbol,” a cultural construction with only symbolic meaning that could help to identify her ethnicity, and does not serve any logical purpose. After being distanced from her family and immersed in American culture for so long, she no longer understands the purpose of the action, and posits verily that “Tearing [her only suit] wouldn’t bring Mother back to life again” (Yezierska 255). This represents a clear distinction between volunta...
Sandra Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street, written in 1984, and Anzia Yezierska’s Bread Givers, published in 1925, are both aimed at adolescent and adult audiences that deal with deep disturbing themes about serious social conditions and their effects on children as adults. Both books are told in the first person; both narrators are young girls living in destitute neighborhoods; and both young girls witness the harsh realities of life for those who are poor, abused, and hopeless. Although the narrators face these overwhelming obstacles, they manage to survive their tough environments with their wits and strength remaining intact.
After Sarah escapes the unsanitary camp with Rachel, the two run until they find a place of beauty. “In the late afternoon, they came to a forest, a long, cool stretch of green leafiness. It smelled sweet and humid….a mysterious emerald world dappled with golden sunlight….The water felt wonderful to her skin, a soothing, velvety caress. She wet her shaved head, where the hair had started to grow back, a golden fuzz” (Rosnay 99). This description places images in the mind of the reader that allow for the reader to experience this moment in the forest with Sarah. Vivid descriptions of places and events are more common within Sarah’s story, as she is experiencing the horrors of the war, allowing the reader to visualize the tragedy through the descriptions in a book. Soon after the arrest, Sarah and her family are thrown into the Velodrome d’hiver with other Jews, where a woman jumps from “the highest railing” with her child in hand: “From where the girl sat, she could see the dislocated body of the woman, the bloody skull of the child, sliced open like a ripe tomato” (Rosnay 33). This description captures the horrifying sight Sarah has just witnessed, darkening the mood and tone of the book alike to the depressing events that occurred within the
This societal need for opulence is brought to the reader's attention through the juxtaposition of the mother's selfless actions and few possessions. When examined from a Marxist lens, the struggle between the classes, based on wealth, authority and race, is prevalent throughout the essay. The society of the American South in the twentieth century was full of racism and poverty. Walker recalls the
Sarah and her mother are sought out by the French Police after an order goes out to arrest all French Jews. When Sarah’s little brother starts to feel the pressures of social injustice, he turns to his sister for guidance. Michel did not want to go with the French Police, so he asks Sarah to help him hide in their secret cupboard. Sarah does this because she loves Michel and does not want him to be discriminated against. Sarah, her mother, and her father get arrested for being Jewish and are taken to a concentration camp just outside their hometown. Sarah thinks Michel, her beloved brother, will be safe. She says, “Yes, he’d be safe there. She was sure of it. The girl murmured his name and laid her palm flat on the wooden panel. I’ll come back for you later. I promise” (Rosnay 9). During this time of inequality, where the French were removing Sarah and her mother just because they were Jewish, Sarah’s brother asked her for help. Sarah promised her brother she would be back for him and helped him escape his impending arrest. Sarah’s brother believed her because he looks up to her and loves her. As the story continues, when Sarah falls ill and is in pain, she also turns to her father for comfort, “at one point she had been sick, bringing up bile, moaning in pain. She had felt her father’s hand upon her, comforting her” (Rosnay 55).
Sara's father also feels that he should get to pick the man that his daughters will marry. This is so old world, and Sara is not going to have it. She has watched her sisters who are so unhappy with the husbands that the father picked for them. Her father believes, "No girl can live without a father or a husband to look out for her," "It says in th...
Throughout Anzia Yezierska’s novel “Bread Givers,” the character Sara Smolinsky goes through an elliptical journey from a rebellious youth appalled by the individual limitations of her cultural heritage to her gradual acceptance of her inability to escape her ancestry. At first rejecting her Orthodox Eastern European Jewish culture, Sara views the world in terms of a sole American identity. As ...
The Illegal, and Some Great Thing by Lawrence Hill both contain several important themes. To explain, The Illegal features the main character’s loss of innocence, and the racism towards people because of their country of origin, and ethnic background. Next, Some Great Thing includes the themes of racism and prejudice towards not only the protagonist, but also to French Canadians because of the colour of their skin, or the language they speak, and the courage of characters to stand up for what they believe is right.
The constant hum of street vendors yelling, car horns blaring, and poor people complaining acts as the soundtrack to the family drama within the small apartment on Hector Street. There was never a quiet moment, and between the four sisters, an overworked mother, and an entitled father, the place was bustling and busy enough to burst. But to a young Sara Smolinsky, this chaotic ensemble was home. In the novel Bread Givers, immigrant author Anzia Yezierska writes about the realization of the American Dream for the ambitious and determined Sara Smolinsky, but the price of success is high. Sara starts her journey in the impoverished ghetto of Hester Street, and she escapes its dirtiness and shame, going on to achieve the American Dream. The apartment
He mentions how far women have come since his grandmother's day, but realizes the country as a whole has more room to grow. He mentions how tough it can be for women to juggle a demanding career while raising a family. Both text reference what honor motherhood is but they also admit the demanding workforce can determine how successful a mother they can be. Women today may not face slavery, but they face double standards that limit them to be successful professionals and parents.
Daughters have always had a special bond with their fathers, even at the time where women did not have the same rights as men, and were seen as the weaker sex. This father is no different, in wanting the best for his little girl. The father in this letter wants the daughter to accomplish her roles differently than the women before her because he knows that women are capable of accomplishing “male” tasks. The letter also addresses how women were seen and treated by men and the changes that were occurring in order to gain a status quo for both men and women.