Jewish Immigrants In Bread Givers By Anzia Yezierska

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The novel Bread Givers by Anzia Yezierska examines the roles and experiences of Jewish immigrants in America roughly after the years of WWI in New York City. The novel follows the journey of Sara, a young Jewish immigrant, and her family who comes to the country from Poland with different beliefs than those in the Smolinsky household and by much of the Jewish community that lived within the housing neighborhoods in the early 1900s. Through Sara’s passion for education, desire for freedom and appreciation for her culture, she embodies a personal meaning of it means to be an “American”. 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 …show more content…

To women in the early 1900s, education was a vital investment in achieving a career and having a well-sustained lifestyle. In Sara's situation, attending college meant exploring the American culture and furthering her studies in teaching. On pages 210-213, Sara demonstrates her excitement for attending college. She states, "This was the beauty for which I had always longed for!" (211). Later into the novel, Sara reflects on her experiences while attending school. Her experience in being around people her age was a way for her to understand the American culture and know that she was now a person of reason. In effect, Sara provides an insight into her overall journey in college and life in the novel by mentioning "Now I saw them treasure chests of insight. What countless years that I had thought so black, so barren, so thwarted with want!"

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