Summary Of Free Vacation House By Anzia Yezierska

A View of Perspective: “Free Vacation House” by Anzia Yezierska

How someone experiences a city is determined by many factors such as sex, race, religion, time period, ethnic group and whether they come from a working class background or a wealthy background. These things shape the way they view and experience the city. In Anzia Yezierska’s story “Free Vacation House” the main character whose name is not given is a wife and mother of polish decent living in tenement housing in the early 1900’s. She is a part of the lower income or working class from what we can determine. She resides in the Lower East Side of Manhattan which is very congested with many immigrants and small housing. In this story the main character is not given a name as if to make us feel as if she could be anyone or even us. Throughout this story you are made to see things from the mother’s (main character) perspective by the author not giving you a name as well as the way she inverts her sentences and uses Yiddish within the story

further depicting what the mother is feeling and experiencing through this very livid language.
In the 1900’s not many women worked outside of the home. They were mostly responsible for cooking, cleaning and raising the children and doing laundry. Our main character begins the story by telling the teacher from the school how overwhelmed she is , stating, “ When I get up in the morning , I don’t know on what to turn first :should I nurse the baby make Sam’s breakfast or attend the older children. I only got two hands. (1)”. This inverted language style tells us that the main character is more than likely of foreign decent and not extremely educated. The housing in which she live with her husband and children is referred to as tenement housing.
According to History.com the tenement housing of the early 1900’s in the Lower East Side of Manhattan were once “single family dwellings that were increasingly divided into multiple living spaces. . . too often cramped, poorly lit and lacked indoor plumbing and proper ventilation”. This description is a complete opposite view from the way she describes the country house.
Our main character is from a working class and is a very proud woman who seems to feel trapped or imprisoned in her home and lifestyle and is completely overwhelmed She shows us this with her response to the charities and her not wanting to answer questions about her families’ income. The women going to the country are told to report to the charities office and inspected by doctors, questioned about their finances. They were then lead out into the street to the car that takes them to the country. Not knowing why they were being put through so much she makes the statement, “For why did they make us walk through the street, after the nurse, like stupid cows? Were n’t all of us smart enough to find our way without the nurse? Why should the whole world have to see that we are from the charities?”.
The country house was more of a prison for the mother even though it was open and beautiful.

The women are put on a very strict time schedule told only to stay in the back of the house and not to let their children run or play to loud. This schedule was determined by bells she states,” Bell one, was for getting up. Bell two, for getting babies’ bottles. Bell three, for coming to breakfast. Bell four, for bathing babies. If we come later, after the ring from the bell, then we’ll not get what we need.” “Everything in the front from the house must be kept perfect for the show for visitors” as if to keep up the appearance of the Social betterments Society’s Good work for the less fortunate lower class women. The house in the country is set up so that the wealthy women can come and applaud their charitable acts. The front is set up for the wealthy and the women from the charities are only allowed in designated areas on a strict schedule and no

freedom.
There is a proudness about the mother that makes her anxious when answering the questions.
“Charities! I scream out. Ain’t the charities those who help the beggars out? I ain’t no beggar. I’m not asking for no charity. My husband, he works.”
“I shivered to think how I would feel, suppose somebody from my friends should see me walking into the charity office with my children . . . They may think I go to beg. Have I come down so low as to be seen by the charities? But what’s the use? Should I knock my head on the walls? I had to go. “
At the charities office, “ I took my seat with them and we were sitting and sitting and looking on one another sideways and crosswise and with lowered eyes like guilty criminals. Each one felt like hiding herself from all the rest. Each one felt black with shame in the face.
Repeatedly the mother is questioned by the betterment society. They want information that makes her uncomfortable and it seems to make her feel like they were demeaning her. They repeatedly put the women through questions asking them, “Do you keep boarders? How much do you spend out for rent? How much wages does your man get for a week?” The Dr. “I wish I could ease out my heart a little bit, and tell in words how that doctor looked on us, just because we were poor and had no money to pay. He only used the ends from his fingertips to examine us. From the way he was afraid to touch us or come near us, he made us feel like we had some catching sickness that he was trying not to get on him.”