Bread Giver
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Sarah and her sisters represent the new choices that Eastern European Jews had in America. Unlike their mother, they could choose to go a different way. Although some of the choices were not easy. They required strength, courage, determination and endurance. Unfortunately, their father Reb Smolinsky forced his three daughters to marry men who they do not love. Even though all three were in love at one time, Reb refused to grant permission for them to be joined in marriage because they were not acceptable to his customs He then decides that he will choose the husbands himself. Sara and her three other sisters were the soul providers for the family for food, rent, clothing and anything else the family needed. She could have made the simplest choice to carry on her parents traditions, obey her fathers wishes and suffer through life.
Thats the choice that the oldest Smolinsky daughter took. Bessie is the major financial support for the family, and even at a young age she is worn out from constant stress of work. She hated her father for making her work and demanding all her wages. She is afraid to leave because providing for her family is the only life she knows. Weak emotionally she could not find an inner strength to rebel against her parents. Poor Bessie served her father until she was thirty. The whole time she lived under his household she suffered humiliation of his preaching and in the end could not find courage to run away. Resentful of her status as an old maid, Bessie thought her only way out was to marry Zalmon. He was an ugly fish-peddler, with a lot of children. He suffered like many others from poverty, financial insecurity, and the struggle to become someone in the new world. The only reason Bessie agreed to marry Zalmon is because Benny needed her. The burden bearer changed her burden; she simply went from one oppression to another.
Sara Smolinsky is the main character of the story. She is the youngest of her sisters. She has always taken on the stress of the household almost like a parent figure. “I was about ten years old then. But from always it was heavy on my heart the worries for the house as if I was mother. I knew that the landlord came that morning hollering for the rent” ( Yezierska, 1). It begins when she is ten lives in poverty. She always has the constant fear of being thrown out of their home for not paying the rent on time. One day, her father is arrested for striking the rent collector and none of her sisters are working. An elderly neighbor gives them fifty cents and Sara takes a quarter from it. She goes to that same neighbor and buys twenty-five herring at a penny each, selling them on a street corner for two cents. when she earns her first twenty-five cents, she could have ran away with the money and never looked back, however she is a very caring person and was so proud of herself she give it away to her family. From then on the power of making money made her feel independent. This feeling is what gave her the drive to succeed throughout her life. Against her fathers demands, Sarah makes a drastic new choice in life. Sara recognizes the sacrifice she must make to become her own woman. She tells her sister: “Besides, I dont want to get married. Ive set out to do something and Im going to do it, even if it kills me” (Yezierska, 177).She realizes that she can rebel and succeed. Out of all the sisters she had a strong will to do it. Sara made the choice to pursue an education. This was a completely new choice offered by the New World, one opportunity her mother never had. This choice was far from easy. For the time being, this made her life worst. She suffered from hunger, poverty, alienation from her peers, and humiliation of poverty.
However, her dreams of becoming a school teacher kept her soul alive and kept her going in difficult situations. College experience was also not easy. She was different from other students because she was poor and plain looking. Like most immigrants she struggled to fit in. She suffered from loneliness. Sarahs experience is typical for a determined student who makes the choice not to give up and shrives to succeed. Ultimately, she succeeds and graduates. After six years, she is finally happy, and has money. The vision of her future as a teacher brings her great joy. She returns just in time to be at the side of her dying mother. She tries to help her father; his insistence on marrying another woman so soon after her mothers death pushes Sara away from him again. At the school, Sara becomes close to her principal. Together they determine to help her father. Saras struggle to do what is expected of her father. Through all of that she finds her own sense self-worth and determination.
Sister Mashah values her beauty more than an occupation. This causes anger in the family. She does not contribute to the family. As her sister Bessie said: “No wonder Father named you Empty-head. Here you go to look for work, and you come back with pink roses for your doll face” (Yezierka, 3). She is careless and wants only to improve the appearance of herself as well as, her surroundings. Even though she focuses on materialist items, in comparison to her sisters she is the only one that tries to see the world as a beautiful place. She uses her love for music and beauty as an escape from poverty. On the other hand, because she uses all her money towards her beauty and not to help her family she is egotistic. Selfish much like her father who worships the Torah, she worships her beauty.” She lived on the pleasure she got from her beautiful face” ( Yezierka,4). She buys paper flowers for her hat; she always makes a special trip to listen to the free music in the park. As she walks down Hester Street she loves the attention she gets from men. She focuses on her face and figure simply because