The Bread Giver
This book was written by a Jewish –American author called Anzia Yezierska.the novel is about the story of a young who grew up as an immigrant in the New York City. Her parents were from Poland in the Russian empire. The author used Sara smolinsky as the main character since she was related to Anzia experiences while in poverty. Sara has personified the clashes that are experienced between the opportunities in the land of America and the necessities or demands of the tradition. During the 20th century immigrants or foreigners from other countries found it hard to adapt to the new word as well change to coincide with the changes. This was because in the lower east side of New York poverty became rampant. Foreigners and immigrants found themselves living in harsh condition in the slums, where dieses spread easily to the people around because of the dirt around. However, life for girls and women was much harder as Anzia recalls. This essay seeks to give a summary of the bread giver by Anzia and how the main character Sara handles her life as an immigrant.
In the novel Sara lives with her parents who are Jewish, her father was called Reb and her mother Shanah. She had her three sisters Bessie, Fania and Mashah. Her father, Reb devotes his time in reading a Jewish Torah which he believed was sacred. In turn the father forgets to cater for the needs of the family. This led to Sara’s mother convincing her husband to rent the front room so that they could get some cash for the family. This is after she made him move the sacred Torah from the room. Sara tried to find ways for her family by working in order to pay rent and resulted to a confrontation between the collector lady and her father. Reb tries to explain that he doesn’t have the cash but in furious the collector lady slams the torah book which falls on her feet. this made Reb to slap her twice which led to his arrest. Due to his absence Sara decides to sell herlins on Hester. Reb came home freely charged and people admired him for his action. As time went by the sister’s fall in love but the happiness is cut shot as Reb rejects the suitors for other men. This is because of his financial gain. Sara sees the humiliation and promises herself he will get married to her desired man. Eventually reb benefited from the marriage deal which saw him buy a grocery without his wife’s opinion. The grocery was fake and Sara became frustrated and decides to move to New York town to become a teacher. In New York Sara makes her own rigid decision without her parent’s opinion and tries to fit in the society with her peers but did not yield fruits. Sara decides to focus on her studies and as time went by she got in love with max but later on breaks up since he could not understand her academic needs.
Sara managed to finish her college and won 1000$ in essay writing, she returns home to her mother who was ill and after sometime she dies. Reb her father remarries and as a result Sara and her sisters are frustrated since they felt it is a dishonor to their mother. She got a teaching job later but refused to help her father and his new wife. The new wife was furious and decided to write a letter to the principle Mr. Hugo trying to discredit her but Mr. Hugo sympathizes with her who she later on dated. During a certain dinner they discover that they are both Jewish-polished American. as time went by her father got ill and on her way Sara found him selling chewing gum and agrees to take care of him. The story ends when Reb decides to live with her daughter.
In conclusion, the bread giver is a novel that describes how hard it was for the women to survive under the strict traditions while in America. Sara managed to conquered the odds by focusing in her studies got a jog an later on helps her father. Although her father is into the tradition which makes him unable to fit in the society but later he decides to maintain peace in her family by agreeing to live with her daughter.
