Bread Givers Essay

1822 Words8 Pages
“Bread Givers” by Anzia Yezierska is about a typical Jewish family that moves to the United States from Poland. It’s clear, life in the “New World” is a lot different from the old Jewish life back home. The immigrants of the Smolinsky family face a few problems in the New World. However, the biggest problem that the Smolinsky’s face is the transition of lifestyle from the Old World, in Poland, to the New World, in America. In this paper, I will tell you about the transitions that the family faces, and how they end up handling their new found challenges. Reb Smolinsky “The father of the old world” and head of the family, refuses to work. He spends all his time reading and learning the Torah and other Jewish books. In his eyes women are to take this responsibility of making money. Reb cares about his Judaic books more than anything else, including his family. “When we came to America, instead of taking along feather beds, and the samovar, and the brass pots and pans, like other people, father made us carry his books” (pg. 8). Being a father of the “Old World” and following strict traditions, Reb Smolinsky is not able to earn money in America. His lack of education, as well as his attitude toward women, and his steadfast grip on old traditions does not allow him to work and thus he cannot provide a steady income for his family. Being an immigrant and stuck in his old life, he is not able to get used to the ideas of American business and life. He spends his whole life living off his children rather than trying to create a life of his own. He knows if all of his children try to leave him he will have no one to take care of him, so he desperately sabotages every attempt they make for a new independent life such as marriage or moving out. On the other hand, Sara, referred to as the “Daughter of the new world,” embraces the ideals of Americanized Jews, which quickly

More about Bread Givers Essay

Open Document