Bread Givers Character Analysis

Sarah is a very selfless person because in the short story she put each of her family

Bread Givers tells the story of Sara Smolinsky, whose life is almost the same as Anzia Yezierska, who is the author. Through Sara we see the collapse of a family because of religion and old world ways. Sara tries so hard to get away from her past but in the end it shows that your family will always be there, for good or bad.

Sara faces a number of serious hindrances on her way to making a life of her own. One of them is her father, who she looks up to and starts to resent later on in life. Her father, Red Smolinsky wants his all daughters to fulfill their gender roles: maintain the household, take care of children, cook, etc. Women, in his opinion, do not exist without men and their own function is to serve men in all senses – sexual, psychological and spiritual. Red Smolinsky represents the Old World with its conservative view on the womanhood. She also starts to hate her father when she understands the ways he has denied his daughters, her older sisters, lives of their own. Sara tries to resist this “new” world and her

“I know I’m a fool. But I cannot help it. I haven’t the courage to live for myself. My own life is knocked out of me. No wonder Father called me the burden bearer.” This was regarding Bessie, this shows how Bessie’s life was shaped through the influence of religious teachings, forcing herself to stay loyal to the societal expectation and giving up her personal pursuits. She calls herself the “burden bearer” because it was the religion and/or societal teaching for females in Judaism should dedicate their lives to men’s. This was, in fact, the case in which every female figure of the Smolinsky family has suffered throughout the book. Sarah, too, was suffering from such conflict until she realized this is not what she sees herself into if she is to make herself break out the poverty and the so called “religious obedience”.

“It’s because he no longer loves us sweetheart. Pack your stuff, we’re leaving this house and your father who doesn’t care enough anymore about this family.”

In the novel Parrot In The Oven by Victor Martinez, is about a boy named Manny that tries to find what his life is meant to be in the world. Manny is a troubled child that has an abusive dad that only cares about himself. His mom doesn't have time to watch all of Manny’s siblings so his mom only worries about the baby. The things that make my life and Manny’s life relatable is we both struggle with belonging, our dads are not good parents and we have nothing to do with them, and we both want to be honest people.

     In Anzia Yezierska’s novel entitled Bread Givers, there is an apparent conflict between Reb Smolinsky, a devout Orthodox rabbi of the Old World, and his daughter Sara who yearns to associate and belong to the New World. Throughout the story, one learns about the hardships of living in poverty, the unjust treatment of women, and the growth of a very strong willed and determined young woman—Sara Smolinsky.

In A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, Walter Younger wants to be a “real man”. His dream is to become successful in business and make his family rich. However, when all his money is stolen, he becomes very pessimistic, abandoning the ideas of morality and dignity. At the end of the play, his son Travis inspires him to value his family’s pride over materialism. Over the course of the play, Walter’s view of manhood changes from someone wealthy and successful to a person who has pride and believes in human dignity.

Brenda Umana Daniels 16 July 2014 English 3 Bread Givers Sarah Smolinsky’s journey reflects her ambition, and drive she possesses in hopes to reach her dreams. When reading the novel, the theme of family plays a tremendous part in her life. Her relationships with her family shaped her to the woman she aimed to be, especially the relationship with her father.

When I read the part where she was hurrying to Nellie Simple Sweets, it got me thinking about how some people live with plenty of food, clothing, water and a roof over their head. People like me. Some people only have enough for that people with little money. Then there are people with more than enough money to live and give some away to charity - rich people. Everyone works to get money. I started thinking about this because when I read this part I knew that she must help her family by earning a little extra money for them. As I read on I found out that she even helped her father early in the morning with chores.

The way Sugar acts was originated by the what goes around her, slavery. She has to stay obedient it's the way she was raised as a slave, but comes along an affectionate side of her where she shows that she is starting to care for a boy named Billy that she wasn't allowed to see. Sugar is filled with excitement she makes everyone cheerful, and peaceful at the end of the day. It is always ok to be yourself, your personality makes you based on the time of you live in. Your personality is what makes you a unique person.

In both The Breadwinner and Kids of Kabul, Deborah Ellis illustrates several themes about life through her characters and the young people she met while in Afghanistan. The most significant theme was we are made stronger through our struggles. Sara is one of the young people Deborah Ellis met while in Kabul. “But it didn’t matter that I was afraid to come back. We came back and started our lives again in Kabul(Kids of Kabul 114).” Even though Sara was afraid to go back because she had bad memories of Afghanistan under the Taliban, she faced her fear and went back to Kabul. Sukina is another young person that illustrates the theme. She was abused by her husband and his family. “Finally, one day, when they let me move about more freely so that

Sarty's mother refrains from disciplining the girls and molding their behavior to fit the dynamics of the family model. The girls do not understand the harsh realities of being poor and the struggles faced by their brothers. Sarty and his brothers work long hours in the field to help their father provide basic necessities for the family. The girls are depicted as being lazy and more

In A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, the Younger family is trying to achieve the American Dream, which is “the ideals of freedom, equality, and opportunity traditionally held to be available to every American”(cite dictionary.com). The Youngers are a black family living in a poor part of Chicago. They inherit ten thousand dollars because Mama’s husband died. Mama is the matriarch of the Younger family. Each family member has their own idea about how to use this money to fulfill their dreams, and the play uses the decisions of the family members and other characters to show the reader that people’s actions are not always motivated by what they appear to be. Mama wants to use the money to buy a house in a white neighborhood, because she thinks it is a better environment for her family than their current living conditions and will benefit her family. Although there are a number of people in A Raisin in the Sun who appear too want to help the Younger family, Mama shows through her decision to buy the house that she is the only person that is looking out for the best interests of her family.

She knew her father loved her and she could talk to him when she needed too but he never really called or made an effort and whenever she stayed with him it was only for about a week and they would always do the same thing every time she went. First they would get home make a bed and get everything settled. Then they would visit family and keep in mind she has a huge family on her dad’s side because of her ethnic background. He would take her to see the same people and she would meet someone new every time but would soon forget them. Then they would get burger King because he wasn’t a big cook, well he wasn’t a cook at all. The closest thing to “cooking” was toasting up some bread and adding butter, sugar, and cinnamon. The thing the girl always had to do was get fried ice cream! She loved it so much she first had it when she went to a restaurant her father 's new wife had worked at. You see her mom and her dad had