Bread Givers Struggles

    Anzia Yezierska’s most-taught novel, Bread Givers, "is an extensive observation of relationships in an immigrant family of early 20th century America" (Sample 1). Noticeably, one of the most fascinating qualities of Yezierska’s work is that, though most readers probably come from significantly different backgrounds than that of her characters, she writes in a manner that allows her stories to be discussed in contemporary terms, (Drucker 1) while simultaneously illustrating the immigrant experience. Particularly, this phenomenon can be seen in her portrayal of certain generational conflicts. In Bread Givers, Yezierska depicts the struggle of finding one’s self in life, a

Now that there is an established definition within context, parts of “Bread Giver’s” will be pointed out to display how Sara Smolinsky’s actions show her reinventing herself.

In Bread Givers by Anzia Yezierska Sara is growing up as a Jewish immigrant migrated from Russia. From a young age she has only wanted to support herself and her family. As she grows older she begins to aspire to be “something”. What that something is seems unclear even to Sara. Sara is so unsure of what she hungers for that multiple points can be argued. Some may say she hungers for money because of the way her family has always had to scrape for pennies just to survive. Some may argue she quests for freedom because she runs away from her family. These are decent analysis but they do not dive as deep as they should. Sara’s aspirations are so much more than just money to buy more clothes or just freedom from her family. Sara is an

Sara Smolinsky is the youngest of four sisters; the eldest is Bessie, whom everyone calls the “Burden-bearer” because the whole family lives on her pay check. “I knew the landlord came that morning hollering for rent. And the whole family were hanging on Bessie’s neck for her wages. Unless she got work soon, we’d be thrown in the street to shame and to laughter for the whole world.”(1) The second eldest

of dizziness and fear rising in her so that for a moment he wasn't even in focus but was just a

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

In the early twentieth century, Fania, Bessie, and Masha, the older children of the Smolinski family are unable to find work to support their hungry, weak family.The youngest daughter in the Smolinski family is named Sara and will go outside and make some money by selling herring when Mrs. Molinski loses hope for the family 's financial situation:"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," (P.1). Reb Smolinsky is the girls’ father. Reb is also out of work and as a poor Jewish man, spends his days reading holy books and living off of what little money his own children make. Eventually the older daughters will find work. Mrs. Smolinski is then able to rent a second room. The family is very excited when Bessie announces that she and a man named Berel Berenstein had fallen in love. Bessie invites him to dinner at her home. Reb finds out about his daughter’s relationship with Berel and even that Berel was willing to marry her. Despite the joy and enthusiasm expressed by the rest of the family, doesn’t decide to congratulate her, but rather that because of the family’s financial situation, Berel must also pay the full cost of the wedding. Reb also demands that Berel set him up a business. After that, Berel becomes infuriated and leaves. After reading this I couldn’t help but wonder, one

She has just lost her mother and her father is at war or possibility dead, which is taking a huge toll on her. All these things hit Saranell at time moment in time, causing her to believe she is alone in this dreadful world. This tragedy causes her to doubt herself and her purpose. Her will to go on and fight is challenged, but she was able to overcome with the help of Renny, the family slave. “She put her fingers over her quivering mouth to control the laugh as Renny swooped and caught the piece of cornbread.

When Sara is out selling herring to earn money for dinner, she says, “Nothing was before me but the hunger in our house, and no bread for the next meal if I didn’t sell the herring.” This shows just how desperate Sara and her family are for money to put food on the table. Many immigrant families struggled to make ends meet even with all the members of their families working. They had to live in tenements and endure poor living conditions because they used the little income that they received to pay for food. In the book, the family’s kitchen at dinner time is described by saying, “The stove was cold. No food was on the table.” The Smolinsky family struggles to put food on the table every night, so they could not think about sending one of their daughters to school when they desperately need money themselves. Women were simply not given the opportunity to educate themselves and therefore it was hard for them to pursue any sort of career in America.

Of the doomed relationship between the females and Rabbi Smolinksy, there is one female that stands out. This is the rocky relationship between Rabbi Smolinsky and his youngest daughter Sara. Sara, from a young age, was independent. This independence was illustrated at the time when her family was destitute and starving. On her own initiative, Sara ran out into the street to sell herring in order to bring a couple of dollars home to her family. There is a conflict in Saras’ independence. On one hand, her independence is useful in that it allowed her to assist with the family finances. On the other hand, Rabbi Smolinsky is opposed to her independence because of the fear that she will leave the house, as well as the family values, all together. Rabbi Smolinsky needs Sara at home indefinitely, or at least to marry into a wealthy family, who will then support him. This is not Saras ambition. Due to their clash in values, Sara reaches her breaking point and runs off to become the independent soul she is. “My will is as strong as yours,” she replies. “Nobody can stop me. I’m not from the old country. I’m American!” Sara then rediscovers her independence through education, employment, and love.

For the first time, she clearly saw what her life would have been like had her parents didn’t take the risk of leaving their home. Poverty was omnipresent, opportunity was non-existent and educated, hard working professionals were barely scraping by. Even the youth had nothing to look forward to. “Their faces all shared the same expression -- hopelessness. I would only see a small glimmer of hope in their eyes when they spoke of America, and how different their lives would be if they could live there.” says Cameron, “My parents risked everything because of hope. Hope for opportunity. Hope in the American Dream. Hope for their children. The risk they took is unparalleled to any risk I’ll ever have to face as an entrepreneur in America, and I felt so ashamed that I had allowed ignorant remarks shape my life and translate into resentment, especially towards them. The very thing that I viewed as a disadvantage growing up as a foreigner, which I let cripple me with fear and insecurity throughout my childhood and teenage years, was now my biggest blessing. My perception shifter, and it transformed into pride, a strong will, and an unrelenting ambition to succeed. My culture is unique and beautiful, and so am I, and I am grateful to have the opportunity to become anything I choose. My entrepreneurial instinct kicked into

Anzia Yezierska’s 1925 novel Bread Givers ends with Sara Smolinsky’s realization that her father’s tyrannical behavior is the product of generations of tradition from which he is unable to escape. Despite her desire to embrace the New World she has just won her place in, she attempts to reconcile with her father and her Jewish heritage. The novel is about the tension inherent in trying to fit Old and New worlds together: Reb tries to make his Old World fit into the new, while Sara tries to make her New World fit into the Old. Sara does not want to end up bitter and miserable like her sisters, but she does not want to throw her family away all together. Her struggle is one of trying to convince her patriarchal family to accept her as an

     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.

Bread for the City is more like a network organization. The networked organization is one that connects together by informal networks and the demands of the task, rather than a formal organizational structure. The network organization prioritizes its “soft structure” of relationships, networks, teams, groups and communities rather than reporting lines. It is more a statement of intent to get things done flexibly rather than to rely on structure. “George A. Jones has been Chief Executive Officer of Bread for the City (BFC) since January 2, 1996. This non-profit organization tends to reach out and network with other organizations to gain funding and to run the operations of the organization and to achieve its goals. Its senior staff consists

Some of the advantages of my solutions are: the bakery will be able to maintain current operations with room for production expansion, moving to one larger location would eliminate the need for two locations, the bakery can convert existing product in to new retail market that will result in higher profit margins. Expansion will also allow the bakery to look consider and extension of their product line.