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  • Essay / The Bread Givers: The Limits of the American Dream

    For many immigrants, coming to America was an opportunity to leave their home country in hopes of finding a better life in a new country. In this vein, Anna Yezierska writes about the struggles of an immigrant Jewish family living on New York's Lower East Side in the 1920s in her novel Bread Givers. The Smolinsky family had high hopes, as the father said: “Don't you know that it's always summer in America? And in the new golden land, where milk and honey flow freely through the streets, you will have new golden dishes to cook with, and you will not weigh yourself down with your old pots and pans" (Yezierska 9). Unfortunately, this life golden This is not what most immigrants arrived at when they arrived in the “new” world Yezierska expresses the specific struggle of an immigrant family in America in the early 20th century, while showing more broadly. how important it is to adapt to new cultures and environments in order to ensure success.Say no to plagiarism Get a custom essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the essay. originalThe story marks a complete revolution. Father Reb, a rabbi, arrives in America to bring his Holy Torah to the New World. He attempts to live in the style of the "old life", studying its holy scriptures while the. The burden of providing for his struggling family falls on his wife, Shena, and their daughters. As the three eldest daughters, Bessie, Mashah and Fania, age, he lures away their true lovers and arranges marriages that help him achieve financial gain while making these women unhappy. Reb tries to succeed in business in America and fails terribly, faithfully sticking to his faith. After watching her father's faith and stubbornness ruin his family, the youngest daughter, Sara, goes to college and retires from that life. After the death of his wife, Reb again attempts to achieve financial gain by marrying another woman, Mrs. Feinstein. In turn, she ends up trying to exploit her daughters and, after spending all her money, she leaves. Angry, Mrs. Feinstein writes a letter to the principal of the school where Sara works, Hugo Seelig. This letter ends up bringing the two together and Sara falls in love. After hearing about her father's struggles, Sara reaches out to him and offers him a place to stay. Ultimately, his adherence to Orthodox Jewish principles and culture and his refusal to adapt to the American ideal became a key element in his failure, taking his family with him. Throughout the novel, Reb consistently lets his old lifestyle get in the way of his life. his family's new life, even in a somewhat modest way. At the beginning of the novel, he is reluctant to abandon his study room and move his books into the kitchen so that he can rent a room and earn money. At that time, the family also had no money for food, and all he could offer was: "What is there to worry about, as long as we have enough to keep the breath in our body ? But the true food is the Holy Torah of God” (Yezierska 11). Reb doesn't work and insists that women are here to work for their husbands so they can go to heaven. When Reb dismisses his daughters' lovers, primarily to arrange their marriages for his own financial gain, he ruins their chances for a future or success. His pride is his persistence in not changing his cultural values; this quality is seen when he says: “You are still talking to this liar, this; denier of God! Didn't I once tell you that a man who plays the piano on the Sabbath cannot be trusted, as he once left you, he will leave you.