Reading Responses
Yezierska, Bread Givers, 129-201
Throughout the book, Bread Givers, there is a constant comparison between
the old world and the new world. One example is the argument between Sara and
her mother on page 130. The argument showed two different views on respect for
parents. Sara's mother represented the old, traditional, conservative world
while Sara represented the new world - the assimilated second generation Jews.
Sara's mother had said that, "even if he was a drunkard and a card-player,
you owe him respect"(130). It seems to suggest that no matter how bad the
father's character was, or how unreasonable he is, they, as children, should
at all times show respect for him. It was one of the traditional orthodox Jewish
family values that she had been brought up to believe deeply in.
Though Sara's father was the "head" of the family, he had never
done anything to better the family's living conditions. Yet, he had expected
his family to slave for him so that he would not have "no meat for (his)
dinner the whole week" (81). Besides, Sara's mother had seen how Sara's
father had resorted to violence (18), disliked Sara's father for marrying Bessie
to Zalmon who is twenty years older (94), and complained that there is nothing
worst than living with a fool such as Sara's father (124). Though so, she still
saw Sara's father as "the light of the world" (130). She still thought
of him as someone "innocent as a child and harmless as an angel" (130)
with a "pure" soul. This showed how deeply the orthodox values are
pound into her mind that she could no longer tell the right from the wrong.
She had become a blind follower.
On the contrary, Sara's remarks showed how the new generation believes in
being fair, that is to respect everyone by how good his or her character is
which is turn judged by his or her actions, even though he or she is a family
member. She later said that, "this is America where children are people"
(135). This further showed that she believed that as children, they deserved
respect from their father too. She felt that they cannot and should not respect
a father who did nothing for the family and expected his family to "slave
for (him) till (their) braids grow gray" (138).
Sara is a typical representative of the second generation Jews (especially
the females) who refused to submit themselves to old tradition and respect their
fathers who did not respect them. They felt that, because their fathers did
not respect them, they were not given the opportunity to be whatever they wanted
to be, thus losing their individuality. Sara's desire to be a free individual
was illustrated on page 193 where she preferred the unrestrictive dancing to
the theatre where "(she) felt like a mummy sitting there" (192). This
was one of the causes that led most of the second generation Jews to run away
from their Jewish homes to "break away from (their) black lives",
to be able not to "hear Father's preaching voice again" (136), and
"live (their) own lives" (137). This is probably why Sara had such
a strong determination to be someone great that she was able to live in an"airless
gloom" (163), be moved by her mother, and still did not "tear (herself)
away from all (her) work" and "not go to college" to go home
soon to see her mother (171), especially when she travelled miles away from
home for hours just to see her dear daughter for a few minutes and bring her
feather bed.
--Goh Yun Shan
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