Bread Givers by Anzia Yezierska is the story of Sara Smolinksy, a young Jewish girl, growing up in New York at the turn of the 20th century. Even as a young girl, Sara rejected the Orthodox Jewish teachings of her father, a rabbi. She refuses to accept the Torah's idea that without a man, a woman is "less than nothing" (205). Instead, embrace American culture. “In America, women don't need men to boss them around” (137). He sets out to find his own life. She sees how her mother and sisters' lives are dominated by her father and doesn't want that for herself. "Thank God, I don't live in the old days. Thank God, I live in America! You made other children's lives! I'll make my own life!" (138). Sara sees success as achieving individuality through hard work. This is his vision of the American dream. It contrasts sharply with his father's traditional beliefs and his desire to be rich without working. However, once she reaches her professional goal, Sara realizes that without family and love she is not fulfilled. He discovers that personal success does not necessarily mean happiness and contentment, but is a fundamental part of developing one's identity. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Even as a young girl, Sara's quest for self-sufficiency and willingness to work hard is evident. One day he decides that he won't go sifting through the ash bins for coal. "...that morning I had refused to do it again. I felt like a beggar and a thief when anyone saw me" (7). Later he goes out to look for coal because he feels guilty for disappointing his mother. The idea of ​​balancing family obligations with one's own desires ends up being important in the novel. Sara concludes that she cannot continue to be a beggar. To help his family, he will work. "No---no! I am not a beggar! I want to go into business like a person. I must buy what I have to sell" (21). With a quarter he buys 25 herrings and sells them on the street for two cents each. She feels proud of her work after making a profit of twenty-five cents. “Just take a look at what 'Blood-and-iron' did” (23). Sara's father, Reb, refuses to embrace American values. He is especially concerned with his religion and his preaching. He relies on his daughters to provide for him. When his daughter Bessie falls in love with Berel Bernstein, Reb refuses to allow her to marry him because Berel won't give him money to start a business. Berel says, "In America, they have no use for learning Torah. In America, everyone has to earn a living first. You have two hands and two feet. Why don't you go to work?" (48). Reb replies that he has a nose for business, he just needs money to start it. Reb later proves himself to be an inexperienced businessman when he is tricked into buying a store that is busy when he sees it only because the salesman has cut prices to attract crowds. The goods on the shelves are actually empty boxes. His response is, “This man who robbed me only pushed me closer into the arms of God.” Now I know that everything that happens to us comes from God, for our good" (125). Sara denounces this unyielding faith in God and Old World beliefs and instead believes in America's ability to build itself through work and determination. Sara watches her father marry her sisters to men they don't love. Bessie is married to Zalmon, the fish peddler, who rejects her because he will pay her father a dowry. Sarah's other sisters, Mashah and Fania, are married to a merchant respectivelydiamonds and to a "millionaire in suits and cloaks". The first turns out to be a swindler and the second a gambler. Both women end up unhappy wanting an American born man to be his own boss. And he would let me be my own boss" (66). Even though Sara knows what she wants in a man, she finds love difficult. As a child, she declares her love to Morris Lipkin, Fania's ex-boyfriend, whose poetry is fascinated. When he dismisses her with laughter, she is devastated. As she tramples over all of Morris's letters to Fania, she says: "I felt I had imprinted love and all that is beautiful from my heart forever" ( 88) For several years he manages to put love aside to pursue his goals, but in the end he discovers that he needs love in his life to be happy. Sara decides to leave her family when she is only seventeen. She can't stand being under her father's control anymore and she needs to find herself and running away is the only way to do it." I jumped back and rushed towards the door. The Old World had struck me for the last time" (138). She tries first to live with Bessie and then with Mashah, but finds both living arrangements impossible. She is truly alone. One night she walks the streets, "drunk " of his dreams. He remembers the story of a girl who goes to college and becomes a "teacher in the schools" (155). He experiences hope for the first time through independence. «Me, alone with myself, for the first time I enjoyed myself as if I were in the greatest company” (157). She finds a small, dingy room to rent, but it is hers, and that is all that matters to her, a door she can close to block out the rest of the world. "This door was life. It was the air. The lowest starting point for becoming a person" (159). Finally relieved of her father's burden, Sara forms an idea of ​​success. She needs to be independent and possess the ability to pursue her American dream. It's just a one-time once these qualifications are met she can grasp the other needs for achievement. Sara demonstrates great determination in creating her own life. She works ten hours a day as an ironer, attends two hours of evening courses and then studies for another two hours. Her studies are everything what matters to her. Her mother comes to visit her one day. Sara is excited to see her, but when she asks Sara to come home, Sara replies that she can't. I would give you my life. But I can't take the time to go to Elizabeth. Every last minute must be devoted to my studies" (171). Sara's mother is worried that she will become an old maid, but Sara assures her that she will get married one day. "But to get married to a man, I must first make myself a person" ( 172) Sara needs a sense of individuality before anything else in her life can become truly meaningful. Sara's commitment to pursuing her American dream is seen as madness by her sisters to Sara and they want to take her home to see their mother. Sara refuses because of her homework. Fania can't believe her and says: "Come, Bessie. Let's leave her to her crazy upbringing. He's worse than Dad with his Holy Torah" (178). Sara is as steadfast in her beliefs as her father is in his, but she knows that such willpower is needed if she is to succeed. Listen to how unhappy they are her sisters. Without her fierce determination in the face of all those who doubt and criticize her, she would end up as unhappy as they are. Fania tries to connect Sara with Max Goldstein obsession with money and material goods, in him he realizes his need for love. "One moment he said something that rose like a sword between us, driving us away; and then, by touchof his hand, at the look of his eyes, I forgot all his defects. My only need of needs, stronger than my life, was my love to be loved" (198). Despite her desire to be loved, Sara manages to break up with Max. Learning is more important to her than a man who would consider her nothing more than property. Her father can't believe she rejected Max. He visits her to denounce her choice. He preaches the Torah teaching about a woman needing a man and says, “Woe to America where women are left as free as men” (205). The ideological conflict between Sara and her father cannot be clearer. For Sara, America's opportunity is what allows her to stand out as a true human being, while for Reb, American values ​​destroy her as a woman. As Sara heads off to college, new challenges confront her. She feels alienated from her peers. He has problems in geometry. He sees no need for physical education. She falls in love with one of her professors who has no time for her. Yet he manages to do it. At graduation, he wins not only the essay competition, but finally the acceptance of his classmates. When her name is announced, "...all the students stood up, cheering and waving and calling my name, like a triumph, 'Sara Smolinsky---Sara Smolinsky!'" (234). College provides Sara with the education she needs to pursue a career, and also the feeling of finally being accepted by those around her. She has become a successful person in the eyes of others. Back in New York, Sara is proud of her accomplishments. I, Sara Smolinsky, had done what I set out to do. I was now a teacher in public schools. And this was but the first step on the ladder of my new life. I was just at the beginning of things. The world outside was so big and vast. Now I will have the free time and peace of mind to go on forever, higher and higher (241). Once she reaches her professional goals, Sara begins to see what she's missing in her life. He finds his mother on her deathbed. When her mother dies, Sara realizes that family is an important element in her life. "I had failed to give Mom the understanding of her deepest self during her lifetime. Let me at least give it to Dad while he is still alive. And so, every day, after school, I went to see him" (257). After achieving self-realization, Sara is able to grow and incorporate other elements of happiness into her life. The last missing element for Sara is love. Sara is not impressed with the teachers she works with. “They were simply peddling their little education to make a living, like any pushcart peddler” (270). The principal, Hugo Seelig, is different. "He had retained that living thing, that flame, that I adored as a child. Yet he had not the detached dignity of a superior. He was simply human" (270). Sara finally finds a man with the same love of learning and teaching that she has. As they get to know each other better, they discover everything they have in common, including their place of birth. Hugo even asks Reb to teach him Hebrew, winning his approval. Finally, with Hugo, Sara adds the last piece to her life. She doesn't have perfect happiness, but she has rediscovered the need for family and found a man with whom she shares mutual respect. At the end of the novel, Sara invites her father to live with her so she can escape his miserable new wife. Sara knows how difficult it will be to live with her father's constant preaching, as evidenced by her response to his offer. Can a Jew and a Christian live under the same roof? You have forgotten your sacrilege, your contempt for God's law... I must.