Bread Givers (Masterplots II: American Fiction Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Anzia Yezierska
- First Published: 1925
- Type of Plot: Cultural realism
- Time of Work: The early twentieth century
- Setting: New York City’s Lower East Side
- Principal Characters: Sara Smolinsky, Mr. Smolinsky, Bessie Smolinsky, Masha Smolinsky, Fania Smolinsky, Hugo Seelig
- Genres: Long fiction, Social realism
- Subjects: Family or family life, New York, North America or North Americans, Northeast, U.S., United States or Americans, Tradition, Twentieth century, New York City, Marriage, Poverty or poor people, Immigration or emigration, Jews or Jewish life, Women’s rights
- Locales: New York, NY
The Novel
Hester Street, heart of Jewish immigrant life on New York’s Lower East Side in the early twentieth century, with its blend of poverty, dirt, and religious fervor, is the colorful milieu of Sara Smolinsky, Bread Givers’ main character. The youngest of four daughters born to a Polish Judaic scholar and his wife, Sara personifies the clash between the demands of tradition and the beckoning opportunities of a new land— America.
Sara’s first-person narration recollects those incidents of her childhood and young adult life which shape her ambition....
[The entire page is 2756 words long]
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