First Bread Givers Class Discussion

The Bread Givers, by Anzia Yezierska, is a novel which mostly describes the hardships and struggles of an immigrant Jewish family in America. During this discussion, our class mainly discussed the role of the father in this novel. I have made two observations of this infamous character. First, he is very irrational. Throughout the novel he clearly favors his religious studies over his family. He sacrafices his family's well-being for a so called place in heaven, which may not even exist. Next, the father is very irresponsible. After picking two unsuccesful suitors for her daughters the father becomes very enraged. However, instead of stepping to the plate and taking responisbility for his mistakes, he blames everything on his daughters. The father needs to seriously adjust his character, but until he does so, I consider him to be pure evil.