The Burden of Poverty: How Fiction Imitates Reality The feeling of anxiety is one that transcends the many categories that society organizes us in; it is a feeling impartial to race, gender, or class. Anzia Yezierska, a Jewish immigrant from Poland, dealt with issues ranging from extreme poverty to the guilt she felt for abandoning tradition. In her book “Bread Givers” she exemplifies what she went through when she writes: “It wasn’t just my father, but the generations who made my father whose weight was still upon me” (297). Similarly to what Yezierska felt growing up, the main character and narrator, Sara Smolinsky, expresses similar anxieties about tradition and poverty. Through the fictional characters, Yezierska informs the reader what …show more content…
While the Smolinsky family is not literally “hanging on Bessie’s neck for her wages”, this displays to the reader how desperation affected them. The metaphor acts as a bridge between the reader and the event, therefore allowing them to feel the same worry that Sara harbors through the shared experience of “hanging” without support. It is important for the audience to relate to the characters, yet this cannot happen if the author’s portrayal gives little humanity to their characters. Hence, when Yezierska writes that financial help according to Sara and her family is a “stab into our burning shame”, it shows that despite any prior notions of poverty being an “ornament”, they still have human wants and needs. Moreover, it shows that her characters are not emotionless apathetic beings that live only on their faith; they too endure deviations from what is expected of them. At any rate, repeated similes have an analogous consequence on the reader's thoughts. Multiple comparisons within a small section of text compound the anxiety, bombarding the same heavy emotions that Sara feels onto the reader in a way that they can sympathize with her, and in turn, Yezierska herself. Altogether, these literary moves go further than simply entertaining the audience, but informing them about what the world was truly …show more content…
In her own autobiography, “Red Ribbon on a White Horse” she has stated that the quote was said to her by her own father. By writing the same phrase again in a separate piece a writing, it acts as proof for the reader that she is knowledgeable in what beliefs are held important within the Jewish religion. In addition to this, the fact that she had grown up with the culture and was a part of it her entire life, she can recognize the flaws within it without worry of discrimination towards said culture. In fact, within this quote and many others throughout the book, she openly displays the contradictory and often times discriminatory demeanor the culture and its followers have towards poverty as well as women. The father even goes as far as getting his wife to admit to being “only a sinful woman”. With this in mind, it is easy to see how the audience can get personally invested in the characters lives, wishing them better luck and better treatment. This could be as a result of the person being able to understand what it is like to be pressured by a strict set of cultural or religious beliefs; but, it can also come from the general sense of knowing what it is like to be undermined. Overall, the references to her Jewish culture and religion serve to show her reliability through the involvement she has and
Through characterisation, the author is able to construct representations of disempowerment. One of the most important characters in the story is “Fat Maz” and her parents. In the story, the main character is portrayed as being fat, unmotivated to do anything and living a very bland life. For example,
‘Food Inc’, is an informative, albeit slightly biased, documentary that attempts to expose the commercialisation and monopolisation of the greater food industry. The film attempts to show the unintended consequences resulting from this, and for the most part this technique is very effective; however there is an overreliance on pathos in lieu of facts and statistics at times.
In his short story, “The Semplica-Girl Diaries”, the author George Saunders crafts an all too human tale as he shows the journal entries of the narrator, a husband and father of three who faces financial insecurity, and displays the effect money, whether in lack or excess, has on our actions and thoughts. The social setting of the story is almost identical to our current society, however there is a distinct divergence in the Semplica Girls, which are girls from impoverished backgrounds that hang from a wire in their heads as an odd, inhumane, and yet expensive, lawn ornament. In the pursuit of the “good life” for both his family and himself, the father places great importance on wealth in order to secure happiness, joy, and status through
Advertisements are everywhere. From billboards, to magazines, to newspapers, flyers and TV commercials, chances are that you won’t go a day without observing some sort of ad. In most cases, companies use these ads as persuasive tools, deploying rhetorical appeals—logos, pathos, and ethos—to move their audiences to think or act in a certain way. The two magazine ads featured here, both endorsing Pedigree products, serve as excellent examples of how these modes of persuasion are strategically used.
In the early twentieth century, Fania, Bessie, and Masha, the older children of the Smolinski family are unable to find work to support their hungry, weak family.The youngest daughter in the Smolinski family is named Sara and will go outside and make some money by selling herring when Mrs. Molinski loses hope for the family 's financial situation:"I was about ten years old then. But from always it was heavy on my heart the worries for the house as if I was mother. I knew that the landlord came that morning hollering for the rent," (P.1). Reb Smolinsky is the girls’ father. Reb is also out of work and as a poor Jewish man, spends his days reading holy books and living off of what little money his own children make. Eventually the older daughters will find work. Mrs. Smolinski is then able to rent a second room. The family is very excited when Bessie announces that she and a man named Berel Berenstein had fallen in love. Bessie invites him to dinner at her home. Reb finds out about his daughter’s relationship with Berel and even that Berel was willing to marry her. Despite the joy and enthusiasm expressed by the rest of the family, doesn’t decide to congratulate her, but rather that because of the family’s financial situation, Berel must also pay the full cost of the wedding. Reb also demands that Berel set him up a business. After that, Berel becomes infuriated and leaves. After reading this I couldn’t help but wonder, one
In 2009 a movie by the name of Food Inc. was released that challenged the production of food we eat. The movie examines everything from the science of seeds all the way through the consumption of the food, the food’s often negative effects on the body. The movie ends with the line “You can change the world with every bite”. This quote embodies the heart behind movie that change starts with the individual, and how they make food choices. This sort of change that Food Inc. invokes implies that top down change that the consumer can bring about change to the seed level. Food Inc. challenges the processes that allow companies like Monsanto to feed the world. We must understand how media like Food Inc. effects this mission to feed the world by examining the movie, the history of Monsanto as a company, and looking at the response from both sides to these challenges made in the public square to better combat and address issues brought forth.
Charles Beard’s thoughts on the Constitution were contrary to what Roche stated. In his essay Bread declares that the framers were nothing but rich landholders, bankers, creditors, and wealthy lawyers who only wanted to protect their wealth and did not care about the citizen's rights.
In the essay, Supermarket Pastoral by Michael Pollan the idea of shopping at Whole Foods and organic foods. While shopping at Whole Foods, Michael was able to understand the context behind the term “organic” and what the terms “humanely raised” and “free range” mean. The rhetorical situation is food items such as, “range fed sirloin steak” that states “it was formerly part of a steer that spent its days ‘living in beautiful places’ ranging from ‘plant-diverse-filled flats’”. Another example is eggs “from cage-free vegetarian hens, milk from cows that live ‘free from unnecessary fear and distress,’ wild caught salmon by Native Americans in Yakutat, Alaska, and heirloom tomatoes from Capay Farm, ‘one of the early pioneers of the organic movement.
For thousands of years people have left their home country in search of a land of milk and honey. Immigrants today still equate the country they are immigrating to with the Promised Land or the land of milk and honey. While many times this Promised Land dream comes true, other times the reality is much different than the dream. Immigration is not always a perfect journey. There are many reasons why families immigrate and there are perception differences about immigration and the New World that create difficulties and often separate generations in the immigrating family. Anzia Yezierska creates an immigration story based on a Jewish family that is less than ideal. Yezierska’s text is a
As the world expands through time and business, the natural process of developing food is forced to adapt to the growing demands of civilization. Henceforth, the modern-day food industry is capable of producing a plethora amount of nutrients that sustains mass populations. However, is the modern tradition and technique of mass food production hiding a burdened truth behind the curtains of society’s unawareness? Is such truth more sinister than productive? Filmmaker Robert Kenner directed a documentary in 2008 where the methods of processing meats and harvesting crops were analyzed with their effects. As a result, Kenner’s documentary, Food Inc., has revealed that the ways foods are processed have consequently made them perilous for society. Through the use of
The Bread Givers, written by Anzia Yezierska, revolves around a starving lower east side family whose daughter rebels against her fathers’ strict conception of the role of a Jewish woman. The major theme of this novel is doomed relationships. There are several of these that are thoroughly analyzed in the novel. These include the relationship between Rabbi Smolinksy and the females in his family as well as those in his society, between him and his son-in-laws, between the Smolinsky daughters and their husbands, between the Smolinsky daughters and their heritage, between Rabbi Smolinksy and his heritage, and lastly, between the old and the new. The following will concentrate on three of latter
In the publication “The Track Star Economy” known journalist and author for The New Yorker James Surowiecki conveys many things. The basic analogy we are given starts off involving the 2012 Olympics. He starts off by comparing the foreign athletes that come to train over here in the US, only to bring the knowledge and skills they have learned back to other countries. Yet why is this? If America is the land of opportunity why are these immigrants not staying and building lives here in America? The answer is actually quite simple, it’s because most of them are stuck in “immigration limbo” as Surowiecki so carefully puts it. These people are simply not tended to fast enough, therefore they go somewhere else where they can establish themselves and make a life with the education they have earned here in America. This is hurting our country.
In Anzia Yezierska’s novel entitled Bread Givers, there is an apparent conflict between Reb Smolinsky, a devout Orthodox rabbi of the Old World, and his daughter Sara who yearns to associate and belong to the New World. Throughout the story, one learns about the hardships of living in poverty, the unjust treatment of women, and the growth of a very strong willed and determined young woman—Sara Smolinsky.
The 1920s was a hard and painstaking era in American history. Many family's throughout New York lived in absolute poverty and saved week to week just to make enough to eat and pay the rent. Many Immigrants flooded the streets desperate for work while living conditions were harsh and many starved. This is just the case of the novel Bread Givers, written by Anzia Yezierska. In this story we follow Sarah Smolinsky, an ambiguous independent Jewish girl "trapped" by her religious traditions. Her story unfolds as she breaks away from her controlling parents and moves to work and go to school for hopes of being a school teacher. Her life is not easy and she must endure countless sacrifices just to get by. With the determination of
The advert “Hostesses unafraid” published in the TIME magazine, is filled with figurative language. The advert about Campbell’s Tomato Soup persuades the customers throughout the advert to make a purchase of it. It uses a hostess to get its message across and has pictures of the soup to further clarify to the readers the product Campbell is selling.