Even just after a chapter of Bread
Givers, I came to an incredible dislike for the father. He has a
wife and many daughters, all of whom are desperately trying to work
and pay the rent and their other bills. Yet he won't even work
himself – he just studies the Torah. He blames his wife for not
giving him a son (his fault, last I checked), takes the best food,
and just studies all day. After he was arrested for physically
abusing his landlady, who was just trying to keep herself afloat and
collect her money, he says, “Even butchers and bakers and common
money-makers have sometimes their use in the world.” He is
referring to the people who bailed him out of jail. I understand the
importance of religion in the community and studying it as well. But
his all-consuming desire to study the Torah has caused his family
financial problems and has caused him great pride.
Do you feel that the father's faith and
role in his community give him reason not to work?
His faith does give him reason not to work because that's what men are supposed to do: just study the Torah and wait for the women to tend after them. But coming to America you'd think that he could change his ways slightly because he is seeing the poverty and the struggle of the girls with trying to make money and all and still doesn't do anything to help. He could have a least found a small job in which he could still make some money to help and still study the Torah in a balanced way. If I was a father that cared about my family I would never watch them struggle the way they did and still try to tell them who they can't and can marry.
ReplyDeleteI do not feel that his faith gives him a reason to not work. While studying religion is a worthy pursuit, it is not a lucrative one. But simply studying the Torah all day does not excuse him from being a part of this world. He made the decision to have a family and is using his religion as a crutch to avoid work. I believe that he truly believes that this is what his religion teaches him, but I also believe he is fooling himself into thinking this. It is his responsibility as a father to care for his children. He is obsessing with what people think of him rather than living his religion. He is glad to apply his teachings to everyone else, but seems reluctant to ever take the responsibility for himself.
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