Sweatshop Cinderella
I was truly amazed by Anzia Yezierska's "Bread Givers". Especially by Sara Smolinsky character. How strong she was compare to her weak-willed sisters. She faced her father's tyranny and from the young age she is trying to seek a recognition for the accomplishments. As an example, when she was selling herrings on the street, she felt "richer than Rockefeller". As 10 year's old girl she already realizes that her father is expecting his daughters not only support him, but also to endure him preaching when they come home after hard work. Sara laments, "I began to see Father, in his innocent craziness to hold up the Light of the Law to his children, was a tyrant more terrible than the Tsar from Russia."
Therefore, I paid attention on his treatment of women. Her father has a personal belief that women need to have an allowance to admit into Heaven: "Only if they cooked for men, and washed for men, and didn't nag and curse the men out of their homes, only if they let the men study the Torah in peace, then, maybe, they could push themselves into heaven with the men, to wait on them there."
All this mean that he cannot accept different culture environment, he used to live with his old traditions and he obviously didn't want to change his cultural and religious treatment of women. Does it all mean that didn't want to "melt" into the new culture or he just being selfish and egotistical for his daughters?
I was truly amazed by Anzia Yezierska's "Bread Givers". Especially by Sara Smolinsky character. How strong she was compare to her weak-willed sisters. She faced her father's tyranny and from the young age she is trying to seek a recognition for the accomplishments. As an example, when she was selling herrings on the street, she felt "richer than Rockefeller". As 10 year's old girl she already realizes that her father is expecting his daughters not only support him, but also to endure him preaching when they come home after hard work. Sara laments, "I began to see Father, in his innocent craziness to hold up the Light of the Law to his children, was a tyrant more terrible than the Tsar from Russia."
Therefore, I paid attention on his treatment of women. Her father has a personal belief that women need to have an allowance to admit into Heaven: "Only if they cooked for men, and washed for men, and didn't nag and curse the men out of their homes, only if they let the men study the Torah in peace, then, maybe, they could push themselves into heaven with the men, to wait on them there."
All this mean that he cannot accept different culture environment, he used to live with his old traditions and he obviously didn't want to change his cultural and religious treatment of women. Does it all mean that didn't want to "melt" into the new culture or he just being selfish and egotistical for his daughters?
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