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Essay On Bread Givers By Anzia Yezierska

1965 Words8 Pages

For many individuals, the United States of America is, and always has been, the land of opportunity. On any given day, countless individuals are in the middle of a quest to develop their self-identity, or rather, personhood. Within the literary world, a prime example of this journey for self-discovery is evident in Anzia Yezierska’s Bread Givers. In Yezierska’s novel, readers follow narrator Sara Smolinsky’s struggle towards achieving her personhood, starting in her childhood and ending in her younger adult years. Despite numerous setbacks, Sara is able to fulfill her quest to become a person—she follows her dreams and achieves her goals in order to obtain a life where she has self-respect and the ability to make her own choices. That is, Sara works tirelessly to escape the impoverished Hester Street on the lower east side of Manhattan in order to put herself through college and become a teacher despite resistance from her family. Although Sara’s quest contains both aids and obstacles, she is ultimately able to achieve personhood unlike her sisters and mother, which conveys Yezierska’s message that, even though you cannot completely escape your roots, class mobility is possible in modern American society. While unexpected, one can argue that Sara’s economic and social positions are two of the biggest factors that help aid her quest. As a member of a poor, immigrant family, Sara is undoubtedly a member of the lowest economic and social classes possible. However, the best

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