Linda Quarles
Dr. Craig White
LITR 4333
04/16/01

The Immigrant Reality

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 powerful example of the turmoil that is created in the family as a result of the conflict between the Old World and the New World.

The Smolinsky family in Bread Givers immigrates to the United States due to political strife. They actually leave Russia as an indirect result of the father’s refusal to serve in the army. His refusal is based on his religious beliefs. The mother, Shenah Smolinsky, explained the reason to Sara, the narrator, by saying, "The tsar of Russia [ …] wanted to tear your father away from his learning and make him a common soldier" (33). The family buys the father out of the army. Then due to the sudden death of Mrs. Smolinsky’s father, Mr. Smolinsky takes over his father-in-law’s business. Mr.Smolinsky’s business knowledge is hindered by his dedication to his religion and the business is forced to close. Thus, Mr. Smolinsky took to heart the American Dream, "And when everything was gone from us, then our only hope was to come to America, where Father thought things cost nothing at all" (22). Mr. Smolinsky believes what many immigrants believe; America is a land without limits. When the family is packing to come to America, Mr. Smolinsky discourages his wife from bringing her dishes by telling her that, "in the new golden country, where milk and honey flows free in the streets, you’ll have new golden dishes to cook in, and not weigh yourself down with your old pots and pans" (9). He has an incredibly unrealistic picture of America. He even believes "all America will come to my feet to learn" (9). Mr. Smolinsky expects, like many immigrants, that in America he will not have to do anything, he will simply be rich. Unfortunately, his dream is quickly shattered once in the United States.

The Smolinsky family soon discovers the difficulties that come with being immigrants in America. Discrimination is one such problem. The family lives in an apartment building and they encounter discrimination from the rent collector. The Smolinskys, because of financial problems, cannot pay the rent regularly and when the landlady shows up on their doorstep, she is upset and says, "The cheek of those dirty immigrants! A fool I was, giving them a chance another month" (17). These words are a far cry from the father’s expectation that "all America will come to my feet to learn" (9). Discrimination is certainly not what the family expects upon their arrival in America. They expect a welcome with open arms and what they receive is just the opposite.

The Smolinsky parents come to America with Old World ideals ingrained into them. They do not take into account the possible changes that may occur in their daughters as a result of being brought up in America. As a result, there are ensuing arguments and difficulties because of the changes. This is best seen in Bread Givers when the daughters begin to become independent and make choices about the men they wish to marry. The parental attitude on marriage begins to be seen as early as chapter 1. Mrs. Smolinsky is concerned about the girls and says, "God gave us children. They have a life to live yet, here on earth. Girls have to get married" (12). In the mother’s eyes there are no other options for the girls. She does not even consider that they might wish to postpone marriage in order to live on their own or continue their education. The father exemplifies the Old World in his retort to the mother, "Woman! Stay in your place" (13). He is the head of the household, and as such he considers it his job to ensure good marriages for his daughters. He accomplishes his goal of marrying off all his daughters, except Sara; unfortunately each girl pays a high price for her father’s controlling Old World ways.

Bessie Smolinsky is the daughter that is closest to the Old World ideal in Bread Givers. Her father even nicknames her "the burden-bearer, because she was always with her nose in the earth slaving for the family" (39). Bessie is the daughter that wants to please her father and she is also the one who feels the most responsibility for the family. Because of this responsibility, she is the daughter that Mr. Smolinsky is most reluctant to give away in marriage. He is glad that Bessie has a suitor, but not for the same reason as Bessie. He is glad because he sees wealth for the family, not love for his daughter. Bessie’s father refuses to allow Bessie to marry Berel Bernstein unless Berel agrees to set Mr. Smolinsky up in business. Berel thinks Mr. Smolinsky is crazy and tells him "in America everybody got to earn his living first" (48). Berel’s New World ideas are conflicting with Mr. Smolinsky’s Old World ideas. Mr. Smolinsky believes that as a father he has certain inalienable rights, one of which is to be taken care of by his daughter. Berel again shows his New World ideas when he is trying to convince Bessie to disregard her father’s wishes and get married. Berel tells her, "This is America, where everybody got to look out for themselves" (49). Bessie cannot get past the Old World idea that her father has ingrained in her that it is her responsibility to take care of her father, thus she gives up her dream of marrying Berel by telling him, "I couldn’t marry a man that don’t respect my father" (51).

Mashah is the second daughter to lose a love because of Mr. Smolinsky. Mashah, unlike Bessie, does not regard the family as her responsibility. She is vain and often thinks only of herself. Mr. Smolinsky is ready and willing to marry off Mashah because she spends the money that she earns on herself instead of the family. He says, "the sooner Mashah got married the better for us all" (56). But it is still because of Mr. Smolinsky that Mashah does not marry her true love. Mashah falls in love with a man named Jacob Novak, a piano player from a wealthy family. When Jacob’s father visits the Smolinsky home, it is obvious from his reaction that he does not approve and he forbids Jacob to see Mashah again. But Jacob returns to the Smolinsky home and tries to see Mashah again and Mr. Smolinsky, who approved of Jacob until meeting his father, now refuses to let him see her based on religious principles. He shouts at Mashah, "Didn’t I tell you once a man who plays the piano on the Sabbath, a man without religion, can’t be trusted?" (63). Mr. Smolinsky even threatens to throw Mashah out of the house if she continues to see Jacob. Mashah only wants the true love that the New World can give her, but her father’s Old World thinking destroys any idea of love for love’s sake. Mr. Smolinsky continues his lecture of Mashah by telling her, "If a man wants a wife, he looks for one who can cook for him, and wash for him, and carry the burden of his house for him" (64). His Old World thinking prevents him from realizing that in America, people marry because they are in love, not just for convenience.

Fania does not escape her father’s Old World beliefs. Fania is dating a writer named Morris Lipkin, and her father is unaware of the situation until he opens her mail one day. He is angry that no one told him about Fania’s boyfriend. He turns his anger on Mrs. Smolinsky, "Woman! Why didn’t you tell me what’s going on in this house?" (68). When Fania finds out that her father has opened her mail she blows up at him, "You had no right to read it! It’s terrible to have to live in a house where even a letter is not one’s own" (68). Mr. Smolinsky thinks that because he is her father he has omnipotence. Fania, being more like the New World, believes that she has a right to privacy, regardless whose roof she resides under.

Following the incident with Fania, Mr. Smolinsky takes the matter of the marriage of his daughters into his own hands. He decides that he will be the matchmaker, a strictly Old World role. He brings a man into the home that he believes is fit for one of his daughters. While the man is in the home Fania tries to defend Morris Lipkin to her father. In the midst of the argument, Mr. Smolinsky turns to his wife and asks her, "Did we ever know of such nonsense in the old country? Did you even give a look on me, or I on you till the wedding was all over?" (76). Mrs. Smolinsky’s retort shows that even she is beginning to see things through a New World perspective, "Maybe if I had the sense of my daughters in America, I would have given you a good look over before the wedding" (76). While Mrs. Smolinsky cannot change her husband’s mind, she is showing a slight assimilation into American culture with her comment but at this point, Mrs. Smolinsky cannot make any difference in the fate of three of her daughters. Bessie, Mashah, and Fania may as well still be living in Russia because their father plays matchmaker for all three and they end up in unhappy marriages.

Fortunately, by American standards, one daughter is saved from the fate of her sisters by her own assimilation. Sara Smolinsky, the narrator, refuses to give in to her father’s Old World views and uses her strength and independence to carve out her position in the New World. Ironically, Sara’s position becomes one that is a combination of Old and New World views

Throughout the novel, Sara is making a passage into the New World. She is the daughter that is called "blood and iron" (32). It is this obvious strength that drives Sara to want more for herself, like an American girl. In chapter 4, Sara says, "I began to feel I was different from my sisters" (65). Sara, unlike her sisters, cannot stand to listen to her father without knowing that she hates him. Her hatred for him and the life that the family lives inspires Sara to want more. She says, "I want to learn something. I want to do something. I want some day to make myself for a person and come among people" (66). Sara, like her sisters, knows what she wants. The difference between her and her sisters is the amount that Sara is willing to sacrifice in order to get what she wants.

Sara is the only daughter that is willing to stand up against her father. Following her sisters’ forced marriages, Fania is having problems with her husband and wants to come home. Her father refuses to allow her and blames her for the problems in the marriage. Sara yells at her father, "What are you always blaming everything on the children? Didn’t you yourself make Fania marry Abe Schmulker when she cried she didn’t want to?" (85). At this point her father walks "away as if I was nothing" (85). Sara continues to openly defy her father as she tells him, "I’ll never let no father marry me away to any old yok" (85). This entire dialogue shows Sara’s continued assimilation in comparison to her father holding on to his Old World ways. Sara is quite perceptive to his attitude and she is openly defiant to her father’s Old World principles and unafraid of punishment. It is at this point in the novel that Sara begins reaching out to find her place in the world. She is still unsure of herself, and as a result chases after Fania’s love, Morris Lipkin, thinking that if she can make him fall in love with her she will be happy. Sara has not matured enough in her assimilation to realize that what she is looking for is not a man, it is a way out of her father’s house into her own independence.

After the Smolinskys buy a grocery store that turns out to be empty of goods to sell, Sara begins to question what will happen to her if she remains with her parents. She asks herself, "What would become of me if I remained out here, day in and day out, without friends. [ …] my longing for people would shrink in my frozen heart" (129). Sara knows she has got to move on, she is simply biding her time waiting for an opportunity. Her opportunity comes after she questions her father’s business abilities. He gets angry at her because he feels she is being disrespectful and his Old World ways become apparent when he tells Sara, "What’s the world coming to in this wild America? No respect for fathers" (135). At this point Sara decides to leave her father and mother and seek out on her own. The ensuing dialogue is a wonderful example of the clash between the Old and New World. Mr. Smolinsky tells Sara, "No girl can live without a father or a husband to look out for her" (137). Sara retorts with, "In America, women don’t need men to boss them" (137). Her father continues on to use religious arguments to attempt to get Sara to stay. Sara’s responses to all her father’s arguments against her independence are laced with her New World views. She says, "Thank God, I’m living in America! […] I’m going to live my own life. Nobody can stop me. I’m not from the old country. I’m American!" (138). Her final observation as she leaves tells just how far Sara has come with her assimilation, "The Old World has struck its last on me" (138). Sara is a much stronger character than her sisters, perhaps because she is the youngest child in the family and has experienced the grief of her sisters because of the Old World pressure of her father. Regardless of the reason, at this point, Sara makes the decision that she is capable of making it on her own, just like an American.

Sara decides that her dream is to be a teacher and sets out to accomplish her goal through hard work and study. Because she is on her own, she must support herself while attending school. She does so by working at a cleaners by day, going to school at night and studying after school and on her days off. In the midst of her studies, Sara’s sisters show up and Fania wants her to marry a friend of her husband. Sara realizes after dating this man that, "To him, a wife would only be another piece of property" (199). Sara sees the Old World in her suitor and now that she knows exactly what she wants, she cannot chain herself to a man like the women of the Old World. When Sara’s father realizes that she has refused marriage, he blows up and completely disowns her. Sara believes that she is now alone and must make her journey into complete assimilation on her own.

Sara is now ready to continue her studies by going to college. She compares her physical journey to school to "the pilgrim fathers who had left their homeland and all their kin behind them and trailed out in search of the New World" (209). Her comparison shows assimilation on her part because the Pilgrims are considered the fathers of America, which is not Sara’s home country. She now thinks of America as her own. When Sara reaches her college, she is in awe of the people and the town in which she will be living, "So these are the real Americans. […] This was the beauty for which I had always longed" (210-11). Unfortunately, the appearance of the town is not like the students at the college and Sara realizes quickly, "Maybe I’d have to change myself inside and out to be one of them. But how?" (214). She knows that she because she is not one of them, she must change if she ever expects to fit in. Sara eventually learns to fit in in her own way and graduates from college. At this point, she returns to her old neighborhood to become a teacher. Sara’s pattern is similar to other immigrants. She goes through the process of assimilation in the New World and then returns to the Old World. In Sara’s case, she does not return to her home country, but to Hester Street, a place where the Old World can be seen everyday in people and the interactions among them.

Sara’s return to Hester Street is ironic in that she wants to be in a place that is familiar after working so hard to get out. She goes back to her father and makes her New World compromise with his Old World beliefs. By the end of the story, Sara knows that it took her assimilation and education in order for her to realize and accept that her father would never change his Old World beliefs. She says of her father, "In a world where all is changed, he alone remained unchanged – as tragically isolate as the rocks" (296). While Mr. Smolinsky is an extreme character, his story is typical of the immigrant parent. They immigrate to the New World without knowing that the New World will have more influence on their children than they will, thus creating conflict between the generations. The story of the Smolinsky family serves as a lesson in the realities and expectations of immigration and how the journey to the Promised Land is not always an ideal one.

Works Cited

Yezierska, Anzia. Bread Givers. New York: Persea, 1999.