Monday, December 1, 2008

Reaction to Bread Givers: Through Chapter 7


      To me, the most intriguing part through Chapter 7 is the question of Father's character. Is he a bad, mean-spirited person? Or is he merely ignorant? I would say both.
      He is obviously ignorant; his strict adherence to the Torah leads to him placing women on a lower level than men. He claims that it contains all of God's wishes, but he fails to realize that the Torah is an outdated text created by people thousands of years ago. Like many Orthodox Jews, and also just many from 1920s America in general, he views women as property for men. They have their roles as defined by God, and that's that. They should not pursue their own career, nor should they be without a man. The fact that he arranges marriages for his children also shows the dedication he has towards his religion and his belief in distinct roles for men and women. He is also ignorant because when his business investment (the store) goes awry, he says something to the effect of, "Oh don't worry, God will bail us out," as opposed to taking full responsibility for his action.
      That being said, I feel he is also a bad person. In Chapter 7, he is completely hypocritical when he says, "'Money lost, nothing lost. Hope lost, all is lost'" (Yezierska 126). This is the same person who denied his daughters of true love just because of money! But now that it's his fault, the money doesn't matter.
      But hey, you know what, maybe Father does have a point! After all, "God will bail him out."

1 comment:

  1. I love two things about this post. Firstly is the picture. If the father was a real figure, most likely he would look like that. Secondly is the sarcasm in the end. I enjoyed reading this. Great Job!

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