the bread givers
The Bread Givers In the novel, Bread Givers, author Anzia Yezierska tells the story of life as an immigrant in the Untied States. For many, the U.S. was the key to a better life; a life free of economic depression and religious oppression. America was a fantasy to many. To much dismay, the realization that America was not a land of golden streets comes too quickly. Flooded with people, New York's Lower East Side became a place of poverty for most. Immigrates found themselves living in slums, where dirt and disease ran rampant. However, according to Yezierska, life as a female was much worse. In the 1920's, an immigrant’s gender ultimately decided what experience he or she would have in America, for it was far better to be a male than a female. In Russia, the "Old World", it was preached that a woman was only on Earth to make her husband happy.