Lina Mohamed
Bread Givers Journal
Sara and her father were really different, some might say, but the reason they always were arguing is because they were actually very similar. First off, in the novel we see that Sara, her sisters and her father all have different meanings of the “American Dream”. Sara seemed to believe the traditional American Dream as she wanted to become American and become a “real person” throughout the novel. Also, Alice Kessler-Harris says “her elusiveness captures what is most American about her” (Page xvii). Sara fought for what she believed in just like her father fought to teach his religion to his family. Their contradicting beliefs is what led them to fight all the time. Their characteristics, however, are almost exactly the same. Sara’s desire is to find her light that she sees radiating from her father. She wants to be as passionate about something like her father is about his religion.
Sara was constantly looking to live her life as an independent woman even though she admired her dad’s dedication to his religion. Reb Smolinsky was strong willed in what he did and Sara was the same in everything that she did. Sara went off to gain knowledge and devoted all her energy to getting an education and being knowledgable just like her father does with his own holy books. The similarities between Reb and his daughter keep getting more lucid as the story progresses.
Sara, however, began to resent her father when he wanted them to get married while still getting some money from them while they were nearly starving. Reb was so caught up in his books and his wife and daughters that he neglected them and often helped others before his family. Sara was doing the same when she disobeyed her father by leaving and going to look for a job because that was what she believed in and she was fighting for it.
She proved her family wrong when she got a job in the beginning of the novel because she did something by putting her mind to it similarly to how Reb was determined to do charity work and devote his life to god. Sara is constantly changing her mind about what she wants as she is constantly trying to become a “real person” but she does not even know what will make her ‘real’ or ‘American’. Therefore, this state of happiness she is yearning for is simply unreachable. This does not change the fact that she is extremely still similar to her father.
