Discussion & Reflection

Who are the “Bread Givers”?

When I first saw the title of the book I never really thought about what it meant, and it was until the end of chapter seven that I finally was able to connect the title and its meaning to the novel. At the end of chapter seven, after Sara’s father Reb drives his oldest three daughters away from love and then foolishly loses $400 on an un-stocked food store, his wife has enough of it and yells at him, “If only I were a widow people would pity themselves on me. But with you around, they think I got a bread giver when what I have is a stone giver,” (p 141). A bread giver is literally the person who gives the family bread, the one who puts food on the table and supports the family financially. Traditionally in a Jewish household this is supposed to be the male figure. It is expected for the man, the father, the husband, to go out and make the most money so that he could feed his family. Women are considered inferior to men. They aren’t smart enough to be on their own. They aren’t even good enough to get into heaven unless they are married to a man. However, Reb Smolinsky is quite the opposite of a breadgiver, and his choice in sons in law show to be quite the same.

It is ironic how a man who is so devoted to his religion and his culture, acts the total opposite than what is expected of him. In the public eye he seems to be a loved figure who brings wealth to his family through his public display of preaching and bragging. But in reality it is his daughters and his wife who are the ones bringing the money home. They are the ones who need to take care of him because he doesn’t even work claiming that his brain is worth more than money. And at the same time he expects to be the head of all financial decisions, dumb enough to purchase an empty food store without consulting his wife, the real brain of the household.

Since Reb figuratively has the title of a bread giver he has the ultimate say on who his daughters marry. And so he ends up picking out men that are like him, men who claim they are able to support their wife when in reality all they do is try to support themselves leaving the burden of the household on their wife’s back. When his daughters try to marry the men they love, Reb finds a reason to kick them out, whether they be too poor, unreligious, or too greedy. He finds a flaw in each of them but when his choices turn out to be horrible men, he doesn’t see it and blames the girls. For the beautiful Mashah her breadgiver is a fake, he acts as though he has money spending it all on his looks so that he can look rich, when in reality his family is starving and Mashah has to be the one to get money to pay the bills and even buy milk for her children. For the smart Fania, her bread giver too is a fake, as he gambles away everything leaving her miserable. And for the hardworking Bessie, her bread giver that promised to take away her burden gave her a bigger one instead with a business to help out with and five step children to take care of.

Seeing the way that her mother and sisters are treated by the men they are around shapes Sara into being the young woman that she is. Ever since she was little, Sara knew to never feel the need to be dependent on a man to take care of her. Her goal in life is to be an independent woman, with an education and no need for a man to support her. She is her own bread giver, she provides for herself, and shows everyone that her American dream means that she can finally be someone other than just a wife or a mother. That females here are just as equal as men. Sara breaks through the barrier and defeats the stereotype of who the bread giver really is.

Defining The “American Dream”

For most immigrants, coming to America means sacrificing the comfort and civility of their homelands to venture out into the uncharted territory of the Western world. People give up friends, family, and even stability to move to a place for the promise of what is known as “the American Dream.” There is the ideal of achieving that grand opportunity; for the chance to live among the privileged and see one’s image of reaching fortune and success come to life. However, what the American Dream has in illusiveness, it lacks in execution. For most, the harsh reality of life in America dawns in an age of “survival of the fittest” mentality. In Anzia Yezierska’s Bread Givers, the protagonist Sara, along with her father Reb and her sister Mashah, each have their own interpretations of what is means to live “the American Dream.” From self-invention to religious absolution to even unachievable beauty, each character’s interpretation of the maxim is influenced by what they value most and how they interact with the family around them.

Sara’s American Dream is molded by the deterioration of her family at the expense of her father’s iron reign. As she watches all three of her older sisters’ dreams for both love and the future fade away into the visions that their father has created for them, Sara realizes just how much she wants to be independent from the bounds of her family and her culture and create the person that she was meant to be. Sara is the most resistant to her father’s religiously-backed tenets, which is why it crushes her to see the potential in Bessie, Mashah, and Fania be devolved into something of her father’s creation. She strives to be a self-sufficient woman and to pursue her passions and goals, such as becoming a school teacher, at all costs, regardless of the consequences that she will face from her father.

On the other hand, Sara’s father Reb Smolinsky is dedicated to only one dream, and that is serving the teachings of his God and to live the most holy life on earth in order to prepare for what awaits him in heaven. For him, America is just a transient place; one that is meant to act as the intermediary between the religious nirvana he expects in the afterlife. While he does appreciate the money he receives once he wins the case against his landlady and the wages from his daughters, his primary concern is being the purist, most orthodox follower of Judaism. His religious background serves to juxtapose the Western secularism that Sara follows and also acts as a ironic motif throughout the plot, as all the troubles that the family faces are at the hands of Reb and his zealous religious reasonings.

Lastly, Mashah’s American Dream is laid out in her continual search for beauty. In the earlier passages of the novel, Sara describes her sister as caring more for her own image than the image of the family. Mashah is concerned only for her appearance and the upkeep of her lavish belongings. Because of her superficiality, Mashah dreams to marry a man who matches her in beauty and supplies her heavily in wealth. She wishes for a life greater than the one that her family can provide her, and one that is ornate and adorned with visual aesthetic and symbols. However, as with her other sisters, her dreams are crushed when her father chases the one man that she could ever love, and transforms into a being without care, faced with reality of the world that she lives in and the condition that she created for herself.

Meaning of the title “Bread Giver”

Anzia Yezierska’s novel, Bread Givers, follows the life of Sara Smolinsky and her desire to truly be independent from her tyrannical Orthodox rabbi of a father. Every time her sisters are married off to men they don’t love, Sara more and more hates the restrained life of a Jewish woman in the 1920s.

While reading the book, I saw the words bread giver actually mentioned only a couple of times. Each time, the words were referring to Mashah’s husband, Moe Mirsky, as her bread giver and how she needed him for money. Although it is usually never explicitly said, the bread givers are chosen carefully throughout the whole story. In this book, bread giver translates to the person who brings home the income for the house. It’s very similar to the term many American’s use today, “Dough Maker.” In this case, bread means money for the survival of the family even though the actual bread giver may not be so willing to give away his “bread.”

In the book, the bread giver may not always be one man. For the Smolinskys, the bread givers are the daughters of Reb Smolinsky as he brings no revenue home from being a rabbi. The eldest daughter, Bessie, actually makes the biggest wages out of all the daughters towards the middle of the story. Reb relies on Bessie’s wages to primarily keep up his religious lifestyle and to secondarily feed himself and the rest of the family. When Berel Berenstein wants to marry Bessie for no dowry, Reb is selfish to choose Bessie’s valuable wages over her happiness and declines Berel’s offer.

When the older daughters are married off to men of Reb’s choosing, their bread givers become their husbands. For Bessie, her worries and stress continue from her younger life into her married life as she switches from a bread giver to a mother of multiple step children. Her only happiness is from caring for her youngest stepson, Benny. Zalmon the fish peddler becomes her bread giver and provides for her in exchange for cooking, cleaning and taking care of the children. Mashah’s bread giver, Moe Mirsky, deceived her and Reb before they got married by saying he was a rich diamond store owner when in fact he was just a worker for a diamond store. He spends most of his wages on fancy clothes for himself while Mashah can’t even pay for the milk bill. Her beauty which was once the most important thing to her has now been replaced with taking care of her children and keeping her small house clean and decorated. For Fania, her bread giver is the wealthiest out of all the daughters. Abe Schmukler showers Fania with fancy clothes and jewelry only to show the world how wealthy he is. Sara becomes her own bread giver when she runs away from her and sees how hard it is to manage money by yourself.

All of the daughters are unhappy in their lives mostly due to the effects of their father. Like most immigrants at that time, bread giving becomes the most important thing to them whether it be from their husbands or made by themselves. Yezierska picked a fitting name for this book since it is all about finding who can give or make the most “bread.”

Bread Givers- Lina Mohamed

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.

Gangs of New York Opening Scene

Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York opens first with sound, and then with an image. Before the viewer can see anything, s/he hears a sound that could be cutting or razing; then, the camera shows a close-up of Priest Vallon’s face, and one can see that the sharp sound came from the razor Vallon uses to shave his face.

The lighting in this scene is interesting; the faces of both Vallon and Amsterdam are partially covered in both light and shadow. This brings an element of ambiguity into the picture. While Vallon’s intentions are honorable and he believes in the righteousness of what he is doing, the gruesome gang violence in which he partakes is inherently dark and immoral. The actions that Vallon prepares to take against the Natives contrast with his pious intentions–a holy man about to do something indisputably unholy. The viewer sees him carefully dress himself in traditional Catholic clerical clothing, which is his literal and figurative suit of armor.

Surrounded by dim candlelight and the dirt-brown walls of a cave-like structure, Vallon and young Amsterdam almost appear to be living in the medieval Dark Ages rather than mid nineteenth-century New York. The historical implications of this sort of setting strengthen the idea that Vallon is leading a crusade.

Another important aspect of this brief scene is the nature of father-son interaction. For one, the camera angles of this scene make the audience a part of the intimacy as they alternately view both Amsterdam’s and Priest Vallon’s faces at eye-level from the other’s perspective. It is also interesting to note how Vallon puts Amsterdam up on the table before talking to him about Saint Michael. With Amsterdam standing on the table, his father can speak to him at eye-level, signifying that Priest Vallon now views, and will therefore treat, Amsterdam as an equal in the struggle for the Catholic faith and against the injustice of the Natives.

After Priest Vallon adorns Amsterdam with the silver pendant of St. Michael and Amsterdam affirms to his father Saint Michael’s role in casting Satan out of paradise, the scene ends with Amsterdam blowing out the candle. This exchange between Amsterdam and his father, embodied in the entire scene, conveys the passage of a tradition of coexisting religious faith and violence from a father to his son. As the older Amsterdam (Leonardo DiCaprio) talks about this moment in a voice over, the audience can understand its importance to the rest of the film.

Butcher: Scene Analysis

The scene in which Bill the Butcher uses the empty carcass of pig to demonstrate how to kill a human is very interesting. It immediately follows the scene in which Amsterdam sees another of the men who were once with the Dead Rabbits when he was a child.

The lighting is pretty normal, with daylight shining on the two of them inside the dark Butchers. Something about the light and the music creates a sort of intimacy between the two men, despite the morbidity of their actions. Bill becomes almost this sort of fatherly figure, instructing the young Amsterdam, who initially is curious and trusting.

The music from the previous scene flows into the music of the Butcher scene, and it is a bittersweet, lilting string solo. This music is maintained throughout this scene, even as the two of them hack at the flesh of the pig. The music actually gets louder when Bill passes the knife along to Amsterdam, increasing the intensity of the scene. As Amsterdam hacks at the pig, a more ominous sounding music layers over it to transition this scene to the next.

When Bill hands him the knife, the camera flashes to posters commemorating the Victory of the Natives over the Dead Rabbits, and then to a flashback of Vallem handing Amsterdam the razor 16 years before. This shows that Amsterdam has not forgotten how Bill took his father’s life. He shows some indecision, but quickly and precisely imitates Bill in stabbing the pig. The viewer is left wondering why this scene is important. Is Amsterdam joining in Bill’s efforts? Does he have any wish to continue in his father’s footstep in defending his Irish brothers and sisters? All we see is his indecision, but violent ability.

 

Gangs of New York

In the movie Gangs of New York, there is a scene during which the Butcher, Amsterdam, and a wealthy group of New York politicians all pray in their respective locations. Then, the battle begins between the Dead Rabbits, the police force, and the Bowery Boys, and the entire street becomes clouded with smoke and dust.

As the prayer is recited, the locations alternate between those of the wealthy New York politicians, the Butcher, and Amsterdam. The cinematograph of this part shows the relation between the characters. Despite each of the three opposing each other in some way, and the fact that they are soon to be battling in the streets, they still recite the same prayer, which underscores their obscure yet true likeness.

The cloudiness of the streets during the battle created by the smoke makes for an interesting mood of the scene. It seems to possibly underscore the lack of accuracy and reason with which the battle is fought. Although those participating know what they are fighting for, it becomes so overly chaotic that the battle is essentially fought in vain. This is alluded to when Amsterdam says “This will all be finished tomorrow,” and Jenny responds “No it won’t. This whole place is gonna burn anyway” (Gangs of New York). She basically states that no matter the outcome of the battle, it will be a highly destructive bloodbath.

Gangs of New York

The film the Gangs of New York, directed by Martin Scorsese, depicts the troubles of Irish immigrants in the US. It focuses on a young immigrant, Amsterdam Vallon, who sees his father die in a battle against the “natives” as a child, and returns as an adult to avenge his fathers death. The movie has many interesting dialogues and well-depicted scenes that make it a classic. Filled with blood-ridden violence, it shows how rough times were for the Irish when they arrived in the US after the famine.

The movie begins with a sound of shaving. Then there is a close up of a figure’s eyes and the camera shifts down showing that the man is shaving. The setting is a dark room, illuminated only by two candles. The man makes a small cut on his face, causing him to bleed; he does not clean the knife. The camera then shifts to a two shot as a small boy emerges closely watching the man. As the child enters, music begins to play. The man walks towards the child and hands him the knife, which the child attempts to clean. However, the man stops him saying “no son, never. Blood stays on the blade. One day you’ll understand.” The man then proceeds to dress and at this point, the man can be characterized as a Priest. The Priest makes a prayer to St. Michael and walks out of the room, after which a tracking shot is taken. The camera follows the him out the Old Brewery as more and more people, many of which are carrying fire torches, join him. The camera also cuts to various people who seem to be preparing weapons for battle. The drums heard in the music also foreshadow the event. Most of the people walking with the Priest are wearing torn clothes and their accents imply they are not from the US- an inference that is confirmed as they are met outside by self-pronounced ‘natives’.

Many of the occurrences in the first scene make more sense after watching the movie. At the very beginning of the movie, hearing before seeing draws the viewer in. Seeing the Priest shave represents his manhood. At first, seeing the Priest make a small cut in his face seems weird, however, once he tells his son to leave the blood on the blade, it seems as though he has reason for this. He is including his child in a pact that he later draws upon again right before his death. Before dying he again tells his son “never look away.” Later on, when a grown Amsterdam receives that knife, it is as one of his father’s last belongings. Also, later on in the movie, when Amsterdam challenges the Butcher to a battle, he makes a similar mark on his face with a knife, representing his own manhood.

After the Priest stops his son from cleaning the blood off the knife, a voice in the background says “Some of it I half remember, the rest I took from dreams”, implying that this is a memory of the boy. When the Priest makes the prayer to St. Michael, he asks the boy what St. Michael did. To this, the boy replies that he cast Satan out of heaven. At this moment, the Priest is comparing himself to the Saint and the Butcher to the devil who he plans to finish off in battle. An interesting thing to note is that both Vallon and Bill compare themselves to Saint Michael and think that they representative of Saint Michael.

Once the Priest and Amsterdam leave the room, the Priest holds Amsterdam’s hand tightly and walks as more and more people join him. It can be inferred that the Priest is the leader and that the people are going to battle. Most are dressed in torn clothes, making their own weapons and are not native to the US. The name of their group is Dead Rabbits, which was an actual name of an Irish gang in the 1850’s. Later in the movie, when Amsterdam challenges Bill to a battle, he also takes upon the name of the Dead Rabbits. The scene ends with the Irishman kicking the door for the Priest as they head out for battle.

Henry Burby

MHC 10201

2/21/16

Out of the Darkness

Gangs of New York’s second scene begins when Amsterdam blows out the candle, and the background music starts. The pounding drums and shrieking pipes represent the fighting spirit of the Dead Rabbits, getting louder or softer depending on the confidence of the gang members, and the camera’s proximity to them. For most of the scene, the camera follows or is followed by moving characters, starting with the first shot of Vallon and Amsterdam. The first shot begins with a Close Up of the father and son’s clasped hands, indicating the bond of love between them. The camera pans up to a Low Angle view of Amsterdam’s face, pans higher to examine Vallon’s, and finally settles on the large Celtic cross in the father’s hands. The cross is treated as a character in the scene, just as God is a character in the lives of the Irish. The shot is also a reference to the son, the father, and the holy spirit.

The camera cuts to behind the head of the father, and from his perspective, the audience sees the big picture. Vallon is conscious of his son (pan to back of son’s head), God (focus shifts to medieval Virgin and Child), and his comrades (camera pans to reveal literal dead rabbits, and gang members readying for battle).

The camera then cuts back to the Low Angle, the son’s perspective, and shows what he notices during his father’s observation. The boy sees and reacts to McGloin and Happy Jack while they prepare their brutal weapons.

A few cuts later, the whole gang is revealed for the first time. The difference between Valum and his followers is striking. His clothes are clean, simple, and monochrome, his baring noble. He is a pillar of civilization, leading his people into a battle for their salvation like a saint or priest. His difference from his soldiers is as clear as the difference between the literal cross he bares for his people, and the dead rabbits on a pole that they carry.

Next, a montage of Blur Pans reveals three pre-battle rituals. A Dead Rabbit smears his face with mud, like his primal Irish forbearers. A Plug Ugly stuffs his hat with rags for protection, showing adaptability to the new country. A priest raises a chalice of wine to a crude cross. The Low Angle shows his reverence. The jagged stained-glass chalice provides the first spot of color in a scene dominated by earth tones and shadows, showing that religion is the only bright spot in the lives of these people.

Soon, other inhabitants of the Old Brewery are revealed. The dancing and drumming of the Blacks is totally different from Irish, foreshadowing their later conflict, but here, both groups coexist and ignore each other, as happens in modern New York.

Focus returns to Amsterdam’s Low Angle perspective, and he and Jonny speak the first dialogue in the scene, not counting the priest, who’s babbled prayers are not his own words. Amsterdam is matter-of-fact in his devotion to the cause, as he is capable of seeing it. he has a child’s conception of the coming battle, and is not afraid. The camera pans up to the man holding the rabbit pole. He sees the adult world, of which he is a tiny and vulnerable part, and there is fear in his eyes. As the gang climbs the stairs, the camera slowly zooms out in the first establishing shot, revealing the innards of the Old Brewery. As the audience realizes how small and insignificant the Dead Rabbits are, shouts and noise almost drown out the music.

True to their names, “Priest” Vallon leads his people, “Monk” McGinn stands apart. McGinn’s mercenary spirit and the nearness of the destination lower the spirits of the gangs, and the music fades. McGinn is first seen in a Long Shot, slouched in the shadows, but as his interest in the money grows, he and the camera get closer together, in an “American” Shot and then a Close Up. When he agrees to join the fight, he and Vallon come together in a Two Shot for the first time. Yet, Vallon is barely in the frame, showing that though McGinn will do his job, he is not really committed to Vallon. When he agrees to help the Dead Rabbits, the music swells back to its former height, but it vanishes the moment the door is kicked open, to reveal outside world. The camera exits through the open door in a Tracking Shot which becomes an Establishing Shot for Paradise Square.

The inside of the Old Brewery is a metaphor for the coffin ships that took the Irish to the new world. In its earlier establishing shot, it was huge, dark, crowded, wooden, and even listed slightly to one side. The outside world represents America, so McGinn, the closest to the door, is the least committed to the cause, while Vallon, who came the farthest, is the most committed. For a fee, McGinn opens the door to a world totally unlike the one the Irish are familiar with. The whites and cool colors clash totally with the warm darkness inside. The camera and scene are totally still, and the music stops instantly. Paradise Square is unfriendly, inhospitable, and alien, and from the moment they immerge, the Irish are met with violence and hostility.

 

 

Opening Scene: Gangs of New York

Gangs of New York begins with an iconic opening scene that works as the foundation of the plot, character development, and message of the film. Beginning with Neeson’s closed eyes and the blade to his throat, the film immediately establishes the zoomed camera angles used throughout the film. By delaying the full depiction of Vallon’s face, figure, and clothing, Scorsese determines the Priest’s role that echoes throughout the events 16 years later, as more of a legend than a man. Vallon dons clothing colored red, white, and blue; furthermore, both his blade and his cross shine in a similar manner. These details highlight violence, religion, and patriotism as the film’s central themes.

“No son. Never. The blood stays on the blade. One day you’ll understand.” In this one line, Priest Vallon transfers the heritage of violence and hatred for Bill Cutting to his son. Amsterdam accepts this burden immediately after his father’s death, drawing his father’s knife and slashing fearlessly. Later, Amsterdam struggles to renounce his heritage to work for Bill Cutting as many of former dead rabbits, because of this unique responsibility his father placed upon him. Making a religious allusion to define the black and white viewpoints of what it means to be American, Priest Vallon questions Amsterdam about Saint Michael. Here, a contrast is drawn between Priest Vallon and Cutting, even before his introduction. Both imagine themselves as Saint Michael, bringing order to paradise by casting out Satan, their counterpart, and both believe they are solely in the right.

The most important line of the movie comes at Priest Vallon’s death: “Oh my son. Don’t ever look away.” Again, Vallon stresses the importance of heritage. However, the camera angle nearly puts the audience in the eyes of Amsterdam, as if Vallon speaks to us. He commands us never to turn our heads from history, and to remember the mass bloodshed and hatred that has led to the civility we live in today.