Reaction to Bread Givers Ch 1-6

The Bread Givers is a mildly interesting story about a girl whose opinions differ from those of her tyrannic, sexist father. It is appalling how her father goes through his days, sitting around like a lazy sloth, while he throws his young daughters out into the harsh world to work all day to make money and earn the food that he eats, but in fact denies them of. I was one "fatherly" tirade about how useless the girls in the family are away from throwing my book into the open fire burning away on the first floor of my house. Granted, this book is supposed to take place in the 1920s, not exactly a modern time, but it is no excuse. Women were granted the full right to vote in 1919, meaning they were considered working parts of society, not tokens to be used and then thrown away when their value depreciates. How any of the women in that household could put up with him, I will never be sure.

In chapters three-six we watch as Bessie, Mashah and Fania fall in love and are denied their heart's wishes by their greedy father. Bessie brings home Berel Bernstein, a perfectly worthy suitor for his daughter- rich and kind. He denies her her wishes because Berel is unwilling to support Bessie as well as the family. This was where my true rage at the father began. It was upon reading how Mashah had fallen madly in love with Jacob, only to have ripped away from her, that the real contemplation of a book burning began. Mashah became a new person when she was in love with Jacob, and her adoration of him made me adore him, too. He left her and she was broken hearted, making my heart break for her too. In the end, when he came back to her, valiant and loving, to tell her that he cared not what his father thought and that he just wanted to be with her, her father denied her of her wishes. He told her never to speak to Jacob again, and she obeyed. This was the last straw. It was the last tyrannic raid I would take sitting down, in silence.