Excerpt: “He wants me to be dressed in the latest style, yet he kicks I’m spending all his money. He wants everything grand but cheap. When I pay a hundred dollars for a suir, I’ve got to tell him it’s fifty. To keep his mouth shut and to not have any fights. I feed him with lies. Getting money from him is like pulling teeth. These diamonds that you see on me, that’s his saving bank. He buys me jewellery, only to show me off to his friends that’s he’s so rich” (175).

In the above quotation, we see how women are valued in society and marriage. Fania was once the stylish and happy sister who did not have a care in the world. Now that she is married to her husband we see the total opposite. Fania is treated more as a pawn and trophy wife to her husband as opposed to someone who appreciates her. She is considered to be a trophy wife because her husband only uses her to “show off to his friends” (175). For example, the quotation shows how her husband spoils and pawns her with “the latest style” (175). In addition, we get a glimpse into Fania’s marriage. Instead of having a marriage with built on trust and love, we see how rocky it is. For example, Sara has to literally lie to him when she is “spending all his money” (175). She also hints at signs of domestic violence within marriage because she explicitly says “To keep his mouth shut and not to have any fights” implying that their might be some signs of physical altercations (175). This is a crucial moment because it would set the stage for how Sara views relationships with men in later parts of the novel.

Bibliographic Information:

Channel, Education, director. YouTube. YouTube, YouTube, 21 July 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=zU9eaxjEgko.

Yezierska, Anzia. Bread Givers: a Novel. Persea Books, 2010.

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