Adam Neer
HIST 2010
Dr. O’Keefe
February 22, 2016
A Tale of Consumerism:
How Consumerism Fuels Motivation in Anzia Yezierska’s “Bread Givers”
The major driving factor for the struggles and successes of the Smolinsky family in Anzia Yezierska’s Bread Givers was the impact of consumer culture. Consumer culture influenced each family member differently. It’s important to understand that consumer culture is a complex idea that is fixated with leisure time and having excess money to spend at the end of the day. The family constantly dealt with the problems of survival compared to fitting into a new society, old religion pitted against the new ways of consumerism, old generation versus new, and finally how the family adapted to the foreign American …show more content…
She is constantly caught between doing what she wants to do with her life, and what her father wants her to do. Sara has a very unique relationship with consumer culture. She realizes her situation but still wants to better herself by getting an education and not working a job that will burn her out like her sister Bessie may be. This is why I believe she goes on to become a teacher and look for a man with intelligence instead of just waiting for an arranged marriage. She was influenced by consumer culture in both positive and negative ways. I believe she has had the most experience with how the old culture and the new culture mesh and that’s why I believe her ideas on the subject are so integrated …show more content…
Being the eldest child meant that she was the first of the children into the unforgiving early twentieth century workforce. She would have been a major advocate for Florence Kelley’s eight hour work day. (Fernlund 153). Consumer culture seemed to be a packaged deal with this new work day and the infant idea of leisure time. Bessie was young and already seemed to have already worked well beyond her few years on earth. She had the traditional worker’s attitude of working a twelve hour day was the best activity someone could do with her day, because this was the only thing she knew. Florence Kelley’s ideas of how work should be conducted played a vital part in the construction of consumerism and the eight hour work
HIST 2010
Dr. O’Keefe
February 22, 2016
A Tale of Consumerism:
How Consumerism Fuels Motivation in Anzia Yezierska’s “Bread Givers”
The major driving factor for the struggles and successes of the Smolinsky family in Anzia Yezierska’s Bread Givers was the impact of consumer culture. Consumer culture influenced each family member differently. It’s important to understand that consumer culture is a complex idea that is fixated with leisure time and having excess money to spend at the end of the day. The family constantly dealt with the problems of survival compared to fitting into a new society, old religion pitted against the new ways of consumerism, old generation versus new, and finally how the family adapted to the foreign American …show more content…
She is constantly caught between doing what she wants to do with her life, and what her father wants her to do. Sara has a very unique relationship with consumer culture. She realizes her situation but still wants to better herself by getting an education and not working a job that will burn her out like her sister Bessie may be. This is why I believe she goes on to become a teacher and look for a man with intelligence instead of just waiting for an arranged marriage. She was influenced by consumer culture in both positive and negative ways. I believe she has had the most experience with how the old culture and the new culture mesh and that’s why I believe her ideas on the subject are so integrated …show more content…
Being the eldest child meant that she was the first of the children into the unforgiving early twentieth century workforce. She would have been a major advocate for Florence Kelley’s eight hour work day. (Fernlund 153). Consumer culture seemed to be a packaged deal with this new work day and the infant idea of leisure time. Bessie was young and already seemed to have already worked well beyond her few years on earth. She had the traditional worker’s attitude of working a twelve hour day was the best activity someone could do with her day, because this was the only thing she knew. Florence Kelley’s ideas of how work should be conducted played a vital part in the construction of consumerism and the eight hour work