Essay on Anzia Yezierska, a Woman of Basic Truth
Hungry Hearts is a book of short stories written by Anzia Yezierska, published in 1920. Yezierska was “the youngest of five children” and born between 1880 and 1885 (Horowitz). She originally lived in Eastern Europe before emigrating to America with her family in the 1890’s (Jewish Women’s Archive). She is well known for her works, Hungry Hearts, Bread Givers, and Salome of the Tenements. A few of the most mentioned works are “The Lost Beautifulness,” “Hunger,” “My Own People,” and “The Fat of the Land.” Her most popular work being Hungry Hearts, was written about her time in the “Lower East Side” not publishing it until after she left because she had to “keep [her] mouth shut or lose [her] job” (Konzett 604). These works showcase challenges and days in the lives of hard-working women. There are several trends that are displayed by Anzia Yezierska in her texts that relate to the time periods she lived through, such as the second industrial revolution and the progressive era. Throughout these periods, there were obvious representations of poverty and the poorer classes.
Those who lived in poverty during the progressive era were struggling and Anzia Yezierska wrote about these experiences in a fictional aspect. “Women with market-baskets pushed and shoved one another, eyes straining with the one thought - how to get the food a penny cheaper” (Yezierska, “My Own People” 224). Regardless of class, every person is trying to spend less for what they believe is necessary to live their day-to-day life, she harps on “a penny cheaper” several times throughout her stories (Yezierska, “The Fat of the Land 181). The women are often complaining saying things such as, “to my bitter luck, there ain’t no end” (Yezierska, “The Fat of the Land” 183). Many of the women from Yezierska’s time were very cold and bitter, but even more, struggling and hurt. These works “[pay] particular attention to the hardships of poverty for women saddled with childcare and crowded conditions, and utterly financially dependent [struggling families]” (Horowitz). Hanneh Breineh, from the story “The Fat of the Land” had five children of which she was always afraid for (Yezierska, “The Fat of the Land” 183). “The added stress of poverty can lead to symptom manifestations and mental health problems” (Gitterman 663). In the story “The Fat of the Land,” it was stated that “with one breath she, [Hanneh,] blesses him… and with the other breath she curses him” (Yezierska, “The Fat of the Land” 196). With these women’s bitterness, there came a lot of negativity. There was no time for themselves, so they took their anguish out on others around them, including their children. Poverty did not only effect those who became poor but also those who couldn’t become a part of any higher class, such as immigrants.
These stories consist of “the struggle[s] immigrants [have] to overcome poverty,” realizing that America was not what it was said to be and that there are compromises between places (Massey 633). “How I suffered in Savel. I never had enough to eat. I never had shoes on my feet. I had to go barefoot even in the freezing winter. But still, I love it. I was born there. I love the houses and the straw roofs, the mud streets, the cows, the chickens, and the goats. My heart always hurts me for what is no more” (Yezierska, “Hunger” 56). Savel, or Eastern Europe, was the home of these women and they long for the simpler times even if they were harder in some ways. “I thought in America everything would be so plenty… not in Poland did my children starve like in America” (Yezierska, “My Own People” 231). There is a hidden sadness because there was a simpler time, there was still suffering but not with a need for more labor to live a satisfactory life. “Immigration from southern and eastern Europe [amounted] to about 445,000 annually” (Goldin 17). During the era of which Yezierska’s first writings were published there was a surge of immigration from Europe. It was said previously that Yezierska immigrated, looking at her works it seems she may have been unhappy with that decision. She was not the only one who was unhappy with the decision, there are sources that say, “the negative effect may largely derive from the congested, low-income, and depressed neighborhoods where immigrants reside” (Gitterman 663). Unhappiness came from more than immigrating and being a part of poverty, it also put you in a certain social class that few got to excel out of.
Social classes were defined or segregated by race and those who were in the working class, with discrimination between the classes. In this quote from “The Fat of the Land,” it shows that the man decided that just based on appearance of someone who may be a part of the richer class he had a larger opportunity to get more money, taking advantage:
“Women! Women! Fourteen cents a pound!”
He ceased his raucous shouting as he saw Hanneh Breineh in her rich attire approach his cart.
“How much?” she asked, pointing to the fattest carp.
“Fifteen cents, lady,” said the peddler, smirking as he raised his price.
“Swindler! Didn’t I hear you call fourteen cents?” shrieked Hanneh Breineh, exultingly, the spirit of the penny chase surging in her blood.
(Yezierska, “The Fat of the Land” 212). “But Mrs. Preston does make me feel that I’m alike with her… don’t she talk herself out to me like I was her friend” (Yezierska, “The Lost Beautifulness” 69). There were a few overlaps in segregation because when a white woman, Mrs. Preston, has a black worker, Hanneh, they may become better acquainted in the process of interaction. “Ain’t I hurt enough without you having to hurt me yet with charity? You want to give me hush money to swallow down an unrightness that burns my flesh?” (Yezierska, “The Lost Beautifulness” 88). The thought process does not change, friend or not. The lower income people want help, but do not accept it as charity or pity, they have a drive to make it happen with their own hands and devotion. They continue to struggle “with the realities of poverty and the pressure to Americanize” (Botshon 289). With these lower income people, there were also family stresses and less chances for better paying occupations.
Working lower class homes had less choices for occupation and resulted in lower salaries, causing women and mothers to outsource for paying flexible jobs. “If immigrants want to survive [and] to attain an independent income… they have to rely on employment” (Gitterman 663). “It’s the last time you’ll holler on me!... You’ll never see my face again, [even] if I got to go begging in the street” (Yezierska, “Hunger” 40). The woman decided to get rid of her slaving life and sought out a job that allowed for her to be independent and have a better life, which was common in this period as women wanted their independence. Yezierska had a similar ambition, a source said that “part of what drove [her] away from her own family was her quest for equality and respect” (Jewish Women’s Archive). In the story “Hunger”, the main character found a job working as a seamstress, one of few jobs immigrants were able to obtain during that time. Immigrants got to be laborers, hod carriers, machinists or put into building trades (Goldin 248). Relating more to Yezierska herself she wrote about Sophie Sapinsky in “My Own People” who left her family, got herself a place to live, went to night school, and decided to take effort in becoming a writer (224-249).
In conclusion, Anzia Yezierska wrote short fictional stories about her experiences as an immigrant in the United States during the progressive era. There were several trends that were displayed by Anzia Yezierska in her texts that relate to the time periods she lived through, such as the second industrial revolution and the progressive era. Being an immigrant was difficult because of the limited number of jobs and low paying salaries. Then adding living in poverty and having to raise multiple children on “ten cents a day,” there were more negative environments (Yezierska, “My Own People 245). There were obvious boundaries and segregations between races and the working class which put tolls on others and what became expected of them, causing many in the poorer class to take advantage of others.
