The issues of the women's status in society in The Breadgivers by Essay

The issues of the women's status in society in The Breadgivers by Anzia Yerzierska - Essay Example As the mother, she gives protection to the divine reproductive force, male or female! In most of the societies, the ground reality is, a female child is victimized at every step of life, from the moment of birth, notwithstanding the fact that it is she who sacrifices at those interventions. This is the general backgrounder information about the life of the female, in societies all over the world. But in this modern materialistic era, the woman finds herself in complex situations. Alice Kessler-Harris, in her foreword to the book, â€Å"The Breadgivers,† points out, â€Å"Her woman’s voice found a universal audience in a generation that sought to locate its own identities more firmly and mined memoir and biography for the larger meaning of a materially laden world.†(xii) The problem is further aggravated for an ambitious woman. Harris continues, â€Å"†¦as the young woman yearning to find a place in the world; as the aspiring intellectual trying to figure ou t what to give back; as the isolated adult searching for community.†(xvii) To get uprooted from one country under forced and tragic circumstances and to establish from the scratch in a new country to find an identity is a tough asking. The â€Å"Breadgivers† by Anzia Yerzierska (1889-1970), a Polish Jewish immigrant, is the story about one such individual. Through her trials, tribulations, duty and beauty of life she tries to find out assiduously its real meaning. She confronts the normal challenges in the life of a woman and succeeds in finding the answer for the special challenges too. The important themes dealt with in the book are-- the perils of dependence, the pressure of family obligations and individual independence, and the evergreen theme of human life—the elusive happiness. These themes need to be understood from the perspectives of life of women of the era to which the author belonged. 2. Poverty is a curse and abject poverty on the verge of starvatio n is a double-tragedy for any family. The Smolinksy family is placed in the latter category. The daughters Bessie, Mashah and Fania are unemployed and Mashah is addicted to beauty-aids. Their father, Reb Smolinsky is engrossed in reading holy books and doesn’t work but faithfully does the work of a Jewish father—managing his daughter’s wages. Mrs. Smolinsky, with the onerous responsibility of managing the family, expresses her displeasure over the state of affairs. The situation improves as Sara begins to sell herring and other sisters find jobs. Mrs. Smolinsky rents out the second room of the apartment which helps to further consolidate the family budget. The cupid’s arrow strikes Bessie. The youth of her choice is Berel Berensterin. On invitation, he arrives for dinner one night. When the issue comes to the notice of Reb Smolinsky, he exercises his right on the wages of Bessie. In addition, he demands that Bessie must own the entire wedding expenses and finance him to set up business. Earlier Berel has indicated that he will marry without accepting any dowry. Berel is enraged at the unreasonable demand and counsels her to defy her father and marry him. She doesn’t dare and Berel is engaged to another girl, crushing Bessie’s spirit. The love entanglements of his two other daughters Marshah and Fania are also broken due to the obstinacy of Reb Smolkinsky and his rigid stand on issues. He arranges the marriages of all his three daughters that end up in failure and frustration for them. Sara watches all these

Roles of Emotional Appeals in Decision-making Essay

Roles of Emotional Appeals in Decision-making - Essay Example While some individuals argue that we make decisions through critical thinking, most of our decisions are made depending on our emotions (Fill, 2009, p. 19). Our moods and feeling towards particular ideas or items critically shape the decisions we make concerning that idea. For instance, a business manager coming to work loaded with stress from family issues is likely to spend the whole day making poor and inaccurate decisions at work. In addition, the same manager is likely to change the way he or she is treating people on that particular day. Therefore, emotions also determine how we relate with other people in our daily lives. Emotional appeals have the same effect in the business environment. They influence the way in which both business and customers make their decisions. Therefore, emotions have a significant impact on the effect of marketing on the customers (Fill, 2009, p. 20). While the business may market its products effectively, it may not succeed in attracting the attenti on of the customers. A business should take into consideration the emotions of its customers when advertising its products. This is because marketing triggers different emotions in the customers. Customers tend to develop different emotions and feelings towards a product or a service depending on the way it has been advertised (O'Shaughnessy & O'Shaughnessy, 2003, p. 10). ... different factors that might trigger emotional responses in customers, thus manipulating the way in which customers make their decisions (Albers-Miller & Stafford,  1999, p. 42). Colour Colour is a very significant factor that greatly affects the way in which customers perceive different products and services. Individuals have different attitudes and notions towards different colours. Other individuals also associate different colours with different types of issues. For instance, most people in the society associate black colour with evil. On the other hand, white colour is associated with purity and peace. Therefore, individuals will develop different feelings when they see black colour being used in a certain advertisement. For instance, a consumer that associates black with evil will perceive products being advertised using the colour as having a certain vice. Therefore, such a consumer will not even spend time to think of purchasing such a product. The decision of whether to bu y the product will entirely depend on the colour that has been used (Albers-Miller & Stafford,  1999, p. 43). On the other hand, the same customer may be triggered to purchase a product that has been advertised using the white colour just because he or she associates white with peace and purity. Therefore, although the products advertised in black colour might be better than the one advertised in the white ones, the emotional appeals of the customer will force him or her to purchase the bad product. Therefore, basing on colour, organisations should assess their target market to check if it is conservative. This is because most interpretations of colour come mainly from conservative people. However, some people, especially women, also have an attitude towards colour. For instance, most women