T.John Bread Givers analysis

The discussion questions that were presented to the class sparked a vast amount of interest and highlighted the reoccurring theme of dirt. Throughout the book the reader realizes that a great emphasis is placed on the relevance of dirt and the role it plays on all the characters within the plot. The women in the book are constantly cleaning up and trying to get the "dirt" out of their living quarters and their surroundings. Dirt is a motif used to highlight the constant strains placed on the protagonist and the fact that she can never totally escape her heritage, ancestry and eco economic status just as she cannot escape dirt which is a part of life.

The use of dirt as a literary device is very compelling because when one thinks of dirt we think of something blackened, muddy and something that we wish was not such a hassle on our every day cleaning lives, the fact that dirt is a constant reminder to Sara as to her heritage is very interesting and keeps the reader guessing whether she can ever escape her black "abyss" or was she just destined to be intertwined with her family with the "old world" still having a tight grasp on her "American" outlook. Overall the book gives a good insight into the Old World versus the New World and paints a vast comparison of the two worlds with both on very different spectrums with no medium or hope for compromise on either end in merging.