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In the novel, Bread Givers, author Anzia Yezierska tells the story of life as an immigrant in the Untied States. For many, the U.S. was the key to a better life; a life free of economic depression and religious oppression. America was a fantasy to many. To much dismay, the realization that America was not a land of golden streets comes too quickly. Flooded with people, New York's Lower East Side became a place of poverty for most. Immigrates found themselves living in slums, where dirt and disease ran rampant. However, according to Yezierska, life as a female was much worse. In the 1920's, an immigrant’s gender ultimately decided what experience he or she would have in America, for it was far better to be a male than a female. In Russia, the "Old World", it was preached that a woman was only on Earth to make her husband happy. In order to get into Heaven, women had to have a man at their side. America, the "New World, was mingled with different cultures. A female in America, no longer had to live solely for her husband. It is this that