Sara Smolinsky: Character Analysis

I see my own life reflected in the scene where Sara Smolinsky’s mother, Shenah Smolinsky, yells at her out of pure frustration. Shenah has just gotten home from shopping for food and she is upset, the grocer and the butcher refuse to trust her for she is poor. They refuse to sell to her unless they are selling her the goods that nobody wants. Shenah arrives at the house and sees that Sara has not yet put the potatoes to boil. This seems to be a very small problem but because the mother was already worked up she began to yell at her daughter and push all the blame and all her hurt onto her. The mother didn’t take into account that this could really hurt her daughter and make her feel guilty. Growing up, I had similar experiences with my own