At the beginning of the novel we learn that Sara's father has nick named her blood and iron recognizing the fact that she has a strong will. It is Sara's strong will that causes the most of the conflict with her and her father. Sara gets her strong will and drive from her father. She is not like her sisters who follow the cultural expectations of early marriage, but she, instead, has greater ambition for her life. Sara plans to get an education which is not in her fathers plan for her life. Reb wants Sara to ma

We see that the greatest divide in Sara and Reb's relation as a reflection of the expected gender roles. Reb's religious belief says that a women's place is in the home and that being unmarried is sinful. A complete women to Reb is a married one while to Sara a complete women is an educated on. Reb wanted Sara married over anything else, while Sara wanted her education over anything else. They both had their own best interest at hear. Reb wanted his daughter to marry to secure a place in heaven, and Sara wanted an education to secure her place in the world.

This is a point were we see how the similarities between the two is what is breaking them apart. Sara says to her father, "All my selfishness is from you" (p. 206). Just like her father, Sara had given up her life to attain success through an education, but it is the education of her father that divides them. Reb sacrificed and educated himself in the Torah that tells him that a women is to be in the home. Sara is also sacrificing but, to her father, her sacrifice in sacrilege to their religion.

It is the strong will of these two characters that cause their connection. While Reb is bound to the laws and traditions of the Torah, Sara is bound to the drive to be educated or make herself a better, more successful person. One incident that exemplifies the strong will of both these characters is found at the beginning of the novel. The rent collector for the landlord comes to the apartment to collect rent, but Reb does not have the money. The two argue and Reb finally hits the collector, who is Jewish, and

dedicating a room in the small apartment just for them. Imagine, this family is crammed into a tiny apartment without room for light even, and he dedicates a room entirely to his books. We see that they both have a connection to learning that is stronger than any other.

It is towards the end of the novel that we see how Sara and her father are so closely related. It is maybe at this time that Sara sees the connection as well. She comes to see how her father, like herself, had to make himself hard in order to obtain his goal of religious perfection. She says of her father, "In a world where all is changed, he alone remained unchanged-as tragically isolated as the rocks" (p. 296). She now sees how her father had to isolate and make himself hard in order to be the man he is. Sara sees that

had to become somebody else in order to attain her goal. She sees that she has to become "hard" in order to be a success.

A long time after leaving the home Reb goes to visit Sara in her small apart

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Approximate Word count = 1745
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)