Feld

Feld is a Polish Jewish immigrant shoemaker. He has lived in America for many years although he spent his youth in a village in Poland. He has labored hard to establish his business and has had some modest success—he can afford to send his daughter to college, for example. However, his years of hard work and the worry of maintaining a business have damaged his health. Five years earlier, he suffered a heart attack; another mild attack keeps him confined to bed for three weeks. Although occasionally Feld wishes he had had a son rather than a daughter, he is a loving father who is deeply concerned for the welfare of his daughter, Miriam. He wants her to have a better life than he has been able to give to her mother. He unsuccessfully tries to persuade Miriam to go to college and then tries to...