The main cause of the Smolinsky's sisters' failures in achieving their own dreams is Reb Smolinsky. Reb Smolinsky is a very traditional and religious man that does not want to leave his values from the old country. One of his ways of keeping these values from the old country is to find husbands for his daughters. Reb does this even when they find men they love. This causes the daughter's unhappiness because Reb disapproves of the men they fall in love with and chooses husbands for them. “One man or another man, it's all the same to me now.” (Page 76). This quote shows how unhappy his daughter Mashah is when he finds her man to marry. In this, he caused her failure in achieving her dream, which was to marry Jacob, the man she was in love with.
