In “My Name is Asher Lev” by Chaim Potok, the main character is constantly faced with conflict between passion and social norms. As we follow Asher on his journey we learn very quickly that his artistic dreams clash with his religious community. Asher Lev has been conflicted with art and his father, a very respectable man in the Jewish community since an early age. This is best shown in a conversation between fiver year old Asher and his father. When Asher's father comments on his drawings explaining that his grandfather would not have liked him wasting so much time on foolishness. Asher tries so combat his father by saying that a drawing is not foolishness however he is discouraged when his father overlooks this comeback. “...I continued to draw him anyway, though after awhile i stopped showing him my drawings.” (Potok 12). …show more content…
In his early years of school Asher attempts to quit drawing to please his father and focus on school. Like anyone that challenges normal expectations Asher was always being told he was wrong and drawing was a waste of time. Since he had been hearing this over and over for most of his lifetime he began to believe their comments and adapt to who people wanted him to be. “I did no drawing at all during my early years of school, save for indifferent smears of finger paint for art projects the class undertook to help celebrate festivals. The gift lay buried.” (Potok 52). His mother immediately noticing the change questioned why he stopped drawing and Asher simply responded with his father's words, “It’s a waste of time. It’s from the sitra achra. Like
Potok, Chaim. “Asher Lev, an artist is a person first.” Goodreads. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 May. 2014.
In 1845, Ebenezer Carter Tracy published a book titled, Memoir of the Life of Jeremiah Evarts. Within this book is a statement from the Cherokee people from 1830 called, “Appeal of the Cherokee Nation.” In this statement, The Cherokee Indians refuse to move west of the Mississippi River. They made this refusal for two main reasons. The Indians believed that they had a right to remain in the lands of their ancestors and they also insisted that their chances of survival would be very low if they moved west. Their survivability would be impacted by their lack of knowledge of the new lands, and by the Indians that were already living in the western lands, and who would view the Cherokee as enemies.
Just as Burroughs reveals the drug underground as it really is, Asher Lev is an artist of reality. His talent for art was recognized early in his life, but it was some years later that his view of the world became more apparent. He was neither a pessimist nor was his an optimist, but his drawing capture a little of both realms. He drew what he felt: what he saw as reality in his mind. More often in the book, however, do we see Asher's pessimistic views on the world come out because of the events that are going on in his life. "I don't like the world, Mama. It's not pretty. I won't draw it pretty." (52) Just like Burroughs, Asher does not think about what would be acceptable to those who view his works, or the beliefs of his religion, or if what he is drawing may be considered wrong; he just draws what he truly feels at the time.
In his novel The Chosen, Chaim Potok writes about a boy, Reuven Malter, from Brooklyn who is going through his coming-of-age period and experiences as a Jewish student. Throughout The Chosen, themes of friendships, reaching maturity, and understanding unravel and seep into Reuven Malter’s life. In this period of maturing, some pivotal moments occur, changing Reuven’s view of others and understanding of relationships.
"If you were a genius in mathematics, I would understand. If you were a genius in writing, I would also understand. If you were a genius in Gemorra, I would certainly understand. But a genius in drawing is foolishness, and I will not let it interfere with our lives. Do you understand me, Asher?" (Potok 136). The struggle begins for young Asher Lev, a talented artist who tries to convince his father and the rest of his family of his artistic ability, when his father refuses to recognize his talent. Set in a tightly knitted Jewish community in Brooklyn, Chaim Potok successfully depicted a young boy torn between his orthodox Jewish tradition and his passion for art in his best seller My Name is Asher Lev. Asher Lev knew from a young age that he was destined to draw. Unfortunately, his friends and family simply discarded his gift as foolishness or mere childishness. His struggles were so great that he became a virtual outcast. The cost of being an artist was so immense as to affect the life of Asher Lev in profound ways.
...en’t for Jacob’s significant contribution by offering Asher help and criticism Asher would have never prospered as a great painter.
There are many important issues mention the the book Deaf Again. The book talked about thing beyond disabilities. People tend to judge others who are not similar to them or their ideal image of normal. The overall need for communication is the major topic that is stressed in the text. The foundation of a relationship is built off of the strength of communication so being able to communicate with all is a very important aspect of life. His parents dealt with the struggles with Mark as he grew up.
Asher Lev paints against the values of his family and community. He disregards Jewish traditions and observance by pursuing his passion for art. His individuality has him disobeying the Rebbe, the mashphia, his mythic ancestor as well as his parents. Asher does not intend for his artwork to be harmful, but that they convey truths and feelings. Yet, the Brooklyn Crucifixions cause shame for his observant Jewish parents. In that way, he disrespects their teachings and wishes. He challenges the Jewish belief on modesty in creating nude works and disturbs the Hasidic community in his Christian imagery. Worst of all is the reflection of the life-like representation of his family in the paintings. This causes a shocked and angry reaction from the public. The climax evolves towards the last chapter of My Name is Asher Lev, when Asher's parents react hurtingly after the paintings are exposed to them in the New York Museum. Chaim Potok writes their reaction as happening slowly in a step-by-step movement; in silences; building up readers' expectations of a negative outcome.
In My Name is Asher Lev, Chaim Potok writes about a young boy in a Landover Hasidic community in Brooklyn who is an excellent artist. Asher travels through childhood hanging onto his art, but when his art interferes with his religious studies, Asher's two worlds of art and Torah collide. Potok deliberately chooses the extreme icons and symbols of secular life, such as the world of art, on the one hand, and of Judaism, Hasidim, and the Rebbe, on the other hand, to intensify the contrast between them, because he wants to mold the characters into visions he has, and to show how different the two worlds are and how they conflict and interact.
... paintings. “‘There are limits Asher...everything has a limit.’”, Rivkeh says. Asher’s art, has crossed boundaries that even his mother was no longer able deal with.
“Everett was strange, “Sleight concedes. “kind of different. But him and McCandless, at least they tried to follow their dream. That’s what was great about them. They tried. Not many do.” (67) John Krakauer’s book, Into the Wild, briefly makes a comparison between two young boys Chris McCandless and Everett Ruess and fills the reader with different perspectives about them and their experiences. While the author wrote about McCandless he is reminded of Ruess and his book Everett Ruess: A Vagabond for Beauty written by W.L. Rusho and it sparked an interesting comparison between the two. The use of storytelling and letters about McCandless and the use of Artwork, letters,
Anyone can be a hero, it is not a predetermined occupation, rather it can come out of anybody when a conflict arises. To become a hero all one has to do is step in to resolve an issue. In Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner the main conflict of the book is Amir's regret of past sins and desire for atonement. To atone for his sins Amir needs to recognize his wrongdoings, work to make up for them and change as a person. Throughout this story, Amir needs help to complete these steps. He gets help from Rahim Khan: the catalyst for his journey to redemption, Sohrab: Who saves Amir from Assef, and himself who by working hard to make a relationship with Sohrab is able to accept and move on from his past. To complete his journey for atonement Amir needs
Being an artist was not automatically hereditary and any talented adolescent boy could join a studio as an apprentice. The training period each child underwent was usually extensive and demanding:
As A Portrait of the Artist progresses, the structure of the relationship between Stephen, women, and art becomes increasingly clear. At one point in the novel, Stephen comes to the conclusion that his art involves "recreat[ing] life out of life" (434) and, at another, that he must "encounter for the millionth time the reality of experience and forge in my soul" (Joyce 526). He realizes that to fulfill his destiny as an artist, he must embrace life and the experiences of which it consists, for it is from experience that he builds his creations. In light of this revelation, Stephen's life becomes "a process of accumulating experiences, as well as a struggle to break free of those institutions that would prevent him from doing so" (Peake 64). For Stephen, inspiration requires experience, and it is through women that Stephen gains the latter and, thus, receives the former. Peake
“Every child is an artist”. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.” -Pablo Picasso. This quote is pretty straightforward. It says how all children are artists and how they grow older are not artists anymore.