Abstract
In My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok, a young Hasidic Jew experiences growth and turmoil in 1950s New York City as he demonstrates his desire to express himself through art, a concept at odds with his traditional Jewish family. Asher's artistic preferences are directly conflicted with the expectations and attitudes of his family, causing him great suffering and self-reflection. At the same time, these conflicts cause him to grow substantially as a person, and through that suffering his art flourishes, showing him new notions and concepts of beauty, and shaping his life irrevocably. The result is an incredibly touching and thought-provoking story that combines the coming-of-age tale with explorations of the divide between religious tradition/conservatism and the expression of artistic and creative ideas.
Being a story that is filled with allegory and deep, pervasive themes, there are many symbols throughout the book that are used to express those themes and ideas. Many symbols, from the recurring use of religious iconography (e.g. crucifixes, earlocks, etc.) to important figures in Asher's life (e.g. his mythic ancestor, his rebbe) help to express the themes of personal growth, and the conflict between artistic expression and familial/religious tradition. The meaning and historiography of these symbols will be researched in the following piece, through religious, historical and literary scholarship. These meanings will be applied to My Name is Asher Lev through close literary criticism, in order to further discover the underlying messages that lie deep within the text. The hope is to determine subtextual and textual messages on the themes explored in the work, which are important to fully understand and engage with this particular piece of literature.
OUTLINE
- THESIS: Many symbols in My Name is Asher Lev, from the recurring use of religious iconography (e.g. crucifixes, earlocks, etc.) to important figures in Asher's life (e.g. his mythic ancestor, his rebbe) help to express the themes of personal growth, and the conflict between artistic expression and familial/religious tradition.
I. My Name is Asher Lev follows the story of a young Jewish boy growing up in the 1950s.
A. The character of Asher Lev is a haunted yet inspired young boy who is torn between
his traditional family and his love for art.
B. This is represented through a variety of symbols, used throughout the book to remind
Asher of the religious pressure he has to undergo.
II. There are many different religious objects shown throughout the book to haunt Asher and remind him of what his family expects.
A. The crucifix is shown several times to show his conflict between Western art and
Jewish tradition, as well as reminds him of his mother.
B. The earlocks (payos) that Asher wears symbolize his feelings toward his outward
Jewish appearance and his inward Western love for art.
III. Many different characters in Asher's life also symbolize his apparent duty to his ancestry.
A. The Rebbe is a divine individual who helps to determine the path of all Jews, yet
carries ultimate wisdom where Asher is concerned.
B. Asher's own ancestors influence him in the present through stories of the past.
IV. Other place and objects carry important symbolic value for Asher.
A. The window that Asher's mother looks out at also represents her own agony regarding
the loss of her family.
B. Siberia is often cited in the book as representative of the coldness and sacrifice that
Jews had to experience in the past, calling it the "Angel of Death."
V. CONCLUSION
A. Objects and people offer symbolism to represent the shadow of tradition Asher has to overcome.
B. Abstract methods to demonstrate the unique difficulties Asher faces in offering his art to the world despite the wishes of his conservative family.
Symbolism in My Name is Asher Lev
In My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok, a young Hasidic Jew experiences growth and turmoil in 1950s New York City as he demonstrates his desire to express himself through art, a concept at odds with his traditional Jewish family. Asher's artistic preferences are directly conflicted with the expectations and attitudes of his family, causing him great suffering and self-reflection. At the same time, these conflicts cause him to grow substantially as a person, and through that suffering his art flourishes, showing him new notions and concepts of beauty, and shaping his life irrevocably. The result is an incredibly touching and thought-provoking story that combines the coming-of-age tale with explorations of the divide between religious tradition/conservatism and the expression of artistic and creative ideas.
The character of Asher Lev is a haunted yet inspired young boy who is torn between his traditional family and his love for art. This is represented through a variety of symbols, used throughout the book to remind Asher of the religious pressure he has to undergo. Many symbols in My Name is Asher Lev, from the recurring use of religious iconography (e.g. crucifixes, earlocks, etc.) to important figures in Asher's life (e.g. his mythic ancestor, his rebbe) help to express the themes of personal growth, and the conflict between artistic expression and familial/religious tradition.
First and foremost, the book follows the tension that is placed on Asher between the religion of his people, its expectations, and the calling that he feels for his art. There are many different religious objects shown throughout the book to haunt Asher and remind him of what his family expects. For example, there is the symbol of the crucifix, a strongly religious image that shows his conflict between Western art and Jewish tradition, as well as reminds him of his mother's own anguish. When his mother is upset at a painting he made of her and the window as a crucifix, Asher claims he did it "to show the my feelings about your waiting, your fears, your anguish" (Potok, p. 350). His painting of his mother's torment takes the shape of a crucifix, something that simply expressed his anxieties and concerns about his mother (Doyle, 2008). At the same time, the painting causes him fear, because he has no idea how his father will react to it, thinking it blasphemy instead of artistic expression of secular grief; "I wanted to paint Mama's torment" (p. 349). This symbol encapsulates the effect that his painting has on his life and his family; he has no idea how else to express himself, but he fears that his family will take it the wrong way.
Another reminder of Asher's pressure and duty to conform to his religious tradition are his payos - the earlocks he wears on the sides of his head. The earlocks that Asher wears symbolize his feelings toward his outward Jewish appearance and his inward Western love for art. These earlocks are a stereotypical and signature aesthetic for Jews, distinguishing him as a Jew with all the trappings and traditions thereto- "Perhaps yeshiva boys in payos should not be artists" (Potok, p. 310). In order to fit in more with the artistic community, and distance himself from Judaism, he tucks them behind his ears. At the same time, he still feels attached enough to them to not cut them off - this indicates the severe tension that he feels and confusion as to who he should be: a Jew or an artist.
The symbols that he encounters, and which Potok inserts for the audience, throughout the book do not consist merely of objects. Many different characters in Asher's life also symbolize his apparent duty to his ancestry, linking him both to the art world and to the religious world in a way that serves to either enlighten or further confuse him (Wall, 2009). The Rebbe, the spiritual leader of his Jewish community (the Ladovers), is a divine individual who helps to determine the path of all Jews, yet carries ultimate wisdom where Asher is concerned. Asher's people worship him as they believe he knows all and can teach all. In many ways, he has control over the Ladovers, which include Asher's own family - his father's office is overlooked by a "large framed photograph of the Rebbe that hung near the window" (Potok, p. 150). The Rebbe represents, to Asher, the ultimate judgment that his people will have over him if he chooses the art world. Fortunately for him, the Rebbe is fairly permissive with Asher's art, and allows him to be educated in many ways in order to pursue his gift.
While the Rebbe is the current spiritual influence of Asher and his people, Asher is also greatly influenced by stories and imaginings of his great-great-grandfather, who acts as a Mythic Ancestor trying Asher's present actions to the glory of the past (Regenbaum, 1988). Asher's mythic ancestor was able to work from the ground up to create a successful life for himself, becoming the template for what Asher's family expects him to become. By imagining his ancestor at various points throughout the narrative, Asher manages to find a way to connect with him, understanding that he is not a pressure point for his expectations, but a kindred spirit who also attempts to find a way to 'balance' his own life; "Come with me my precious Asher. You and I will walk together now through the centuries, each of us for our separate deeds that unbalanced the world" (Potok, PAGE NO).
There are places and locations that also carry important symbolic value for Asher; most notably, the window that Asher paints for his mother is representative of her own agony regarding the tumult within her family (Kremer, 1985). His mother always looks out the window, peering out at the outside world and preferring it to the tension and sadness that is found within her house. Even Asher's father is often found in front of the window, contemplating the situation that lays before him regarding Asher's perceived abandonment of his faith (Barkess, 1998). In many ways, this window can act as a comfort, its silent oblivion being preferable to the chaos within the home; "Standing there, with the room in shadows and his faintly illuminated features reflected in the window that looked out onto the dark street, he seemed to spread himself slowly across the wide night, to embrace and cover the darkness with his blanket of melody and soft light" (Potok, p. 100).
Other locations remind Asher of his obligation to his faith, as he is told of how much the Jews sacrificed for their future. Siberia is often cited in the book as representative of the coldness and sacrifice that Jews had to experience in the past, calling it the "Angel of Death" (Hillberg, 2002). When asked about the place, Mrs. Rackover tells Asher "What is Siberia? It is a land like the inside of this refrigerator. It is a land of ice and darkness where the Russian government sends people it hatesWhat is Siberia? No one should know of it" (Potok, p. 200). Siberia is effectively hell for the Jewish people, and a cruel reminder of everything that Jews endured so that Asher could not. This increases Asher's guilt and sense of obligation, as to pursue art would feel like a betrayal of those sacrifices.
In My Name is Asher Lev, a young boy learns about his people and tries to discover his place within that tradition, illustrated by the symbols that are encountered throughout the story. Objects and people offer symbolism to represent the shadow of tradition Asher has to overcome. These symbols act as abstract methods to demonstrate the unique difficulties Asher faces in offering his art to the world despite the wishes of his conservative family. From the symbolic positions of the Rebbe and the Mythic Ancestor to the tensions inherent in the story of Siberia and the crucifix in the window, Asher constantly struggles to reconcile what he wants and what his people want for him. The separation between art and his particular sect of the Jewish faith tears him apart inside, causing him to seek his own path elsewhere by the end of the book. The use of symbols to portray this tension and dissonance brings the reader inside Asher's head, and helps us understand the extent of his agony within the confines of Jewish tradition.
Works Cited
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Doyle, Bevin. Ekphrasis in Chaim Potok's My Name is Asher Lev. Dublin City University, 2008.
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Hillberg, Raul. The Destruction of the European Jews. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002.
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Kremer, S.L. " Dedalus in Brooklyn: Influences of "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" on
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Potok, Chaim. My Name is Asher Lev. Michael Mordechai, 1972. Print.
Regenbaum, S. "Art, Gender, and the Jewish Tradition in Yezierska's "Red Ribbon on a White
Horse" and Potok's "My Name Is Asher Lev". Studies in American Jewish Literature,
1988. Print.
Wall, Keith A. The Evolution of an Artist: A Critical Analysis of Chaim Potok's "My Name is
Asher Lev". California State University. Thesis. 2009.
