Künstlerroman Essay

Section II (Mike)

Michael Flavin

    My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok is Similar to The Song of The Lark Willa Cather in many respects.  Both novels are Kunstlerromans and therefore both Asher and Thea go through the same stages of the genre.  However when analyzing the first stage, that of confinement, rapidly it becomes clear that Asher’s experience is quite different from Thea’s.  The first stage of Thea’s journey manifests itself by way of both geographical seclusion and interference by other characters in the story.  Asher, on the other hand lives in Brooklyn and is therefore surrounded by all the elements that nurture a developing artist.  What confines Asher is not his location but his cultural and religious background. This religious and cultural confinement is enforced by Asher’s father.

     Aryeh, Asher’s father, is undoubtedly the character in the novel that is most vocal about his dislike of Asher’s art.  Aryeh is one of the Rebbe’s most trusted assistants.  Aryeh is able to trace his Jewish heritage as far back as the black death.  “While on his way home from the Rebbe’s synagogue late one Saturday night, he was killed by an axe-wielding peasant.  My grandfather had forgotten it was the night before Easter”(Potok 5).  Asher’s grandfather had been a good friend of the Rebbe in Russia.  Aryeh had taken his father’s place in the Rebbe’s administration.  Aryeh’s life and the lives of his ancestors had been shaped and defined by the Ladover movement in the Jewish religion.  Aryeh is ruled by his religion, and furthermore he understands only that which can assist him in the execution of his faith or his work for the Rebbe. 

    An example of this is Aryeh’s ability to speak Yiddish, Hebrew, French and Russian.  At first it would seem as though he was multilingual just for the sake of the pursuit of knowledge but as the novel continues it becomes clear that all of these languages he needs for his work or religious practices.  Another example comes later in the novel when Asher is becoming a successful artist.  Aryeh is unable to understand most of the concepts and ideas behind art even though he is educated to the degree that comprehension of such ideas should not be a problem.

    Aryeh’s religion tells him that art is evil and so he never spent anytime thinking about it or engaging in it.  Aryeh could never imagine anyone in his family doing any different as well.  This is why even when Asher was young his father would say things like, “You have nothing better to do Asher?  Your grandfather would not have liked you to waste so much time with foolishness” (12). Or “I wish you wouldn’t spend all your time playing with pencils and crayons, Asher” (35).

    Examples of Aryeh’s willingness to be blinded by Jewish dogma are innumerable throughout the course of the novel.  Aryeh’s attitude towards Asher’s gift is so unwavering and unrelenting that it puts an unequaled strain on Asher and is the strongest force of confinement that Asher must deal with during the novel.                   

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