My Name Is Asher Lev

The story of Asher Lev is a contrasting picture of childhood. Childhood has such very different meanings when looked at in context of cultural and religious traditions. In this story, the religious perspective of Asher's people has very different meanings of what a child "should" do in contrast to the child today. His culture honors conformity to the norm set forth by the religious leaders, history and tradition. Asher is a contradiction to that norm and sits precariously in the middle of a family that carries the "torch" for the traditions of his people. When an adult is the catalyst for change or when an adult pushes the confines of limits, challenging those around them to view realities differently, that adult is usually ostracized or pushed to the outside of the group. In Asher's case, it is a child that is defying the limits and the adults are struggling to deal with the "how" of it all when it comes to parenting, guiding and understanding Asher.

The themes surrounding "individualism" in the story are touching in relation to the coming of age journey we see Asher on. Unfortunately, Asher lived in a societal group that thrived on sameness and inherent structure verses unique individual qualities. We see this carry out with a twist though when his mother is allowed to defy the cultural norm and attend university. Why then was it acceptable for everyone but Asher? He carried a mantle passed down through his lineage that defined who he should be and in all intents and purposes obliterated his chance at being an individual unless he completely threw down that mantle which we begin to see happening in the first half of the story.

In the novel, value also plays a large role. Those in authority refer to humans having the same value despite their calling, or the job they carry out. Yet, that respect is not given Asher for his calling. At one point Asher's father is trying to explain responsibility and the connection between man and the Master of the Universe to help Asher understand fulfilling purpose. He says, "man must make the opening by himself; man must take the beginning step. Then the Master of the Universe will move in, as it were, and widen the passageway. Asher, we have to make passageways to our people." This was profound to me that Asher's father explained purpose and responsibility in this manner when really, Asher in his way was also trying to make the beginning step and the Master of the Universe was moving in to widen the passageway but his father was trying to close it on Asher. His father understood this concept for his life when he placed "value" on what he did, but didn't recognize the value of what Asher did to also have the potential to be a passageway to people. His father overlooked the sweet spirit Asher approached those he loved with in regards to his drawings. In the beginning, Asher drew and attempted to share his drawings to bring joy, to evoke pride and as an expression of love for his mother and father and those he admired. But the adult value system and the purpose of "tradition" did not allow Asher's connection to widen.

Asher battles with right and wrong, good and evil, light and dark. He has a very mature sense of contemplation for his age in this way. He asks on page 119, "How can evil and ugliness make a gift of beauty?" This demonstrates another theme of contradiction. Asher is torn repeatedly between what he senses within himself as good verses what is told to him by authority figures as wrong or bad. Because of his gift, his mother says things like, "Asher, please don't be a child" or "I'm sorry to be such a mother". His father says, "a genius in drawing is foolishness" and "I am ashamed of my son". What difficult messages for a child to sort out. Even the words spoken to Asher contradict as in the line of "a genius in drawing is foolishness", so his father calls him a genius but then attaches foolishness behind it. Asher has so much to figure out. Adults are supposed to be his guides, but instead they seem to muddle things and make it even more difficult for him to find his way.

I find the hierarchy of authority in the religious community very intriguing. When the Rebbe has such influence in Asher's parents decisions it is not surprising that they in turn expect Asher to obey and submit without question. The Rebbe gave Asher's father three choices in regards to Vienna. The parents honored those three choices instead of making their own independent decision about what was best for them personally. Later there seems to be a level of resentment forming in Asher's father for that. Again though, this just deepens the threads of submission expected in the culture and demonstrates the immense struggle that little Asher has before him when he is seemingly so out of place in his own world.

Finally, I found that reading this novel has evoked an interesting emotional connection for me. Completely unexpected I can say for sure. When Asher's mother is sending her husband off to Vienna to do "God's work", she always tells him "have a safe journey, my husband." That statement becomes a prayer, a request to God and allows us to see her heart of love for her husband and a sliver of fear entwined with the prayer. What a strange parallel I feel right now as my own fiance' is in Vienna, doing God's work for a missionary organization and so often I find myself saying nearly the same thing as Asher's mother, "keep my love safe". I know this is a totally different time as then with not nearly the same stakes in regards to safety, but the love and protective spirit of a woman is timeless and I am feeling deeply connected to this character as I feel the passion of Asher's mothers plea.