Asher's Identity In 'Aryeh' By Chaim Potok

The beginning of the novel, which takes place during Asher’s earlier years, Potok shows us that in childhood a person’s identity has not been formed and therefore is only a duplicate of their parents’ or guardians’ identity. One of the first mythic ancestor appearances happens after Asher is scolded by his father for drawing instead of doing something useful with his time. The mythic ancestor yells Aryeh Lev’s words, burning the message into Asher’s brain, chiding him for “Playing, drawing, wasting time” (Potok 36). The mythic ancestor represents Asher’s conscious, his thoughts, feelings, opinions and identity. By having the mythic ancestor tell Asher what Aryeh is trying to tell Asher, Potok is showing the readers that Asher’s identity is