My Name Is Asher Lev Analysis

Art is a tradition weaved throughout human history. Though it may be beautiful and pleasant to look at, there must be some other reason for its importance in humanity’s heritage than the pleasure received from seeing something beautiful. Pablo Picasso said, “Art is a lie which makes us realize the truth.” This quote is used as an epigraph for Chaim Potok’s My Name is Asher Lev. One can never depict the exact truth, as life exists. However, seeing the way other people observe the world can help audiences discover new perspectives, and learn how they themselves feel; thereby realizing their own truth, as demonstrated in Asher Lev’s Brooklyn Crucifixions.
Any form of art is colored by its creator’s prejudice to begin with. If one were able to see
Asher paints them because he wants to tell the truth about his mother’s suffering. All he sees is that she has been caused extreme pain by both himself and his father, and the only aesthetic tradition in which he can properly express her feelings is in a crucifixion. However, his parents are horrified. They don’t, at first, let Asher explain why he had to paint what he did, and when he does they don’t understand it. All they know is that Asher has gone too far from their religion for them to any longer support him. He has had to make a choice between art and religion, and it is clear to them that he has chosen his art. Asher’s mother herself explains this to him on page 342. “‘There are limits, Asher.’ Her voice trembled and her eyes were wet. ‘Everything has a limit. I don’t know what to tell you. I don’t want to talk to you now.’” Additionally, his community has come to the conclusion that Asher is no longer one of them. They no longer want to be around him, and they don’t talk to him or even make eye contact with him. He has been taken in by the sitra archa, and they don’t want to follow in his