It is very common for humans to try and please those who are important to them; people do it on a daily basis. Normally pleasing others is simple, easy, and comes naturally. However, there are circumstances where pleasing two groups of people simultaneously is difficult, if not impossible. Asher Lev, written by Chaim Potok, is a story about a young boy who grows up with two major influences: religion and art. His parents want him to remain true to their interpretation of the Jewish faith, while his mentor Jacob Kahn whishes him to become a great artist and painter. These influences do not mix as easily as one might think, and Asher finds that he is constantly making compromises in order to try to satisfy the demands of each. Asher Lev's constant compromising for his artwork and his religion causes him to lose much of his family, friends, and sense of identity.
Asher's first struggles between art and religion begin when he is a young boy. Because he goes to a Jewish school, all of his potential friends are Jewish and they do not take kindly to his drawing habits. They ostracize him and therefore force him even deeper into his drawing habits. "'A boy Asher's age should not be by himself all the time.' 'Asher likes being by himself.' 'It isn't healthy. It leaves scars. You don't want to leave scars on the boy.'" (Pg. 19). Asher spends much of his time by himself, often drawing in his room. Asher's father is the only one who recognizes the significance of this and how it could affect Asher's social life later on. This simple ostracizing eventually turns into explicit insults and attacks on Asher.
"I could also hear the high piercing voice, 'Here comes Asher Picasso Lev, the destroyer of Torah. Make way for goy Lev. Hey, Asher, do you draw dirty pictures, too? Draw a dirty picture for the Mashpia.'" (221). Asher tries to satisfy his artistic desires and fit in as a normal Jew at the same time, and obviously it isn't working very well. Now his peers don't just ostracize him, they openly criticize him. By trying to satisfy his art and religion, Asher loses many potential friends, and he never really connects with any of ‘his people'.
While Asher's peers immediately reject him for his artistic tendencies, his parents are a different case. When Asher is younger, his parents are able to see the dangerous potential in his drawing, but they blow it off as a phase. "Go wash your hands. You are driving us all crazy with your pictures and your stubbornness. What kind of Jewish boy behaves this way to a mother and father? You ought to be ashamed of yourself.'" (Pg. 106). Asher's parents express their disappointment and annoyance in Asher's habits by scolding him, but they never take action.
They support his drawing a little because all good parents should support their children, but they expect that he will grow out of his drawing habit, move on, and join the rest of the Jewish community. However, as time goes on, Asher's parents slowly begin to realize that their expectations will not be met. "'Asher, come with us to Europe.' ‘No,' ‘We miss you. I miss you. There are great art schools in Vienna.' ‘No.' ‘Asher-‘ ‘He'll try to take it away from me. No.'" (Pg. 257). At this point, Asher's parents realize that it is too late to save their child from drawing and that all they can do is hope that he doesn't do anything worse. "'Do not forget your people, Asher. That is all I ask of you. That is all that is left for me to ask of you.'" (Pg. 216). Asher could simply desert his family and deserted his religion, but he decides to keep trying to find equilibrium.
Towards the end of the novel, he takes his parents to an art show to show them a picture he had painted for his mother. The drawing of a crucifix did not go over very well with his parents, and after that they spoke to him very little. Additionally, the Rebbe kicked him out of the Jewish community he had been a part of. In the end, Asher ended his relationship with his parents because he kept trying to establish a connection with them between art and religion.
As if losing all of his friends and family were not enough, Asher also loses most of his sense of identity. Asher first realizes the insecurity of his identity when he tries breaking out of his obedient Jewish mold by staying out very late. "Where had I been? Did I know what time it was? My mother was sick with fear and had gone to bed. They had called the police. She had just called them back to tell them I was home. What was I doing? I was driving everybody crazy." (Pg. 115). Asher finds himself second-guessing his own motives and he asks himself if he should continue to act rebellious or if he should try to honor his parents and his religion. "I would not paint on Shabbos. I spent Shabbos mornings praying and reviewing the Torah reading. I spent Shabbos afternoons studying a book on Hasidus I had brought with me." (Pg. 239). It appears that Asher wants to remain committed to his religion, but all this really shows is his lack of identity. After deserting his parents and being ostracized by most of the Jewish community, there is no reason for Asher to continue his traditions other than to regain some of his lost identity.
While Asher does have some identity in art, people have been attacking it his whole life. At the same time, his aggressors always stressed religion, and so that is what he is reaching out to for identity. Sadly, striving for identity is not the same as having identity and in the end, the only identity he has is what little he has left in art.
Asher Lev constantly tries to bring his artwork and religion to an equilibrium. Yet when tries to be two people at once, he fails utterly, and he slowly destroys himself and his relationships. All the other kids at school dislike his drawing habits, and so he never develops any friendships. Asher's parents want to help him and they want to understand, but they are so engrained in their own culture that it is impossible for them to connect with their son. Finally, he loses his sense of identity because he attempts to immerse himself in both the secular world of art, and the religious world of Judaism. Neither of these offers him very much comfort or security while the other is preset in his life because of their complete incompatibility. Asher's unwillingness to be decisive and choose one or the other causes him to lose many that are dear to him
