My Name Is Asher Lev's conclusion is one which, in my view, delivers both a fulfilling but sad conclusion. Upon completion of the novel, an unusual atmosphere lingered over me. On the last few pages of the novel, I found that Book Three's closing was full of emotionally contradicting events. In these last pages, Asher finally steps into the light of reality. It reveals to him that his greatest and most prized paintings are, together, also his father's tipping point. Asher clues into his motivation behind the painting by writing that he painted for ”the anguish this picture of pain will cause” (329). Alone, these words show his determination to paint, yet to be witnessed. He finds himself in a mental state which he has not previously encountered in his life. Within him, the passion of painting lives. This passion does not know of the Master of The Universe or of the “Other Side”. This passion only asks for Asher Lev to make art. This passion
Much like Asher's ancestor, the passion of painting frequently appears in his story. At first, during childhood, he has an acceptable hold on his drawing skills. Lacking interest in making “true” art, he often draws about things important to him. One example is Asher's mother, a very significant character to him. Although he is discouraged by his father, he continues to paint. After being told the same words by his father, Asher soon recognizes that if he wants to continue, he can not allow those words damage him.
Further into Asher's life, the passion starts to take an even stronger grip. While in class, he is called out in front of his classmates for a reason that he oblivious to. “You defiled a holy book!”, exclaims the teacher while pointing to Asher's sketch in the Chumash, a Jewish holy book. As Asher looks at the book, his eyes are greeted by a drawing and a pen in his hands. He describes himself as being frightened, but also feeling “especially frightened that [he] could not remember having drawn it” (124). Due to the teacher bringing his act to the attention of the whole class, his parents were notified, and Asher became even more of a school celebrity. From that event, the community's opinion about him and the amount of control he is under are revealed. I believe that this incident helps bring light to understanding his odd motivation and constant conflict with the people around him, which is key to understanding the My Name is Asher Lev's theme.
Shortly after his father leaves Brooklyn to live in Europe, Asher is taken as a student under Jacob Khan by order of the Rebbe. Kahn begins instructing Asher how to express true emotions within his art, and to not paint things he does not feel. Much farther down the road in life, Asher finally grasps an understanding of expressing true feelings in art. He uses this skill to paint his greatest works, which are, subsequently, the most terrifying portraits his parents see. His father's face fills with so much “awe and rage and bewilderment and sadness” (359), that Asher begins to say his paintings “[aren't] the truth ... but, they're not lies” (360). Eventually, his passion-fueled artwork leads to his community, including his father and mother, to unhappily dismiss him from the very place he grew up in.
Asher, from the second he picks up his brush and begins painting his mother's crucifixions, has his fate sealed. He realizes that if he makes his painting, his parents would not become elated because of it, but rather the opposite. Of course his art will bring him fame, but his decision still puzzles me, because he chooses it over his religion, family, and many of his close friends. Since he chooses the path of art, it leads me to believe that he is not thinking like a regular person, but much more like an insane individual who can't stop at something until they get their job done, or even worse. In this case, Asher does indeed complete his goal of displaying both Brooklyn Crucifixion I and Brooklyn Crucifixion II, his most thought-out works of art, to the public. But, his insanity does not seem to stop there. Following his confrontation with his father at the gallery appearance and then his talk with the Rebbe about leaving, Asher shows no signs of regret or anguish. He begins to narrate the story very bluntly, without displaying much of any opinion and failing to express his own emotions or feelings. It's like he's dead.
I feel that My Name is Asher Lev does not suggest a happy ending through spiritual reassessment or moral reconciliation, but rather more of an almost emotionless sad ending. If he would have ended his story right before his encounter with his parents, he, perhaps, might have left the reader with a happy ending. But, because of the time, effort, and criticism he took to get where he arrives at, the real ending is much more tragic with them. I found that the saddest thing to believe about Asher is that he did not ever seem conscious, but always under the influence of something, and that something helped resolve his seemingly never-ending conflict between his two faiths.