Conflict and sacrifice find everyone. They are inevitable parts of being human; you can't escape from them. In the novel My Name is Asher Lev, Chaim Potok develops the idea that an individual's attempt to live unconstrained by convention or circumstance is often achieved through conflict and sacrifice, especially when there are various relationships at play. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay My Name Is Asher Lev portrays the conflict between the protagonist's artistic impulses and the conventions of the Hasidic community in which he is growing up. This conflict began for Asher at an early age, when he struggled to study Torah like “a boy [his] age” instead of drawing the Rebbe's faces and scribbling in his Hebrew notebooks. His unconscious desire to be himself “needs all [his] strength and left Asher to see only one path; a path contrary to the values ​​of his community. As Asher ages and develops as an artist, his devotion to his art once again rebels against the values ​​of his community and family. Creating the nude artwork for the exhibition divided him from his religion to such an extent that he "crossed a line" and was now "alone". Community disapproval did not stop Asher from achieving his inner individual desires. Asher's decisions to embrace his artistic talents not only divided him from his community; but he also asked him to sacrifice the unity of his family. Potok clearly expresses the depth of the families' love for each other; but not even love is enough for his father to forgive Asher's blatant disregard for his family's conventions in embracing his sense of self. Often, like when Asher's father comes home from work, his father "doesn't say hello." Instead, his father was "in the grip of uncontrollable rage" and even physically lashed out when he learned that Asher had gone against the teachings of the Torah when he drew Jesus and the nudes. Asher's quest to respond to his own conscience made him the antithesis of his father, who was arguably the very essence of the traditional Hasidic faith. This sacrifice to his art Asher then lived a life where he didn't understand why his father hated him; because his father thought he was “wasting his life”, because his father thought he “had betrayed him”. Ultimately, with Asher's single-minded attempt to live unconstrained by his community's expectations, Asher sacrificed his father's unconditional acceptance. Rivkeh, Asher's mother, also faces conflict and sacrifice as she lives against the conventions of her life to support Asher. Rivkeh must decide between nurturing her son's artistic talents and being faithful to her duty to her husband. This clearly brings her into conflict with Asher's father. His sacrifice is so great that it becomes the subject of Asher's most controversial paintings in Brooklyn Crucifixion. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay In Chaim Potok's novel the conflict between convention and individualism is prevalent throughout. Where Asher's family and community maintained that "a life should be lived for the sake of heaven," Asher believed that his life should not be sacrificed for the fulfillment of his dreams and passions. Asher has managed to exist through conflict and has made enormous sacrifices to be true to himself. Asher embodies the idea that “an artist is first and foremost a person. He is an individual. If there is no person, he is not there, 1(2), 41-56.