Conflict and sacrifice find everyone. These are inevitable elements of being human; you can't run away from them. In the novel My Name is Asher Lev, Chaim Potok develops the idea that an individual's attempt to live unconstrained by circumstances is often accomplished through conflict and sacrifice, particularly when various relationships are at stake. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essay My Name is Asher Lev depicts the conflict between the protagonist's artistic impulses and the conventions of the Hasidic community in which he grows up. This conflict began for Asher at an early age where he struggled to study Torah like a "boy [his] age should" rather than drawing the Rebbe's faces and scribbling in his Hebrew notebooks. His unconscious desire to be his own person “needed all [his] strength and left Asher seeing only one path; a path contrary to the values ​​of his community. As Asher ages and develops as an artist, his dedication to his art once again rebels against the values ​​of his community and family. Creating the nude artwork for the exhibition separated him from his religion to such an extent that he "crossed a boundary" and found himself "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 had to sacrifice the family unit. Potok clearly expresses the depth of the families' love for each other; but even love is not enough for his father to forgive Asher's blatant disregard for his family's conventions and to embrace his self-esteem. Often, like when Asher's father comes home from work, his father "wouldn't greet him." Instead, his father was "in an uncontrollable rage" and even lashed out physically when he learned that Asher was going against Torah teachings when he drew Jesus and 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 did not understand why his father hated him; why his father thought “he was wasting his life”, why his father thought he “betrayed” him. Ultimately, through Asher's single-minded attempt to live unconstrained by the expectations of his community, 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 in order to support Asher. Rivkeh must choose between nurturing her son's artistic talents and being faithful to her duty to her husband. This clearly puts her in conflict with Asher's father. His sacrifice is so great that it becomes the subject of Asher's most controversial paintings in the Brooklyn Crucifixion. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a custom paper now from our expert writers. Get a Custom Essay In Chaim Potok's novel, the conflict between conventions and individualism is prevalent throughout. While 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 survived through conflict and had to make enormous sacrifices to stay true to himself. Asher encompassed the idea that "an artist, 1(2), 41-56.