Analytic Essay

In My Name Is Asher Lev and The Chosen both by Chaim Potak, along with A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines the theme of how crisis brings out the best and worst of people is portrayed through character development. Whether the crisis was between friends or family, each character changed in the end. No matter what obstacles get in the way in each situation, the characters continue to fight through and make the best of it. Each of these novels is a great example of the decisions that people are forced to make through the predicaments that come along.

Throughout the book My Name Is Asher Lev a conflict is brought up between Asher and his father. Asher wants so much to paint and feel freely to express his feelings this way. However, his father doesn't agree with this behavior. They go through a long period of time when Asher was told over and over again not to be doing this. His father says many times the effect that, "observant Jews don't draw, that is foolish." He goes against his father's will and decides to do this anyway. Later on, Asher's father starts to realize that he should be able to express himself. Therefore, he goes to see his painting and the two of them become a little bit closer. In this particular part of this crisis, Asher's father turned for the better. Although, when his father saw his painting of the crucifixion he decided not to be associated with it anymore. So in the end, this father and son were worse off than they had been in the beginning. This just shows that as much as they loved each other, this one interest seemed to severely get in the way.

There was also a very main crisis that was involved in the book The Chosen. However, this one was between two friends. These two boys, Danny and Rueven, didn't associate because of their religion differences. When they finally started to become friends, it was hard. Since, Danny's father strongly believed in Orthodox Judaism, it was hard to make friends with outsiders. "His father says he shouldn't remain friends with Rueven because of their differences in a specific Jewish movement." There were a lot of ups and downs in the relationship, but no matter how hard they tried something kept getting in the way. Even though Danny was influenced by his father, in the end they become great friends. Their strong feelings for each other, helped them to look past all of the differences. Therefore, in this situation, both Danny and Rueven, dug deep and pulled out the best of them to remain friends.

In the book, A Lesson Before Dying, a similar situation also occurs. An ordinary man, named Grant Wiggins, decides to do a good deed and talk to a distant relative, who is a convicted killer. His godmother persuaded him to go, but he didn't regret it. He knew that Jefferson might just need someone to talk to when he was experiencing death row. Grant had to think of others at that moment and see how he might feel in the same situation. Jefferson needed him to reinforce the idea that, "They sentence you to death because you were at the wrong place at the wrong time, with no proof that you had anything at all to do with the crime other than being there when it happened." He should have to die while being ashamed of himself for no reason. They talked very often about everything one could imagine. In the end, they formed a special bond. So it can clearly be seen that this crisis brought out the kind hearted part of Grant and he should be proud. The bond would never have formed so tight, if it weren't for Grant

In conclusion, in each situation, as each person matured, they start to realize that it is not worth the heart break to waste it away. They all come to see that they are better off the way they are now. When people are put into crisis situations they usually go with their gut feeling, whether it is a good or bad one has no relevance, but it was what they really want inside.