The Protagonists in Emma Huckleberry Finn and My Name Is Asher Le - Essay Example

A Comparative Analysis on the to Self-realization of the Protagonists in Emma, Huckleberry Finn, and My is Asher Lev” Protagonists play essential roles in novels because the entire structure of the story focuses on the main characters. The main character is the usual axis, which other literary elements such as the theme, the conflict and the setting revolve around. The transitions occurring in protagonists often illustrate the progression of the story particularly in coming-of-age novels. These novels best exemplify the significance of protagonists in a story since every move and decision these characters perform shapes the direction of the story. Providing a comprehensive description on the role of a protagonist in novels is achievable by using three coming-of-age novels such as “Emma” by Jane Austen, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain, and “My Name is Asher Lev” by Chaim Potok as examples. These novels and their main characters each possess distinct storylines and traits. For instance, Emma Woodhouse in Austen’s novel is a wealthy woman from the Victorian era while Huckleberry Finn is a young man belonging to the lower echelons of the society. Asher Lev, on the other hand, traces his ancestry to conservative Jews. The novels exhibit different types of protagonists from the underprivileged boy depicted in the main character of Mark Twain’s novel to the affluent but immature woman in Austen’s “Emma”. To be more specific, Austen (1882) described Emma Woodhouse as a woman who has, “…power of having rather too much of her own way, and a disposition to think a little too well of herself:” (p. 1-2). Whereas Huck Finn’s character can be deciphered in Twain’s (2001) account stating, “The Widow Douglas she took me for her son, and allowed she would sivilize [sic] me;…and so when I couldnt stand it no longer I lit out. I got into my old rags and my sugar-hogshead again, and was free and satisfied.” (p. 1-2) Conversely, Potok’s (2003) indicates Asher Lev’s nature: “I am an observant Jew. Yes, of course, observant Jews do not paint crucifixions. As a matter of fact, observant Jews do not paint at all—in the way that I am painting.” (p. 3) Readers immediately perceive the differences on the growth of each protagonist in the three novels, which are affected by the literary elements of each novel. Some of the literary elements that affect the reader’s perception are the setting of the novels, the themes, and the language used by characters. The factors that vary among “Emma,” “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” and “My Name is Asher Lev” convey a notion to readers that they possess the slightest similarities and to some readers the novels may appear to be completely void of resemblance in the plot or other story elements. However, the novels are not entirely different from each other since a common element exists among these novels and relating the three novels is the important role of the growth of the protagonists in each novel towards self-awareness. The transformation of Emma Woodhouse, the protagonist in Austen’s novel, towards self-realization can be simply described as a transition from being a self-centered and capricious young woman into a caring and understanding woman. Her development was more of the intellectual progression than physical. Meanwhile, Mark Twain’s main character Huckleberry Finn attained self-awareness through his expeditions along the Mississippi River. During his trips, he encountered people and incidents that facilitated his resolution to leave behind the restrictions imposed on him by the society. Huck’s path on the way to self-awareness can classify as a physical process since his voyages made a great contribution in his growth. The main character in the third novel ventured into maturity by finally deciding to pursue his artistic career and accepting the harsh reality of being denounced by his family and Jewish community. Asher Lev’s development was on the emotional level since his obligations to adhere to his family and their religious beliefs hindered him to heed his passion for art. Albeit the variations in the accounts of progress on the way to self-realization, the novels echo the theme of the protagonist’s growth towards self-awareness and this literary element connects the three novels. Another theme is evident in the three novels also establish relationships among “Emma,” “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” and “My Name is Asher Lev.” Aside from the common theme of self-realization, the theme addressing the standards of society is relative to the novels. Jane Austen’s “Emma” portrays the main character as an adherent to social standards. Emma’s observance of social standards is evident when she spoke to Harriet about Mr. Martin referring to him as, “A young farmer, whether on horseback or on foot, is the very last sort of person to raise my curiosity. The yeomanry is precisely the order of people with whom I feel I can have nothing to do. But a farmer can need none of my help, and is therefore, in one sense, as much above my notice, as in every other he is below it.” (Austen, 1882, p. 22) Emma’s statement shows that she does not approve of her friend in considering the marriage proposal of a farmer who Emma deems as inferior. This pronouncement only proves the snobbish nature of Emma and that she upholds on social standards to the extent that she would coerce other people to concur with her discriminating views. In contrast to Emma’s strict compliance to social standards is Huck Finn’s unwavering refusal to be governed by the standards assertively imposed on him by his adoptive mother and her sister. Huck’s dislike for social standards persisted until the last part of the novel as he stated, “But I reckon I got to light out for the Territory ahead of the rest, because Aunt Sally shes going to adopt me and sivilize [sic] me, and I cant stand it. I been there before.” (Twain, 2001, p. 387) Directly divergent from Emma’s loyalty to social standards is the viewpoint of a young boy who Emma may classify as one of the lower classes. Comparing Emma and Huck would create a very interesting scenario on the reaction of each protagonist to the other. Relatively, Asher Lev is similar to Huck Finn because Asher eschewed the prohibitions implemented by his family and his community to hinder his artistic inclinations. In his statement to his father, he was decided to take the consequences in following his commitment to art by saying, "Because Im part of a tradition, Papa. Mastery of the art form of the nude is very important to that tradition. Every artist who ever lived drew or painted the nude. ..."I don’t want to sit in a room painting for myself. I want to communicate what I do. And I want critics to know I can do it."..."I respect you, Papa. But I can’t respect your aesthetic blindness." (Potok, 2003, p. 304) Huck and Asher experienced similar circumstances hence they would be suitable companions for each other since they have similar standpoints in making their decisions without the influences of the ideals of society. These themes of the novels affect readers since some readers may identify themselves with Emma while some may recognize themselves in the characters of Asher Lev and Huck Finn. In relation to the prevailing theme regarding the social standards among the three novels is another literary element that associates “Emma,” “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” and “My Name is Asher Lev.” The different settings also intertwine the three novels. When referring to the settings of a novel, this includes the social settings of the novel. The settings of “Emma” by Jane Austen were in a small town during the Victorian era where Emma Woodhouse was an important figure because she belongs to a rich family. Austen (1882) saying, “Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition, seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence;” (p. 1) introduced the social status of the protagonist. On the contrary, Huck Finn was depicted to come from a poor family with a drunkard for a father as stated by a minor character named Ben Rogers (Twain, 2001, p. 10). Whereas Asher Lev introduced himself as, "…little Asher Lev was the juncture point of two significant family lines, the apex as it were, of a triangle seminal with Jewish potentiality and freighted with Jewish responsibility." (Potok, 2003, p. 304) This establishes that his family descended from prominent Jewish ancestors and the kind of family he came from is slightly similar to Emma’s family in terms of their family’s social significance. In this perspective, protagonists Emma and Asher Lev belong to families with similar reputations in their respective communities while Huck Finn is the exact opposite of Emma and Asher Lev because in the first place, Huck can be considered an abandoned or orphaned child since his father is incapable of supporting Huck. The various social setting of the three novels has effects on the perception of readers because some of may not understand the vernacular Huck uses throughout the novel. Children from lower social standings ordinarily use Huck’s language and readers may prefer the language employed by Emma and Asher Lev since their dialogues are easier to comprehend compared to Huckleberry Finn’s vocabulary. An example of Huck’s incomprehensible vocabulary and grammar is his dialogue stating, “The Widow Douglas she took me for her son, and allowed she would sivilize [sic] me;” (Twain, 2001, p. 1-2) In this dialogue, Twain deliberately misspelled ‘civilize’ into ‘sivilize’ to emphasize on the colloquial speech Huck used. While the three novels manifest the diversity of literary elements and the nature of the protagonists, the main characters in each novel share similar futures, which is the attainment of self-awareness. Therefore, the role of Emma, Huckleberry Finn, and Asher Lev in each novel is to reconcile the differences of the novels by illustrating the transition phases towards their certain level of maturity. References Austen, J. (1882). Emma. New York: Bantam Dell. Potok, C. (2003). My Name is Asher Lev. New York: Anchor Books. Twain, M. (2001). The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. New York: Dover Publications, Inc. Read More