The Journey to Self-Awareness through Society and Family - Personal Statement Example

The Journey to Self-Awareness Through Society and Family The young protagonists in Jane Austen’s Emma, Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Chaim Potok’s My Name is Asher Lev are at cross roads between societal norms, family conflicts and personal feelings. As Emma, Huck and Asher reconcile these challenges and conflicts they obtain a measure of self-awareness and maturity in preparation for adulthood. Austen’s Emma Woodhouse and Potok’s Asher Lev have similar backgrounds in that they are both endowed in status and strong family structures. Both Asher and Emma are forced to reconcile personal desires with family and societal commitments. By contrast Twain’s Huck has weak family ties yet he too must reconcile his own personal desires and choices with those mandated by society. In each novel the authors use literary elements such as characterization, point of view and conflict to demonstrate how these young protagonist face these challenges and development a poignant sense of self-awareness. Emma’s protagonist Emma Woodhouse, is a young woman of means and influence. Although societal norms dictate that Emma, as a female of status is required to marry well she shows independence in her resolve not to do but chooses instead to interfere in the lives of others by playing matchmaker for them. When Emma’s matchmaking focuses on manipulating the love life of 17 year old Harriet Emma’s own life takes a turn toward maturity and growth. Emma’s initial goal was to make Harriet a better woman and decides that her current love interest Martin who is a farmer, will not factor into her plans for Harriet. To this end she introduces Harriet to Mr. Eton a Vicar whom she thinks is a better match for Harriet. Things go horribly wrong for Emma when Mr. Elton proposes to her instead and his conduct is not what Emma would have expected of him at all. This is just the start of Emma’s growth and maturity because as she learns more about people’s peculiarities she learns more about herself and in the process falls in love and learns a measure of humility as a result. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn chronicles the adventures and growth Huck who is a young independent boy with both strength and stamina of character. Huck’s strength and character are tested early on when his father who is an alcoholic and violent returns to town and kidnaps him and holds him against his will. Huck’s independence and strength is demonstrated when manages to escape by faking his death following which he goes on the run with runaway slave Jim. My Name is Asher Lev depicts the young life of Asher who is an Hassidic Jew whose immediate family is strongly connected to the Hassidic faith. Asher, an artistically gifted youth, focuses his attention on art to such an extent that his family is concerned about his devotion to their religion. His father in particular who is a fiercely religious is particularly critical of Asher’s commitment to art and continually reminds confronts Asher and his unholy commitment to art. The conflict between father and son causes pain to Asher’s mother, a pain that Asher eventually identifies with and brings him to growth and maturity. Each of the young protagonists are characterized by strong will and independence. These traits are tested by societal norms, family commitments and personal ambitions. Emma’s independence is manifested by self-absorption and reflected early on in Austen’s Emma as follows: “The real evils indeed, of Emma’s situation were the power rather of having too much her own way, and a disposition to think a little too well of herself…”(Austen, 1999, 6). Emma’s ego and self-absorption is adequately portrayed by Austen in Emma’s double standards. As the novel progresses the reader gets the impression that while Emma accepts societal norms with respect to the female’s requirement to marry well, she does not want marriage for herself. Instead she becomes fixated on the lives and romance of others and resorts to matchmaking gimmicks. Asher and Huck’s independence is manifested in their focus on their own goals with little regard for society or family’s expectations for them. Unlike Emma, both male protagonists chart their own respective course through life rather than focus on manipulating the lives of others. Asher is perhaps as self-absorbed as Emma, thinking only of his own desires and sense of right and wrong. A very talented artist, Asher’s independence is highlighted throughout with his refusal to adhere to Hasidic Jewish dictates that require that religion trump everything else. For Asher, art is everything and at a very early age his independence in that regard is highlighted when his mother encourages him to sketch a “pretty” world (Potok, 2003, 32). Asher declines the suggestion preferring instead to portray the world the way he actually sees it in his drawings. Twain’s Huck is very insightful in his independence and his comments on societal norms reflects his own view that norms are built out of hypocrisy. The following passage from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn which is narrated by Huck bear this out: “Pretty soon I wanted to smoke, and asked the widow to let me. But she wouldn’t. She said it was a mean practice...That is just the way with some people they get down on a thing when they don’t know nothing about it. Here she was a-bothering about Moses, which was no kin to her, and no use to anybody, being gone you see, yet finding a power of fault with me for doing a thing that had some good in it. And she took snuff too; of course that was alright…” (Twain, 2003,2). Like Emma and Asher, Huck is able to identify the flaws in societal norms and by doing so each protagonist comes to terms with his or her own shortcomings. Huck at some point toward the novel’s end concedes that it is entirely fruitless to attempt to live outside of societal norms: "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 me, and I cant stand it. I been there before"(Twain, 2003, 293). Emma too learns humility in her travails with deviation from norms. She reflects that: “What had she to wish for? Nothing, but to be more worthy of him (Knightley), whose intentions and judgments had been ever so superior to her own. Nothing but that the lessons of her last folly might teach her humility and circumspection in the future”(Austen, 1999, 300). Knightly who had been the subject of one of Emma’s matchmaking schemes manages to steal her affections and in doing so humbles Emma to a point where she realizes that she too wants marriage and romance. Asher too is humbled and realizes that his commitment to art at the expense of his family religion has taken a toll on his deeply religious family and their community. Like Emma, Asher too is humbled and like Emma and Huck, Asher too compromises although he opts out of his own society and makes a decision to leave his religion so that he can in good conscience pursue his ambitions with art. Asher reflects: “I had brought something incomplete into the world. Now I felt its incompleteness. ‘Can you understand what it means for something to be incomplete?’ my mother had once asked me. I understood. I understood”(Potok, 2003, 312). Emma and Asher’s conflicts are primarily the conflicts that their self-absorption create for those that are close to them. For instance Emma determines that the farmer that Harriet desires is not a suitable husband and encourages her to pursue the local vicar, Mr. Elton. Mr. Elton has other ideas and prefers Emma, proposing to her instead. Mr. Elton’s opinion of Harriet’s status comes out and this brings about some pain for Harriet. Emma encounters her own conflicts nonetheless when she tries to please others by pursuing a relationship with Frank Churchill because others perceive that they would make an ideal couple. Instead Emma falls for Mr. Knightley, a man she had many conflicts with. Asher brings about conflicts in his family between his parents particularly for his mother who is torn between father and son. As it is, Asher’s commitment to his art upsets his father who is a high ranking member of the local Jewish community. Asher’s father’s position is manifested by the following passage: “Jews in Europe are starving for the Torah ... These are Jewish lives, Asher. Nothing is more important in the eyes of the Master of the Universe than a Jewish life” (Potok, 2003, p. 107). Asher too realizes the conflict that his art causes between him and his father and between him and his religion. Early on Asher introduces himself to the reader in the following way: “I am an observant Jew. Yes, of course observant Jews do not paint crucifixes. As a matter of fact observant Jews do not paint at all – in the way that I am painting”(Potok, 2003, p. 3). To avoid this conflict Asher gravitates toward isolation placing distance between himself in his family. By doing so he has time to reflect and is conflicted by his commitment to art and the loneliness it brings him. Later on while living on his own Asher laments: "Away from my world, alone in an apartment that offered me neither memories nor roots, I began to find distant memories of my own, long buried by the pain and time and slowly brought to the surface now. Now I would have to paint the street that could not be seen…" (Potok, 200, p. 322). Like Huck, Asher too comes to the realization that paternal bonds hold them back from maturity. Like Huck, Asher’s maturity and independence comes about as a result of conflicts with paternal connections. Huck’s own independence and his deep conscience provides a source of conflict for him. It is precisely this conflict that forces Huck to make good decisions. For instance, Huck does not turn the runaway slave Jim in because his conscience kicks in. His independent spirit tells him that slavery is a reflection of a flawed society and although Jim’s escape represents a betrayal of his owner, Huck considers facilitating Jim’s escape was the right thing to do. Toward the novel’s end Huck’s self-awareness and maturation is poignantly manifested when he considers running out in the middle of the night to meet with his friend Tom Sawyer but the pain that it would bring to his aunt Sally stops him: “Laws, knows I wanted to go bad enough to see about Tom, and was all intending to go, but after that, I wouldn’t ‘a’ went, not for kingdoms” (Twain, 2003, 282). Setting is another common literary element used by the authors to demonstrate each of the protagonists growth into maturity. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is set during slavery, a practice generally accepted by societal norms. To make the point Twain has Huck describe Jim as “Miss Watson’s Nigger” (Twain, 2003, p. 17) While Huck goes along with the idea of slavery he has a different opinion the moment he has an opportunity to do something about it. This happens when Huck is confronted with the opportunity to turn Jim in or help him escape. By using this setting Twain is able to develop Huck’s protagonist role by portraying a young boy who has the ability to identify society’s faults and to form an independent position. In this setting the reader connects to Huck’s maturation as he develops into a young man who is able to make moral decisions of his own despite society’s norms. Unlike The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, whose protagonist is the subject of abject poverty, Emma is set in high society. Emma unlike accepts societal norms and accepts that she is the norm. Austen describes Emma’s town and her place in it as follows: “Highbury, the large and populous village, almost amounting to a town,to which Hartfield, in spite of its separate lawn, and shrubberies, and name, did really belong, afforded her no equals. The Woodhouses were first in consequence there. All looked up to them”(Austen, 1999, p. 7). As the novel moves along progresses the reader is aware that Emma’s conflicts are emotional and internal. She learns more about herself and the society in which she strictly adheres to by making errors of judgment in her matchmaking schemes. This protagonist matures by developing a greater measure of self-awareness and the limits to which she can manipulate the lives of others. In this affluent setting, Emma comes to appreciate that her place in society does not make her flawless. More importantly Austen uses this setting to bring Emma to the realization that the word that she lives in is not the world that she imagines. Potok’s novel is set in the strict Jewish society. With both of his parents actively involved in the Jewish community, more especially his father who works for the Rebbe, the stage is set for conflict in the life of the aspiring artist. By using this strict religious setting Potok is able to create conflict for young Asher. The conflict is between his art and his religion and how this conflict helps Asher to form independence in a mature way. By using this setting Potok is able to demonstrate Asher’s growth through his commitment to his art. Potok however, shifts the setting from time to time as a means of demonstrating Asher’s growth and maturity. As a child, Asher is under his parents control much like Emma who is attached to her father and very much unlike Huck who cannot by sheer will be controlled. As Asher grows and the settings shift and change from one to another, the parental control is broken down. His defiance gives way to his detachment from societal and parental influences and controls. In the end, Asher comes to realize, much like Emma, how his conduct and self-absorption have unhappy consequences for others. Each of the novels bring together specific settings, individual characterizations and conflicts to move their protagonists from the reckless spoils of youth to admirable maturity. The societal, religious and familial conflicts arising from the settings and characterizations are all necessary for growth and development. These conflicts represent life changing challenges and are used to show how each of the protagonist have learned from them in their struggles to overcome conflicted relations. Bibliography Austen, Jane. (1999) Emma. Dover: Dover Publications. Kremer, Lillian. (1985) “Dedalus in Brooklyn: Influences of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man on My Name is Asher Lev.” Studies in American Jewish Literature. Vol. 4 pp. 26-38 Lewes, Darby, ed..(2006)Auto-Poetica: Representations of the Creative Process in Nineteenth-Century British and American Fiction. Lexington Books Potok, Chaim.(2003) My Name is Asher Lev. New York: Anchor Twain, Mark. (2003) The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. New York: Bantam Classics. Read More