Spiritual Journeys
Spiritual Journeys
In Chaim Potok’s My Name is Asher Lev and John G. Neihardt’s Black Elk Speaks, the main characters, Asher Lev and Black Elk each go through a spiritual journey. Various aspects of their religious journeys have similarities and differences, but all of them can be connected to religious symbols or practices in the traditions that are exemplified within each text. Both of these characters have a dream or a vision that guides them throughout their respective stories, they each stray from their spiritual path at one point, and Asher finds a way to connect his spirituality with other aspects of his life while Black Elk fails to.
In both novels, the spiritual journeys are started by a dream or a vision. For Asher Lev, his mythic ancestor, who is his great-great-grandfather, is a constant reminder of his religious path, appearing to him during the times of spiritual struggle that he experiences. After Asher paints the crucifix, he encounters inner turmoil because of the contradictions with his religion. His mythic ancestor comes to him in a dream, “He opened his mouth to speak . . . He smiled sadly and beckoned to me and disappeared into the trees” ( Potok 343) in response to Asher’s painting. There is clear disappointment in his dream about his mythic ancestor. The crucifix is of particular importance to Asher’s family history, as his grandfather was killed by a drunken peasant the night before Easter (Potok 117), and the crucifix represents Easter within the Christian traditions. As a result of Asher painting the crucifix and his mythic ancestor appearing to him shortly after, it shows the connection between Asher’s dreams of his ancestor and his personal life and that they’re reflective of one another. In Black Elk’s case, his first spiritual vision came to him as a child. He is given a specific journey by the Six Grandfathers, the Thunderbeings, who want him to
In Chaim Potok’s My Name is Asher Lev and John G. Neihardt’s Black Elk Speaks, the main characters, Asher Lev and Black Elk each go through a spiritual journey. Various aspects of their religious journeys have similarities and differences, but all of them can be connected to religious symbols or practices in the traditions that are exemplified within each text. Both of these characters have a dream or a vision that guides them throughout their respective stories, they each stray from their spiritual path at one point, and Asher finds a way to connect his spirituality with other aspects of his life while Black Elk fails to.
In both novels, the spiritual journeys are started by a dream or a vision. For Asher Lev, his mythic ancestor, who is his great-great-grandfather, is a constant reminder of his religious path, appearing to him during the times of spiritual struggle that he experiences. After Asher paints the crucifix, he encounters inner turmoil because of the contradictions with his religion. His mythic ancestor comes to him in a dream, “He opened his mouth to speak . . . He smiled sadly and beckoned to me and disappeared into the trees” ( Potok 343) in response to Asher’s painting. There is clear disappointment in his dream about his mythic ancestor. The crucifix is of particular importance to Asher’s family history, as his grandfather was killed by a drunken peasant the night before Easter (Potok 117), and the crucifix represents Easter within the Christian traditions. As a result of Asher painting the crucifix and his mythic ancestor appearing to him shortly after, it shows the connection between Asher’s dreams of his ancestor and his personal life and that they’re reflective of one another. In Black Elk’s case, his first spiritual vision came to him as a child. He is given a specific journey by the Six Grandfathers, the Thunderbeings, who want him to