Previous
Hyperbole
Definition of Imagery
Imagery, in any sort of writing, refers to descriptive language that engages the human senses. For instance, the following lines from Robert Frost's poem "After Apple-Picking" contain imagery that engages... read full definition
Imagery, in any sort of writing, refers to descriptive language that engages the human senses. For instance, the following lines from Robert Frost's poem "After... read full definition
Imagery, in any sort of writing, refers to descriptive language that engages the human senses. For instance, the following lines... read full definition
Chapter 3
Explanation and Analysis—Stalin, Dead in Coffin:
In Chapter 3, the following example of imagery helps readers understand Asher's experience of being overcome by his artistic passions:
I opened the notebook and looked at the page. I closed the notebook very quickly. I watched my fingers trembling on top of the notebook. I put my hands under my thighs. I could feel them trembling. A while later, I opened the notebook and looked again at the page. I had drawn a picture of Stalin dead in his coffin.
Often, Asher's artistic experiences, especially his early ones, are described in a way that makes it seem like he's out of touch with his body and actions. In this example, he "watches" his fingers and can "feel them trembling," as if they're barely connected to his body. In this instance, he doesn't realize that he's drawn a picture of Stalin in his coffin until he opens the notebook and discovers it, further emphasizing the idea that his gift is somehow beyond his conscious mind and body.
These images contribute to the idea explored throughout My Name is Asher Lev that Asher's artistic gift comes from beyond and is beyond his control. The mysticism surrounding Asher's unique abilities is a constant source of tension as Asher's community (and Asher himself) wonders if the gift is good or evil.
Related Themes:
Chapter 4
Explanation and Analysis—New Eyes:
In Chapter 4, Asher is starting to get older and his artistic gift is maturing. Potok describes the development of Asher's artistic perspective with the following imagery:
That was the night I began to realize that something was happening to my eyes. I looked at my father and saw lines and planes I had never seen before. I could feel with my eyes. I could feel my eyes moving across the lines around his eyes and into and over the deep furrows on his forehead. [...] I could feel the lines with my eyes [...] I could feel lines and points and planes. I could feel texture and color.
The imagery in this passage demonstrates how Asher's senses are dominated by artistic forms. When he looks at his father, he can see and even feel new shapes, planes, and images. He recalls that "I could feel lines and points and planes [...] texture and color" and "I could feel the lines with my eyes." The "long flat bridge" of Aryeh's nose and the "clear darkness of his eyes" transcend visual perceptions to become sensations Asher can physically feel. Here, the reader can see how Asher is coming into his own as the artist and visionary. Additionally, Asher's new way of seeing his father demonstrates his alienation from him; he sees Aryeh not first as his father, but as a series of lines, fundamentally different from himself.
Related Themes:
Chapter 6
Explanation and Analysis—Drawing with a Fork:
A breaking point between Asher and his father comes at the breakfast table one day in Chapter 6, when Asher is having trouble controlling his urges to draw at the table. Potok presents Aryeh's reaction with the following imagery:
I felt something on my hand, something very hard and tight [...] He was squeezing the wrist of my right arm; his face, pale within its frame of red beard, was contorted with rage. I cried out. My mother shouted something. Above the noise of her shout, I heard something clatter to the table. The fork. I had without thinking begun to use the fork again as a drawing instrument. [...] My wrist throbbed. [...] My father stood at the table, his face pale, all of him quivering with rage.
Aryeh's rage at Asher presents a moment of visceral clarity showing that he will never quite accept his son and his talents. The imagery here is extremely bodily and articulates pain and anger while appealing to the senses. His father's grip is "hard and tight" and "clenched," sending pain up Asher's arm. All of his features display his rage. His mother's shouting drowns everything else out. Together, all of these sensory details illustrate the rift in the family dynamic that Asher's gift presents and how each family member is responding.
Related Themes:
Chapter 13
Explanation and Analysis—Painting Mama:
In Chapter 13, Asher paints the picture of his mother being crucified, which is the climax of all the book's core tensions and gets Asher excommunicated from his community. The scene is densely packed with imagery:
The torment, the tearing anguish I felt in her, I put into her mouth, into the twisting curve of her head, the arching of her slight body, the clenching of her small fists, the taut downward pointing of her thin legs. I sprayed fixative on the charcoal and began to put on the colors, working with the same range of hues I had utilized in the previous painting—ochres, grays, alizarin, Prussian and cobalt blue [...] For all the pain you suffered, my mama. [...] For all the anguish this picture of pain will cause you.
The imagery in this scene is quite harsh and violent. Words like "arching," "clenching," and "twisting" convey the pain Asher's mother has felt throughout the book watching her family be torn apart by Asher's gift and the pressures of their faith community. It also conveys the pain he knows she will feel once she sees this painting for the first time, as well as his own pain that he hasn't been able to express about the challenges of his gift and the way his community has ostracized him.
There is also imagery in this passage that is quite beautiful and displays Asher's technical artistic prowess. His mention of using "ochres, grays, alizarin, Prussian and cobalt blue," for example, shows how he first conceptualizes his experience from an artistic perspective.
Related Themes:
