The Comparison of Emma, Huckleberry Finn, and My Name is Asher Lev: Narrative strategies, The Allegory of Journey and the Theme of Having Fathers as Poor Role Models

Protagonist come in all forms but if we look deep beneath what is taken for granted, similarities can be found between them. For example, in Emma, written by Jane Austen, we find a young woman of a privileged life with nothing but time on her hands. She spends her days with romantic fantasies, intellectual vanity, and thinks she has the ability to play matchmaker with her friends. The protagonist in Huckleberry Finn, written by Mark Twain, is a young boy who is poor and who has grown up rough without developing skills to behave in society. He struggles with the idea of becoming civilized and struggles with the idea of slavery.

Then there is the novel My Name is Asher Lev, written by Chaim Potok. Asher Lev is the protagonist in this story about a young boy growing up in a Jewish Community dependent on his parents, religious beliefs, the community and the struggle for his passion of art. In these three books, the protagonists appear to be completely different yet there are similarities. In all three, the narrative strategies are different but end up with the same result.

Each one of the protagonist have been brought up living different lifestyles, but they all have father figures that hinder them in some way and delay the process. Also, the journey that each character takes is not just physical but a combination of psychological, physical and the transference of ideas. Even though there are all these differences, they all acquire growth and maturity as a final result. Comparing the three novels shows how the stories can be written in different eras by distinct writers with completely diverse writing styles and still have a common ground because of literary elements such as narrative strategies, symbols, and themes to help develop the readers’ perception of the protagonists’ growth.

The perception of the protagonists’ growth can be a difficult task to accomplish but through the narrative strategies an author uses it can simplify a complex area for the reader. In Emma, the protagonist experiences growth as she plays a number of roles, the main one being matchmaker. Emma refuses to be romantically involved because of her strong attachment to her father so she directs her energy to others around her. Her intentions to find Harriet a husband backfires several times.

She encounters one unfortunate event after another until she is reprimanded by Mr. Knightley over a comment she has made to one of the families dear friends. She becomes aware how silly and rude she has been. She asks Mr. Knightley for his help in changing her habits. Mr. Knightley sees the change in Emma and realizes he wants to marry her. The book ends happily with her discovery of her own need for love and companionship and accepts.

Austen uses an omniscient narrator in conjunction with dialogue to trace the growth of her protagonist. In the beginning, the narrator describes Emma as “handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition” and while this seems to be a very general observation, she further comments “The real evils indeed of Emma’s situation were the power of having rather too much her own way, and a disposition to think a little too well or herself” (Austin, 1814, 7).

It is because of this type of strategies that the narrator is able to help the reader see the change from a spoiled and selfish child to a happily married woman who has finally realized how silly and rude she was. The revelation stated by the narrator, “She saw it all with a clearness which had never blessed her before. How improperly had she been acting by Harriet! How inconsiderate, how indelicate, how irrational, how unfeeling, had been her conduct!” (Austen, 1814, 268). Because of Emma having limited dialogue of her thoughts, it helps the reader when the narrator explains her emotions to show growth.

In the next novel Huckleberry Finn, the growth of the protagonist, is more difficult to find. In the beginning of Huckleberry Finn, Huck introduces himself by saying, “The widow she cried over me, and called me a poor lost lamb, and she called me a lot of other names too, but she never meant no harm by it. She put me in them new clothes again, and I couldn’t do nothing but sweat and sweat, and feel all cramped up” (Twain, 1884, 2). Huck is a young boy that has lived with an abusive father and not been taught how he must act in society.

He is put in the Widow’s care but his father comes back to reclaim his rights in order to get his hands on money Huck was given. He escapes from his father, discovers a runaway slave by the name of Jim, and the two set out down the Mississippi River. During this time, he struggles with the idea of becoming civilized and doing the right thing about harboring a runaway slave. Huck encounters several different characters along the way.

These acquaintances help Huck come to the conclusion that their actions helps justify his reasoning in not to fall into the trap of becoming civilized again. By the end, Huck’s adventures has helped him mature enough that he realizes it by saying, “But I reckon I got to light out for the territory ahead of the rest, because Aunt Sally she’s going to adopt me and sivilize me, and I can’t stand it. I been there before” (Twain, 1884, 360) He also sees that helping Jim is the right thing to do and that it is ok to tell small lies to protect his friend because white society’s understanding of slavery wasn’t just. Huck has grown into maturity by understanding what his beliefs and passions are.

The narrative technique is about the same throughout the book. To find Huck’s growth we must look at the plot. He wants to be free to do as he pleases and live off the land rather than conform to society’s rules. The growth of Huck hides in the background behind the narrator and is played out all the way through the novel by the informal speech the author has chosen to use. This in itself makes it difficult to identify the growth at the end.

In the third novel, My Name is Asher Lev, the protagonist starts out as a boy with two developing struggles he must recon with. He is brought up in a Jewish community where strong emphasis is on religion, community and the dependence on his parents. As he grows, Asher discovers a talent for art. Since this is not part of the community, he is torn. He is however allowed to continue to develop his talents and even travels abroad. During this time away from his parents he reflects on the importance the community has been in his upbringing and transfers his feelings to his paintings.

This is a time of growth and maturity for him. At one point, his mother struggles with anguish because of his painting and Asher express it by painting a work of art about his feelings about his mother. He gets accepted for an art show and struggles with whether to display the painting and show the world how great an artist he has become and risk hurting his family or not show the painting and spare his parents feelings.

In the end he chooses his drive to create art over family. This makes his parents and the community to turn their backs on him and he is asked to leave the community. He is unsure that he is ready to leave, but he does however have a greater sense of the man he has become.

The narrative style in this novel goes from childhood thoughts to mature observations. The words that are chosen by the young Asher and the ones that are spoken by the young man Asher shows the flow of maturity from beginning to end. For instance, in the beginning the young man introduces himself in this manner, “My name is Asher Lev, the Asher Lev, about whom you have read in newspapers and magazines, about whom you talk so much about at your dinner affairs and cocktail parties, the notorious and legendary Lev of the Brooklyn Crucifixion” (Potok, 1972, 3).

As he is talking, he starts to go back in time when he was a little boy and his choices of words are more simple with short sentences. This happens when he states, “I have no recollection of when I began to use that gift. But I can remember at the age of four, holding my pencil in the first firm grip of a child” (Potok, 1972, 5). The narration continues in a child like manner through most of the book. The reader is then introduced back to the grown up man who first started the book. This is identified when he talks about his forefathers by asking, “Had a dream-haunted Jew spent the rest of his life sculpting form out of the horror of his private night?” (Potok, 1972, 327). The reader can identify the mature state Asher has developed into because of his language.

The narrative strategies in each one of these novels are very different, but as we can see they play an important part in discovering the growth of each protagonist. Determining the growth can take on a variety of forms. In Emma the process was recognized at the end when she realized how wrong she had been. Sometimes it just flows with the text as in My Name is Asher Lev. And sometimes one must look deeper to get the information out as in Huckleberry Finn.

There is a common “theme” among the three novels; each protagonist has a father in their life that is a poor role model. In Emma, Emma’s mother passed away when she was very small and after her sister married she became the mistress of the house and her caretaker of her father. Mr. Woodhouse has given Emma a life of luxury and catered to her every whim. Mr. Woodhouse is somewhat of a hypochondriac and believes he will become ill from the least little thing and is also fearful for his friends’ health as well. In chapter 3 the Woodhouse family is having friends over to eat and Mr. Woodhouse states, “and while his hospitality would have welcomed his visitors to every thing, his care for their health made him grieve that they would eat” (Austen, 1814).

By the end of the book we can see that his overprotection of Emma almost made it impossible for her to marry Mr. Knightley. This would have been the end if it hadn’t been for Mr. Woodhouses’ fearfulness of becoming robed or harmed in his own house. Only then did he give in to their marriage. The two were to be married and live in the Woodhouse home. Because of his actions towards Emma, she has not fully developed into a reasonable thinking woman. She is full of fantasies and has an air about her that she shouldn’t have. If Mr. Knightley were not there to help guide Emma on decisions that she had made, it may have taken her longer to develop her thinking.

In the novel Huckleberry Finn, Huck’s father was one of the worst fathers one could have. He was a drunk, abusive, stupid man. In chapter 3 Huck talks about his father and the way he treated him by saying, “He used to always whale me when he was sober and could get his hands on me” (Twain, 1884). His father took pride in being ignorant and had raised Huck in the same way he had been. He felt his way of life was enough to get by and he didn’t need to read or write. On one of his rants in chapter 5, he tells Huck, “"Well, I'll learn her how to meddle. And looky here--you drop that school, you hear? I'll learn people to bring up a boy to put on airs over his own father and let on to be better'n what HE is. You lemme catch you fooling around that school again, you hear? Your mother couldn't read, and she couldn't write, nuther, before she died. None of

the family couldn't before THEY died. I can't; and here you're a-swelling yourself up like this. I ain't the man to stand it--you hear? (Twain, 1884). With a father behaving in this manner, it would be hard for a child to overcome this type of lifestyle and behavior. If it wasn’t for the other adults that had come into Huck’s life, he may not have had the chance to think about and come to a conclusion about Jim and slavery. Having this type of role model can only hold a person back and not let them move forward in a normal natural way.

Asher’s father in My Name is Asher Lev was different than Huck’s. He loved his son, but was more worried with the rules of the community to support him. He spent most of his time traveling doing the Rebbe’s bidding and didn’t have much time for his wife and son. He did this because his father had done it for the Rebbe’s father and it was an honor.

He felt art was a waste of time and discouraged Asher from painting. He would not even allow him to paint in the house. During a conversation with Jacob Kahn about his father in chapter 11, Kahn tells Asher his father thinks he is wasting his life away and thinks he has betrayed him (Potok, 1972). When Asher’s art shows become popular the critics begin to take notice. After a showing and great reviews in chapter 12, his father comes to him and says “I’m glad the critics like what you do, Asher. I’m glad you didn’t shame us” (Potok, 1972).

In conclusion the elements of writing are the tools that unit authors together. It doesn’t matter the era or the scenario they choose to use in their stories because in some form or another they all use these elements. In the above novels we saw how the narrator strategies were all different, but in the end each protagonist achieved the same goal of maturity.

Each of our protagonists went on their own journey to reach maturity, but in different forms such as psychological, physical, and transference. Also, in each of the stories the father figures were poor role models for the protagonist. The fathers ranged in faults such as a hypochondriac that relied heavily on his daughter, a father that was so illiterate he didn’t want his son to become better than himself, and a father that put such importance on his religious beliefs and leader that he chose those over the happiness of his son. All three of these novels were written in different styles, eras, and scenes but can be compared by their content because of the elements of writing.

References

• Austen, Jane. (1816). Emma. New York: Penguin.

• Potok, Chiam. (1972). My Name is Asher Lev. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.: New York

• Twain, Mark. (1884). The Adventures of Hickleberry Finn. New York: Penguin.
• 叙事策略的作用
  艾玛的比较，哈克贝利·费恩，我的名字是舍列夫：叙事策略，寓言之旅和主题有父亲差榜样的
  主角有各种各样的形式，但如果我们看一下什么是理所当然的深处，可以发现它们之间的相似之处。例如，在艾玛，写简·奥斯汀，我们发现一名年轻女子的特权生活，只不过时间上她的手。她花她的天与浪漫的幻想，知识产权的虚荣心，并认为她有能力的发挥与她的朋友的媒人。哈克贝利·费恩，马克·吐温写的，主角是一个年轻的男孩，谁是穷人和谁已经长大了，而无需开发技能的行为在社会粗糙。他的想法成为文明的斗争，斗争与奴役的想法。
  再有就是我的名字是阿舍Potok的哈伊姆·列弗，写小说。 Asher列弗的是关于一个年轻的男孩，生长在一个犹太社区依赖于他的父母，宗教信仰，社会和他的艺术激情的斗争这个故事中的主角。在这三本书中，主角似乎是完全不同的，尚未有相似之处。在所有三个，叙事策略是不同的，但相同的结果结束了。
  每一个主角已经长大的生活不同的生活方式，但他们都有父亲的形象，阻碍他们在某种程度上延缓的过程。此外，每个字符占用的旅程不只是物理相结合的心理，生理和转移的思路。尽管有这些差异，他们都获得成长和成熟，作为最终结果。比较三部小说，故事可以写在不同时期，由不同的作家完全不同的写作风格，仍然有一个共同点，因为文学元素，如叙事策略，符号和主题，以帮助开发读者的感知主角的成长。
  主角成长的看法可以是一个艰巨的任务来完成，但笔者通过叙事策略使用它可以简化一个复杂的领域，为读者。艾玛，主角出现增长，因为她扮演的角色，主要的一个媒人一些。艾玛拒绝浪漫的参与，因为她的强烈的依恋，她的父亲，所以她指挥她的能量给别人，她身边。发现哈里特的丈夫她的意图事与愿违几次。
  她遇到一个不幸的事件层出不穷，直到她奈特利先生谴责评论，她取得了一个亲爱的朋友们的家庭。她意识到她一直是多么愚蠢和粗鲁。她问奈特利先生对他的帮助改变她的习惯。奈特利先生看到艾玛的变化，实现了他要和她结婚。书愉快地结束，她发现她的爱和陪伴，并接受自己的需要。
  奥斯丁使用一个无所不知的叙述者与对话，以追查她的主角的成长。在开始时，解说员介绍艾玛“英俊，聪明，和丰富的，一个舒适的家和快乐的性格”和而这似乎是一个很一般的观察，她进一步的意见“的真正的丑恶现象确实是艾玛的情况是电源而太多的她自己的方式，处置想得太好了一点自己“ （奥斯汀， 1814年， 7 ） 。
  这是因为这种类型的策略，解说员是能够帮助读者看到的变化，从一个娇生惯养，自私的孩子一个快乐的已婚的女人，他​​终于意识到她是多么的愚蠢和粗鲁。解说员​​所说的启示， “她看到这一切从来没有祝福她之前与清晰。如何不当，她一直担任哈里特！如何不体贴，多么粗俗，多么的不合理，怎么绝情，她的行为！“ （奥斯汀， 1814年， 268） 。由于艾玛具有有限的对话，她的想法，它可以帮助读者，当解说员解释她的情绪呈现增长。
  在接下来的小说“哈克贝利·费恩，成长中的主角，更难以找到。哈克贝利·费恩的开始，哈克介绍自己说，“寡妇，她哭了我，叫我一个可怜的迷途的羔羊，她打电话给我了很多其他的名字太，但她从来没有什么恶意。她把我再次在他们的新衣服，我不能做什么，但直冒汗，并感到局促“ （吐温， 1884年， 2 ） 。哈克是一个年轻的男孩住在一起，父亲的虐待，并没有被教导如何在社会中他必须采取行动。
  他把寡妇的照顾，但他的父亲回来，收回他的权利，为了得到他手中的钱哈克。他从他的父亲逃脱，发现了一个逃跑的奴隶吉姆的名称，和两个载下来密西西比河。在此期间，他的斗争成为窝藏逃亡奴隶文明，做正确的事的想法。哈克前进的道路上遇到了几个不同的字符。
  这些熟人帮助哈克得出的结论是，他们的行动有助于证明他的推理，不要落入陷阱再次成为文明。截至去年底，哈克的冒险帮助他足够成熟，他意识到它说， “不过，我估计我到亮出来的领土先行一步，因为萨莉阿姨，她的打算到采用我和sivilize我，和我所能'T受不了。我一直有之前“ （吐温360） ， 1884年，他还认为，帮助吉姆是做正确的事，并告诉小谎言来保护他的朋友，因为不只是白社会的理解奴役，这是确定。哈克已经成长为成熟，了解他的信念和激情。
  叙事手法贯穿全书大约相同。要找到哈克的增长，我们必须着眼于情节。他希望成为自由做他生活过的土地，而不是符合社会的规则。哈克隐藏在后面的背景解说员的增长，并发挥出所有的方式，通过小说的作者已经选择使用的非正式讲话。这本身使得难以识别的生长结束时。
  在第三本小说，我的名字是灰粉列弗，主角开始作为一个男孩与两个发展中的斗争，他必须重建。他在一个犹太社区长大强强调的是宗教，社区和他的父母的依赖。当他长大，灰粉发现艺术人才。由于这是不是社会的一部分，他被撕裂。不过，他可以继续发展自己的才华，甚至出国。在这段时间远离他的父母，他反映在他的成长过程中的重要性得到了社会各界和他的感情转移到他的画作。
  这是一个时间为他的成长与成熟。在一个点上，他的母亲挣扎与痛苦，因为他的画和Asher快递画一个艺术作品，对他的感受，他的母亲。他被接受为一种艺术表演和斗争与是否显示绘画和世界展示了多么伟大的一个艺术家，他已经成为伤害他的家人的风险或不显示的绘画和饶他父母的感情。
  最后，他选择他的带动下，创造艺术家庭。这使得他的家长和社区背对他，他被要求离开社区。他不确定，他正准备离开，但他没有但是有一个更大意义上的男人，他​​已经成为。
  在这本小说的叙事风格，从童年的想法成熟的意见。 Asher和年轻人灰粉说那些年轻的选择的话，显示了成熟的流量从开始到结束。例如，在年轻人开始以这种方式介绍自己， “我的名字是灰粉列弗，灰粉列弗，就是你所阅读的报纸和杂志，关于他，你讲了这么多关于你的晚餐事务和鸡尾酒会，臭名昭著的传奇列弗的布鲁克林受难“ （ Potok的，1972年， 3） 。
  他说，他开始要回去的时候，他是一个小男孩，他的选择的话更简单的短句子。发生这种情况时，他指出，“我不记得当我开始使用这份礼物。但我记得在四岁的时候，我的铅笔在第一牢牢把握一个孩子“ （ Potok的，1972年，5） 。旁白继续在孩子喜欢的方式，通过大部分的书。然后引入读者谁首先开始的书长大的人。这是确定的，当他谈论他的祖先通过询问， “有一个梦想闹鬼的犹太人度过了他的生活剩下的雕刻形式的恐怖他的私人晚上？” （ Potok的，1972年， 327 ） 。读者可以识别成熟的状态灰粉已发展成，因为他的语言。
  在每一个这些小说的叙事策略有很大的不同，但我们可以看到，他们发现每个主角的成长起到的重要组成部分。确定的增长可以采取各种形式。艾玛确认过程结束时，当她意识到她曾是多么的错误。有时它只是流动的文字，我的名字是阿舍列弗。有时必须更深入地获取信息哈克贝利·费恩。
  有一个共同的“主题”三部小说中，每个主角都有一个父亲在他们的生活中，这是一个可怜的角色模型。在艾玛，艾玛的母亲去世时，她是非常小的，和她的妹妹结婚后，她成为了女主人的房子，她的父亲和她的看守。伍德豪斯先生给艾玛奢侈的生活，并照顾到她的每一个心血来潮。伍德豪斯先生是有点疑心病，相信他会成为病从最小的小东西，也害怕他的朋友们的健康，以及。在伍德豪斯家族第3章有朋友过来吃，伍德豪斯先生“，而他的款待会欢迎他的游客每一件事情，他关心他们的健康，让他伤心，他们会吃” （奥斯汀， 1814年） 。
  通过这本书的结尾，我们可以看到，他的过度保护艾玛几乎使她无法嫁给奈特利先生。这会都已经结束，如果它没有被伍德豪斯先生的恐惧成为长袍或伤害自己的房子。只有这样，他给了他们的婚事。两个人要结婚了，住在回家的伍德豪斯。因为他的行为对艾玛，她还没有完全开发成一个合理的思想的女人。她充满幻想，她说，她不应该有一个空气。如果奈特利先生不存在，以帮助指导艾玛，她做了决定，它可能已经采取了她更长的时间来发展自己的思维。
  在小说“哈克贝利·费恩，哈克的父亲是人们可以有最坏的父亲之一。他是一个醉酒的，辱骂性的，愚蠢的人。哈克在第3章中谈到了他的父亲和对待他的方式，他说， “他以前总是鲸我时，他是清醒的，我能得到他的手” （吐温，1884） 。他的父亲感到自豪无知，并提出了以同样的方式，他一直哈克。他觉得他的生活方式是足以让他并不需要读取或写入。之一，他在第5章的咆哮，他告诉哈克， “ ”好吧，我会学习她如何染指。听我说 - 你放弃那所学校，你听见了吗？我会学习的人带来了一个男孩摆架子超过了自己的父亲，让是他是什么better'n 。你让我抓住你鬼混，学校再次，你听见了吗？你的母亲不能读取，并她不能写nuther ，之前她死了。没有
  家人无法，才死了。我不能和你在这里一肿胀自己这个样子。我是不是男人受不了的 - 你听到吗？ （吐温，1884） 。一个父亲的行为以这种方式，这将是很难为孩子克服这种不同的生活方式和行为。如果不是哈克的生活已进入其他成年人，他​​可能不会有机会去思考和吉姆和奴役的一个结论来。有这种类型的角色模型只能容纳一个人回来，而不是让他们在正常的自然的方式向前移动。
  Asher的父亲在我的名字是阿舍·列夫是哈克的不同的。他爱他的儿子，但更担心与社会支持他的规则。他花大部分的时间在旅行做拉比的招标和他的妻子和儿子并没有太多的时间。他这样做是因为他的父亲做了Rebbe的父亲，这是一个荣誉。
  他觉得艺术是一个浪费时间，从绘画气馁灰粉。他甚至不会让他画中的房子。在通话过程中在第11章中关于他的父亲雅各布·卡恩，卡恩告诉灰粉他的父亲认为他是在浪费自己的生命路程，认为他已经背叛了他（ Potok的，1972） 。灰粉的艺术表演成为流行的批评者开始采取通知。表现和伟大的第12章的评论后，他的父亲给他，并说： “我很高兴批评家喜欢你做什么，灰粉。我很高兴你没有羞辱我们“ （ Potok的，1972） 。
  总之写作的元素是工具，作者单位在一起。不要紧，他们选择使用在他们的故事，因为他们都在某种形式或另一种使用这些元素的时代或场景。在上面的小说中，我们看到了如何解说员策略都是不同的，但最终每个主角都取得了同样的目标到期。
  我们的每一个主角了自己的旅程，达到成熟阶段，但以不同的形式，如心理，生理，和转移。此外，在每个故事中父亲的形象为主角的好榜样。父亲范围在疑心病很大程度上依赖于他的女儿，父亲是文盲，他不希望自己的儿子能成为比自己和父亲如此重视他的宗教信仰和领导故障，如他选择了那些在他的儿子的幸福。所有这些小说写在不同的风格，时代和场景，但可以比较他们的内容，因为写作的元素。
  参考文献
  奥斯汀，简。 （1816）。艾玛。纽约：企鹅。
  Potok的，詹。 （1972） 。我的名字是灰粉列弗。阿尔弗雷德A.克诺夫公司：纽约
  马克吐温。 （ 1884年） 。历险记Hickleberry芬兰人。纽约：企鹅。