Chapter six in the novel, My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok starts a new section of the book, which signifies a new stage in Asher's life. This is the interval that Asher is spending with his mother because his father has moved to Vienna. Asher says that he misses his father, but he didn't realize how much he missed his father until the first Shabbos without him. I think that this shows that Asher took his father for granted. When his father was at home, he would be a thorn in his side, however, when he's gone, Asher longs for his presence. I think this is the situation with many teenagers. I know I take advantage of my parents even though I don't try to. If they weren't around the support me and help me, I would be completely lost in this world. I think Asher is feeling this kind of helplessness without his father.
While Asher's father was in Vienna, Asher missed him so much that he debated telling his mother that he didn't want to be away from his father any more. He never did tell his mother, but I think the fact that he even considered doing this was very brave. I don't think he did tell her because if she told his father about the incident, Asher might lose face. He's worked so hard to appear strong and act stubborn to his father so that his father would accept his artwork and I think that if he admitted that he wanted to be near his father, he would erase everything that he had worked to accomplish.
"My father's chair at the head of our living-room table remained unoccupied, as did his chair in our kitchen." This shows that even though Asher's father is not living with them in Brooklyn, his superiority is still respected. In fact, I think Asher respects his father more when he is in Vienna than when he is living with them in their apartment. This also probably has to do with Asher wanting to appear strong in front of his father.
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