The two highly achieved novels, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and My Name is Asher Lev, both take place in the Brooklyn section of New York City. Both books contain a strong theme of maturation, and use the city and its influences to shape their lives. Although Asher and Francie come from two different times they share the aspirations of becoming more than what they were born into. With strong religions by their side, and painful relationships with their parents, the two children grow into strong adults.
Both Asher and Francie learned at an early age of the talent that they possessed. Asher at the age of four began drawing everything that he saw. As he grew older it became his outlet for his anger and his feelings. Francie used her talent for writing in the same way. Both used the writing and drawing to express their feelings. With the expression of true feelings they came faced with the obstacle of the adults around them telling them to keep the feelings to themselves. Although they were urged against expressing their thoughts on life, they both continued fighting to be heard, They contained a fire within their souls to keep fighting. With their unhappy lives, they learned that the word was not a pretty place, and it should be exposed.
Asher and Francie both had a strong religious background that they were raised into. Although Asher was Jewish and Francie was Christian, they were raised with the same values of god and going to pray in the their church or synagogue. Asher’s religion played a much larger role in his life, than it did Francie. Francie used her religion as a faith, so it allowed her to make her own decisions and follow her own life style. Asher’s family followed the Jewish religion very strictly, controlling everything that he learned, wore, and thought. Asher was not expected to make a new life of his choice, but to take the religious job that all his forefathers had. The Jewish religion created a large conflict in Asher’s life, because it was against his painting. Francie’s religion, though, allowed her to write and follow an independent path. Asher felt trapped in his religion, whereas Francie was freed by it.
The two children were raised in a loving family, but they both had a tough relationship with one of their parents. Asher and his father were constantly battling each other because of Asher’s art talent. His father wanted him to follow his lead and take over his job when he decided to retire. Asher wanted to choose his own destiny and do the thing that he loved, painting. The two of them were at war throughout Asher’s life, because they were so different from each other. That was the complete opposite reason for the tension between Francie and her mother. Francie and her mother were a lot like each other in the way that they both developed a hard shell against everything, and knew it took hard work to achieve a dream. Her mother did not want to see Francie go through the same hardship that she faced in her life, so she intentionally chose Neeley over Francie. Both Asher and Francie battled with one parent, but only Francie was able to mend her relationship with her mother. Due to her father's death, Francie and her mother shared a common bond that later leads to a friendship. Asher on the other hand suffered no great lose, and finally proved to his father that his gift came from the Other Side, with a disturbing picture of his family.
Francie and Asher both contained a fire inside them that kept them fighting through life. Unfortunately only Francie achieved total peace with the world around her. Asher had been raised not to express his feelings, and finally one day he had to break free. He painted a picture displaying his view of his family, but it went against everything his parents believed in. In the end Asher hurt the people around him for the art business, leaving him all alone in the world. Francie learned the morals of hard work and dedication as a young girl and carried them through her years as a young adult. Francie’s mother wanted her to find something that she wanted to do to expelled herself from the hardship her mother’s life was. Asher’s parents had his life already planned before he was even born, causing him to in the end rebel against everything that he was taught. Freedom to chose your own destiny was the underlining theme that developed one person, but ruined the other.
Asher Lev and Francie Nolan were both born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. They contained a lust for life, and a desire to show the world how it really was. Due to the way the were raised a happy ending is only given to one of them. Both books show the importance of free will, but each takes the different side of the spectrum on it. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn empathizes the need for parents to give their children the right to their own decisions on life, and what resulted from that was a successful young woman. My Name is Asher Lev unfortunately showed a culture where everyone followed a strict culture, and followed in the footsteps of their father. What ensued from that method, was a child who rebelled, and hurt his loved ones in the process. Although My Name is Asher Lev and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn are very different books, they both portray a the message of free will.