Chapter 8
Chapter eight was a major turning point in Asher’s life because he officially meets with a man that will change his life forever, Jacob Kahn.
Their first meeting was very strange because Jacob Kahn leaves a picture drawn by him on the seat Asher was sitting in while waiting to meet with the Rebbe. Then Asher leaves him a picture and then they meet outside. The major surprise is that the Rebbbe’s asked Jacob Kahn to take Asher underneath his artistic wings and teach him how to become an artist. Asher is then introduced to many things like Guernica, Massacre of the Innocents, and a passage in the Christian Bible. Asher feels dirty and guilty and defiled after having read from the Christian Bible. I don’t blame him because he’s been taught his entire life to have a certain set of beliefs, which does not include the New Testament. I think that really taught Asher that there are people out there who are different and believe completely different things.
"I noticed that the farther I traveled from Brooklyn the more frequently I was stared at. In my dark-blue winter coat and hat, and with my thin pale features and red hair and dangling ear locks, I was not exactly a typical New Yorker." Asher didn’t feel weird, he didn’t feel stupid, and he didn’t feel like an idiot. He just acknowledged that fact that he was different. I really admired that because many people I know, including myself, once acknowledging a difference would change it. The majority of the population likes conformity and would want to change someone who is different. Like Asher, people stared at him, thinking to themselves, why doesn’t he dress like me? This would cause most people to change, but Asher sticks to his roots. Only once, later in the book does Asher question his difference and how the art society might react. Jacob Kahn then goes on and says if you are a good artist, people could care less how your ear locks dangle, they just want to see your art. I think that’s a lesson for everyone.