Essay Questions

How does social class impact Asher Lev’s life at school?

Lev elucidates, “I was treated with special care for I was the son of Aryeh Lev, one of the Rebbe’s emissaries who was often not home and whose absence had to be counteracted by teachers; I was also the son of Rivkeh Lev, one of the very few Ladover women the Rebbe had permitted to attend college.” Manifestly, Lev’s parents’ social standing is contributory to the preferential treatment which he receives at hi school. If the social standing were non-existent, he would not be rendered special. Accordingly, social class dictates the interpersonal relationships.

Describe the type of allusion which Lev employs when describing his family’s background.

Lev expounds, “My father was able to trace his family line down through the centuries to the time of the Black Death in 1347, which destroyed about half the population of Europe. My father’s great-great-grandfather was in his early years the manager of the vast estates of a carousing Russian nobleman who when drunk sometimes killed serfs.” Incorporating the Black Death in the family’s history is a deliberate Historical Allusion which offers details about the origins of the family. The historical allusion is contributory in deconstructing the origin of the family’s status.