Summary

When Asher’s parents return, he feels like a stranger around them. They speak about events and places he knows nothing about, and they laugh often about their memories of Europe. Aryeh seems different to Asher, happier and more at ease with the knowledge that he was successful in Europe. Asher watches as people speak to his father, and knows that his success in helping the Ladovers is common knowledge in their community.

Aryeh also seems to have mellowed about Asher’s art. He is proud to read the many reviews of Asher’s shows, and asks him questions about the reviews. However, when Asher explains to his father that he paints his feelings, rather than using art to paint a story, his father doesn’t understand. “Sometimes feelings are dangerous, Asher,” he says. “Sometimes they are from the sitra achra.”

When Asher flies with...