Throughout the book, The Chosen, there are four major qualifying characters for the role of “The Chosen One”. David Malter is the father of Reuven Malter, and is an active Zionist. Reb Saunders is the father of Danny Saunders, and doesn’t talk to his son with the hopes of teaching him compassion. Reuven is Danny’s friend, and is a bridge among all the characters. Danny becomes friends with Reuven after hitting him in the eye with a softball, and also works with David in the library in secrecy. While all these characters have major roles, only one can be crowned with the winning title. Reuven Malter is “the chosen one”. Through the development of the character, Reuven, we see a sheltered young boy learn to find compassion in his heart all …show more content…
… “Why don’t you ask Appleman? I said quietly. “I think I will,” Danny said. “I think I’ll do just that. Why not? What have I got to lose? It can’t make me any more miserable than I am now” (Potok 211). Reuven helps Danny make decisions about his future encouraging him to follow his heart and become a psychologist. It would mean deviating from the expected career of following in his father’s footsteps and becoming a Rabbi. This would be frowned upon. Danny’s father states, “For six generations now we have led our people. I will not live forever. Daniel will one day take my place ---” (Potok 166). Danny lives his dream in silence until his father finally realizes that Danny wants to attend college and pursue a career outside of the faith.. ”And my son, my Daniel, he will - he will go another way. I saw Danny’s mouth fall open…’I know Reb Saunders murmured’…” (Potok 282). If it wasn’t for Reuven’s kindness, encouragement, and compassion for Danny, then Danny would have followed in his father’s footsteps and lived a life of misery in silence. Reuven’s character demonstrated a level of maturity by his actions. This newfound maturity continued to grow.
Reb confides in Reuven in hopes that Reuven will share his wisdom with Danny. Reuven doesn’t understand how Reb is using him until the end of the book. Reb attempts to shine light on Reuven when he says, ‘It is never pleasant to be a buffer Reuven’ (Potok 170). Reb continues to speak to Reuven, “You have become a
At the beginning of the novel, their whole friendship wouldn't have started if one, Reuven didn't listen to his urging father and forgave Danny, and two, if Danny didn't stubbornly persist in visiting Reuven in the hospital, where he patiently waited for him to vent his anger. "Also, yesterday I hated him; now we were calling each other by our first names. I sat and
First, Potok shows how good can come from bad through Danny and Reuven’s odd relationship. Their friendship is only brought together through tragedies. For example, the first time Reuven and Danny meet at a baseball game, they hate each other and Danny even had murderous thoughts. However, after Danny almost blinds Reuven by
Without their friendship there would not be much of a plot. At first Danny and Reuven can not stand each other, but as the book goes on they become best friends. They begin to trust each other very quickly and right when they are beginning to become friends Danny shares his biggest secret. Danny tells Reuven “I’ve never said that to anyone before… I’ve never told this to anyone before… All the time I kept wondering who I would tell it to one day… If you had ducked the ball I would still be wondering” (Potok 84). When Danny tells Reuven this, it is one of the first times they share their feelings with each other. Their friendship is very important for the development of the boys’ opinions on the two denominations of Judaism and for their
Because the Hasidic culture requires if a rabbi have a son, he must become the next rabbi. Although Rabbi Sanders expects Danny to continue the rabbinic dynasty, Danny must decide for himself what exactly he wants to do. Danny has the pressures of becoming the next rabbi, but this idea repulses him. Danny has the right to choose what he wants to do with his life and no person or religion should be able to decide for him. Through out life many people have to face many decisions, and with these decisions consequences occur. With Danny, if he chooses to become a Rabbi, it will thrill his father, but Danny himself will be miserable. Danny will only be thrilled if he chooses to follow his dream of becoming a Psychologist, but this will dissapoint his father. Ultimately Danny had the choice to do what he wants, and Danny chooses to follow his dream, which will
Chaim Potok who wrote the book The Chosen, narrates the life of Danny Saunders through Reuven Saunders. The book describes to the reader that the two friends have differences in their culture, family situations, and religious perspectives. However, it shows that with different aspects, they were able to draw from each other in a positive way. Potok creates a friendship through Danny and Reuven, that is created with care, liability, and support for one another.
Reuven Malther has an epiphany that allows him to see Danny Saunders as an individual and become friends with him. At the beginning of the novel, Danny injures Reuven’s eye in a baseball game, creating animosity between the two. Following the incident, Reuven tells his father “he [Danny] deliberately aimed at me
The explanation of wisdom shows gain in knowledge and skill. Throughout the story Reuven and Danny invariably gain more wisdom. Despite gaining their wisdom from their fathers in actuality they benefit their knowledge from each other. They mostly consult each other about other finding that they learn,” I asked him how he was coming along with German , and he said he had finished memorizing the grammar text and was reading a book he had borrowed from the German section of the library”(159). Advising one another about knowledge that they both gain from books shows another act of wisdom. This vital interaction allows them to move on and advance in wisdom as they mature.
In The Chosen’s final chapter, Reb Saunders, Danny’s father, finally reveals the motives behind his silence, showing the reader he is, in reality, a conflicted character at heart. Throughout the story
Soon after Reuven arrives at the hospital, Danny Saunders visits him. Danny, the boy who ‘accidently’ hit Reuven in the face with a baseball, came to visit him even though he did not know him. Danny knew Reuven would be mad at him because he could have potentially blinded him for life, but he came anyway. Although Reuven did lash out at him in the first visit, Reuven soon forgave him and they became fast friends. “I don’t hate you,’ I managed to say, because I thought it was time for me to say something even if what I said was a lie.” (62) Danny cared about Reuven and wanted him to recover quickly and fully, even though Reuven acted terribly towards him because he hurt
When Danny comes to visit Reuven and they get somewhat comfortable with each other, Reuven begins to like Danny and they start to become friends. Reuven also notices that Danny isn’t really who he seems, and he
The four main characters in The Chosen all have important perspectives and contributions to the story and it’s conflict. Reuven Malter is the narrator and is easiest to relate to since the reader shares his outsider view on chassidism, and the same fascination of Danny’s lifestyle and upbringing. In Reuven’s interaction with the Saunders, he changes Danny, but he is also changed. His perspective of the world is broadened and.. Even though The Chosen focuses equally on Danny’s and Reuven’s personal and religious development, it’s Danny’s story that provides the central conflict. Reuven and Danny’s characters have many similarities which allow them to become good friends while their differences allow them to learn from each other. Reuven helps
Despite the fact that Reuven and Danny have a wide array of differences, they also have similarities in certain key aspects in the story. Essentially, both of them are intellectual people, are always seeking to better their education, and both have very strong Jewish beliefs. Reuven is mainly a mathematician. He is very good at math and strives to better his knowledge especially in that field. Although Reuven is mainly focused on math, he excels in other academics as
However, unlike the Pew Research study, he fights against his family’s expectations in order to follow his own dream for his own life. He dreams to become a psychologist. As Danny works to find his place in the world he has to struggle with distant treatment from his father, Reb Saunders. He also has to face the knowledge of the complex and often conflicted history of the Hasidic sect.
Reuven is fast to be prejudice and that is the way he did it to Reb Saunders until he finally sees who reb is
In The Chosen the friendship between Danny and Reuven was hard to form because of their two different backgrounds and beliefs but they managed to overcome this and form a strong connection with one another. The fact that Danny grew up in a Hasidic Jewish society made it harder for him to be friends with