Character Analysis: The Chosen By Chaim Potok

Silence is hard for Danny and Reuven. Because of the silence, Danny wasn’t able to properly communicate.in “the chosen” by Chaim Potok it Reuven’s father says, “Reb Saunders son is a terribly lonely boy. There is literally no one he could talk to.”(110). The way Danny was raised made him feel like he can’t depend on people and ask for help. The silence also hurt Reuven in his college grades and his attitude. “It was an ugly time and it began to affect

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

      Danny and Reuven’s friendship went through many trials and after one challenging block in their relationship, it silenced them both. And even though there friendship was banned, it withstood till the end. Danny and Reuven’s friendship wasn’t only beneficial for them, so they could talk and be open, but it was beneficial to Reb Saunders as well. Because of Danny and Reuven’s relationship, Reb Saunders could talk to his son, through Reuven.

The relationship between Danny and Reuven is a very big theme in The Chosen. Danny and Reuven are two boys who have grew up within a few blocks of each other, but in two entirely different worlds. They meet for the first time in at a school baseball game between their two Jewish schools. Even though at first their only feeling for each other is one of hatred, they eventually get over their differences and become the best of friends. They learn a lot about each other and about the others life and religion. The boys’ fathers have very different views and that’s gets them in trouble. Danny’s father disagrees with Reuven’s father’s point of view on a certain topic, and forbids Danny from ever seeing Reuven again. After some time Reb gets over himself and permits Danny to see Reuven again. This situation goes back to the fathers’ ways of raising their child and their view on their religion.

Another type of silence in The Chosen is the silence that exists between Danny and Reuven and is no product of their own; it is the silence that Reb Saunders enforced upon them when he forbade them to speak or spend time together. It was a silence that came into being because of the different beliefs of their fathers, though only Danny’s father acted upon it. “There had been an explosion yesterday at breakfast, last night at supper, and this morning again at breakfast. Danny was not to see me, talk to me, listen to me, be found within four feet of me. My father and I had been excommunicated from the Saunders family.” (pg.230). The silence not only deeply hurt the boys, who were true friends, but also infuriated Reuven. Reuven had never approved of or understood the silence that Reb Saunders had created between himself and his son, and Reuven thought it to be cruel—after all, he had seen Danny’s pain and confusion over the matter and knew how hard it was for him. He was furious at Reb Saunders for not only tearing apart their friendship, but especially for tearing it apart with that hated silence. “I hated the silence between us and thought it unimaginable that Danny and his father never talked. Silence was ugly, it was black,

The fight for justice is not always unequivocal or favorable, sometimes justice is given by means that do not seem fair at all. William Styron says in a novel that life “is a search for justice.” It is blatant that throughout Khaled Hosseini's novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, female characters are continuously battered with injustices. Hosseini hones into the oppression of women and the fight for women empowerment through the life of one of his main characters, Mariam. Her journey is shown throughout the novel where she struggles to search for and understand justice.

To the reader it seems at first that Danny is an arrogant, uptight son of a rabbi. We learn as the novel progresses more about Danny and that he is a less than perfect

Reuven and Danny’s friendship continues to grow deeper. They are both introduced to new ideas, perspectives, and experiences. “Yes, You know what a friend is Reuven?--- two people ---with two bodies and one soul.” (David Malter 110). Reuven also goes to Danny’s synagogue where he watches in amazement as Danny and his father go back and forth arguing about the finer points and interpretation of the Talmud. Danny has a photographic memory and a very deep understanding of the Talmud and per the tradition of his Hasidic Jewish sect is expected to take his father’s footsteps and become a

Danny’s father feels like this silence will make Danny become a better individual and teach him about compassion. However, Danny’s father does not realize how much this silence hurts Danny and how it causes him suffering. Even though Danny isn’t suffering physical pain like Reuven did in the beginning of the book, he is however, suffering emotionally, which to some extent, hurts just as much, if not more than physical pain. For a long time, Danny doesn’t understand his father’s methods of interacting or treating him like the reason why he won’t talk with him outside of their faith. Danny asks himself the “why,” but still doesn’t have any answers. Throughout the book, both Reuven and Danny go through suffering. Even though their suffering is different, it does not lessen the pain that they each face throughout this book.

Danny Saunders and Reuven Malters could not be more different in appearance. Following Hasidic traditions, Danny had long earlocks, wore a tzitzit, and wore shoes with a metal bottom. Also, by he is in college his beard is full-grown. The only aspect, appearance wise, that the boys had in common in the beginning of the story were their black skullcaps. Reuven had always worn glasses, but after spending countless years reading every chance he got, Danny needed them too. The stress caused by the reading and from the pressures of his family became too much on his eyes and they started to turn red and develop bags underneath them. As the firstborn son, Danny had known, for as long as he could remember, that he was to take his father’s place as tzaddik and lead his own congregation. But Danny knew that he did not belong up on a podium preaching, just like Reuven knew that he was not meant to be a math professor. Reuven’s father, David, was one of his best friends. He talked to him

Danny and Reuven represent deeply committed friends. Their live intertwine when historical circumstances , religious realities, and their father's differences in child rearing dramatically affect their respective senses of security and happiness.

After Reuven initially wakes up, Danny visits him in the hospital to apologize. “‘I am sorry,’ he said quietly. ‘I’ll just bet you are,’ I told him. He…turned and walked slowly away.” After Reuven tells his father of the events, his father tells him that he should have listened. This response on David’s part initially caused Reuven to listen to Danny when he returned the second time.

… “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.

On the other hand, Reuven and David mutually support the notion that the lines of communication between them should always be open. Whenever Reuven struggles with a problem or simply a question, regardless the significance, he comes directly to his father for assistance. David listens intently and offers a few suggestions or delivers a thorough answer to his son’s query. For example, when Reuven wonders about Danny, David answers with a lengthy and detailed account. This demonstrates not only the comfort they bear in talking to each other but also the patience they’ve developed that has stemmed from their communication. Despite their lack of communication, Reb Saunders and his son share the same admiration, respect, and trust for each other that are consistent with Reuven’s and David’s relationship.

In all of their conversations, Mr. Malter seeks to pass his moral wisdom onto Reuven. At the beginning of the novel, after Reuven refuses to listen to Danny’s apology, his father visits him at the hospital to discuss his