Relationships in Potok's The Chosen Essay

Ever since Reuven got out of the hospital, Reuven’s perspective started to change about Danny and the surroundings around him. The Chosen written by Chaim Potok, began in the early 1940’s, with a softball game between two Jewish parochial schools, on Jewish section of Brooklyn, New York. Each of the two softball teams represents a different kind of Jewish sect. Danny Saunders represents a Hasidic Sect that led by Reb Saunders, while Reuven Malter, the opposing teams, are composed of Modern Orthodox Jews. Reuven was the son of David Malter, who was a yeshiva professor. In The Chosen, Chaim Potok uses symbolism to reveal a focus on perspective. In doing so, Potok’s demonstrates that if vision is the ability to see, then it able to see beneath

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,

No one can truly understand sympathy until they have suffered. In his The Chosen, a postmodern novel, Chaim Potok surveys the meaning of compassion learned through suffering. Danny Saunders, a brilliant Hasidic Jew, lives in Williamsburg, Brooklyn along with his friend, Reuven Malter, in the 1940s. With his photographic memory, Danny aspires to become a psychologist, but he knows that he will have to inherit his father’s position as the rabbi of their community. In addition to this, his father, Reb Saunders, will not speak to him about anything other than the holy book of Talmund. Danny is forced to keep his ideas and experiences to himself, leading to him suffering because of this silence. Chaim Potok’s The Chosen uses Danny’s gradual shift

“Things are always how they seem, Reuven? Since when?” This quote represents the constant reoccurring concept that appears in The Chosen. It’s brought up in many ways where the reader or Reuven’s perception is altered because they don’t know the entire story. Reuven works well as a narrator because we share his position as an outsider looking in on the unfamiliar Hasidim ways. Reuven’s view of Danny Saunders, and his perceptions about Freudian psychology are examples of views that were changed throughout the story.

One of first things Danny did when he talked to Reuven was insult him and call him an ‘apikorsim’, which is a Jew that is not following the basic rules of their faith. After the accident, Reuven refused to accept Danny’s apology and wanted to make him feel as bad as possible. He insulted him multiple times when Danny visited him in the hospital and told him to leave without even listening to him. But when he told his father about what he did, he was told to make Danny his friend and not to push him away. The next day, Danny came to visit him again. He apologized for his behavior the previous day and accepted Danny’s apology to him. After Reuven put aside his anger at the Hasidic boy they were able to become friends. It turned out that their difference of religion did not make any noticeable difference in their friendship at all, contrary to what both once

The Chosen, a novel written by Chaim Potok, is filled with a variety of themes that are brought together through each individual chapter. Chapter 7 in the book had a major impact in bringing forth the novel’s theme. For instance, in this chapter, the narrator, Reuven, starts by establishing the basic plot. He states, “The next day, I met Danny’s father” (Potok 112). Having this plot established is key in the chapter for it is the day that could make or break their friendship in a matter of seconds. Reuven and Danny Saunders have become friends since the incident during the ball game. Yet, there is a conflict in their friendship. Danny is a Hasidic Jew and follows the strict rules and beliefs of the Hasidic faith. Reuven, on the

Tobias Wolff’s parents divorced when he was around 5 years old and Wes Moore’s father die when he was age 3. At the same time, fathers of both these men were missing from their life at an early age. Wolff writes, “For the breakup of our family five years earlier and the misery of her long violent affair, she was going to make up for lost time, and I was going to help her.” By moving from Florida to Utah, Tobias states “We are going to change our luck.” (Wolff, 1989, This Boy’s Life, chapter 1) Likewise, without the presence of a father, the mothers faced raising the boys alone. Just as Moore writes, “I tried to copy his walk, his expressions, I was his main man. That is one of only two memories I have of my father.” (Moore, 2010, The Other

In his review, Bluefard talks about the differences that the two Jewish families have. One family are Hasidic Jews and the other Orthodox. Bluefard states that the Hasidic Jews (Danny’s family) revert to earlier scholasticism, mostly used in Europe, by teaching through “silence.” Basically meaning that he doesn’t speak of anything but religion and scholastic subjects. Bluefard talks about how strict Danny’s Hasidic father is and how Danny is forced and pressured into being a Rabbi, thus influencing Danny to rebel. The Orthodox Jews on the other hand, are quite the opposite. Bluefard talks about how Reuven’s father is much nicer, more open, and understanding. He lets Reuven be what he wants to become, and is not pressured. Bluefard says that the difference between the fathers is from “their respective visions toward the holocaust” (Bluefard, 2)

Reuven slowly learns to accept and understand different aspects of being a Jew. This event brings Reuven and Danny closer, for they now have an understanding of one another’s religion and family, and other values. This allows for both boys to openly change the predisposed thoughts on the other one’s lifestyle and also to remove the previous ideas. As Danny and Reuven start thinking together and spending time together as people without bias or stereotypes, they slowly begin strengthening their bond. The understanding of each other and their life

He first comes to the hospital and tries to apologize to Reuven and Reuven first gets angry. Danny understood and came again to apologize. He also respects his dad even though his dad is hard on him and wants him to be a Rabbi. Danny did not get angry at his dad, but instead he listened and cared about what his dad had to say. Danny also showed respect to his father when he did not want Danny to see Reuven because of Reuven’s fathers beliefs and actions he took towards the Zionist movement. “Danny was not to see me, talk to me, listen to me, be found within four feet of me”(Potok, p. 231). Danny listened to his dad and show respect for his rules even if he didn’t agree with them. All of these situations show how to be respectful in certain situations and it relates to how children respect to not only parents and elders, but to people all

Throughout most of the novel, Danny Saunders’s father did not speak to him unless the two were studying the Torah together. When Reuven visits Danny’s synagogue, Reb Saunders interrogates Danny about the Torah, reprimanding him when he makes a mistake (141). After this incident, Danny confesses that his father is a “pretty complicated person” (145) and tries to justify his [Reb Saunders’s] actions to Reuven. Despite his respect for his father, Danny never truly understands why his father has raised him in silence. At the end of the novel, Reb Saunders explains his actions and tells Danny and Reuven that he raised Danny in silence so that he would understand the suffering of others and not grow up to be “a mind without a soul” (279). While Reuven still thought Reb Saunders was tyrannical, Danny had an epiphany finally understood his father. On the last page of the novel, Danny told Reuven that he would raise his own future children in silence if he “cannot find another way” (284). Through saying this, Danny shows that he has had an epiphany and understands the reason for his father’s actions and would repeat those actions if they were necessary. Through the novel, Danny grew in his compassion and was able to understand and accept his father’s reasons for raising him in

While Danny is struggling to choose his future he chooses Rueven as a friends. Reb Saunders told Rueven when they first met, “‘I am happy my Daniel has chosen you for a friend.’” (pg. 141) This implies that Reuven was chosen to be Danny’s friend not the other was around; since he was chosen to be Danny’s friends he does not have a choice of when they stop being friends. In addition, by being Danny’s friend, Rueven realizes that there are many different ways to impact the world. While deciding how he wants to lead his life he tells Danny, “‘I sort of feel I could be more useful to people as rabbi. To our own people, I mean. You know, not everyone is religious, like you or me. I could teach them, and help them when they’re in trouble.’” (pg. 70) By saying this Rueven is exemplifying his wish to make a difference in the world. He see’s how he made a difference in Danny’s life and wants to make a difference in other peoples lifes

that did not match up with who they actually are. Reuven’s perception of Hasidic Jews changes

The book, The Chosen, was written in 1967, by Chaim Potok. This book was about two boys, Danny Saunders and Reuven Malter, growing up in Brooklyn, New York. They met because of a softball game when Danny’s team played Reuven’s team. They became best friends and hung out at the library until the Zionist movements grew. Because of Reuven’s father being a Zionist, he joined in with the movement. While Danny’s father was Hasidic, he was opposed of the movement. Because their father’s opposing views, this broke away their friendship. In the book, Mr. Potok, used many characters, themes, symbols, and literary devices to express his tone, mood, and why he wrote the book. For examples, he used Danny Saunders and the relationship with his father, the

The conflict in the novel is the two philosophies in the Jewish community. The differences between Danny and Reuven are that Danny is more open minded and Reuven is traditional, stubborn, and parochial. Danny