Silence In Chaim Potok's The Chosen

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

“Silence is violence” is a common phrase used by people nowadays which references people who lack initiative when it comes to speaking out against oppression. The same phrase could be applied to the ideas within Shusaku Endo’s novel, Silence. Endo was clever to name his novel Silence, because the word is a very prominent symbol within the story. In fact, it plays a crucial role to the development of the main character. Although some readers may argue that the role of silence in the book is neutral, I claim that silence plays a negative role for the characters because it is what causes protagonist Rodrigues to renounce his faith. In the story, it represents the silence of God, which induces Rodrigues to question his religion through the torture of innocent Japanese Christians.

      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,

Silence is more important today than it has ever been due to the growing issue our society faces known as “the tyranny of noise”, a phrase coined by Benedictine

Quote 1 neutrally helps the oppressor never the victim silence encourages the tormentor never the tormented .silence makes the tormentor feel like he is doing something right but if you talk about it and let the world know .They’ll realize they are doing something wrong. If they was to put me in a death camp and I survived I would let the world know about all the suffering and torture I went through and that Hitler’s way of

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.

I thought that Silent Ears, Silent Heart was an excellent book. It really gave you a full prospective of what a family and a person has to go through living a life without being able to hear sound it also helps you realize what someone has to go through that can’t hear what is going on around them. The book starts off with a couple named the Clines there’s Mr. Cline who is Jack who runs his own multimillion dollar business in a glass production. His dream is to have his son at his side and follow in his footsteps and run the family business someday. Then there’s Mrs. Cline who is Margret who is a stay at home wife that is waiting the arrival of their child.

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

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 the thirteenth-century French romance, Silence, translated by Sarah Roche-Mahdi, the titular character faces challenges because of her gender-identity for no reasons of her own. Silence is unable to achieve knighthood as long as she is a woman. The French romance was written to test the boundaries of this genre, and proved that in the end, the female archetype found so often in Arthurian literature will always remain the same.