Theme Of Friendship 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

When Danny had hit the baseball, “My [Reuven] glasses had shattered...felt a sharp pain in my left eye when I blinked”(Potok 33). The “shattered glasses” symbolize the hatred between the two enemies, Danny and Reuven, will be broken, and Reuven’ perception has changed, leading to a friendship. As Reuven got home from the hospital, Reuven walked around his house “watching the sunlight and listening to the sounds on the street outside…tasting the room and the sunlight and the sounds” (Potok 96). Ever since Reuven’s eye accident and encountered Billy’s blindness, Reuven has developed an appreciation the gift of perception as he describes “watching,” listening to,” and “tasting” the world around him. Not only Reuven’s accident enhanced his physical awareness that was surrounding him, but also the symbolism of the world’s suffering and difficulty. On the day that Danny and Reuven were about to separate pathways, “we [Reuven and Danny] shook hands and I [Reuven] watched him walked away quickly, tall, lean and bend forward with eagerness and hungry for the future.” Reuven emphasizes his subjective perception of Danny’s departure of vision, touch and taste. This multisensory perspective reflects the way Reuven’s perspective has broadened, which symbolize Danny and Reuven

best of friends and that they did not have any problems. But, all of this changed with

Danny and Reuven’s relationship was a link between father and son, but this grew into something more, something life-long and unchanging. This friendship was true, it meant a lot to both of them, and their parents. However, after large disagreements in both Danny and Reuven’s religious lives and families, Reb Saunders excommunicates Reuven from the Hasidic community and Danny’s life.

Reuven acts as a buffer between Reb and Danny Saunders. Since Reb feels he can't talk to Danny in order to raise him properly, he talks to Reuven about Danny. They talk to each other through Reuven. Reuven is also a very supportive and encouraging friend to Danny. He gives him advice and is willing to listen to Danny's problems.

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.

The Saunders share dinner each night, shrouded in Reb’s silence, whereas the Malter clan discusses the day and the Zionist movement. Towards the end of the novel, Danny reveals to Reuven, “you can listen to silence and learn from it” (267). Reuven cannot comprehend the meaning behind Danny’s statement because of the parenting technique David Malter utilizes; even with just father and son, conversation is constant. Reuven remains unsure of the point Reb Saunders tries to prove until the man orders an end to the boys’ friendship. Only then does he understand, as the boys communicate through looks instead of words. Not only do the parenting styles of each family differ, but the dynamics diverge. It is clear that Reb Saunders will not tolerate anything than what he declares, while David and Reuven act as an equal pair in their family dynamic. Both boys learn from the other’s father. David gives Danny knowledge through reading and books, proving that life involves more than just religion; Reb helps Reuven understand how to overcome differences and understand different points of view. Reb Saunders and David Malter interact with their sons in different ways, yet teach the boys invaluable

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.

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

Friends are a blessing, especially when friends are found within the madness of war. In the novel, the narrator and author, Tim O’Brien, discusses fictionalized war stories from his experiences in Vietnam. All of the stories are very different. Some deal with death, some deal with love, and some don’t actually deal with the war at all, but they are all connected. They all exemplify, in one way or another, a “true” war story. In one of O’Brien’s stories, he discusses the bond between two men on their journey from enemies, to friends, to loss. The story is appropriately titled, “Friends”. The truth that O’Brien discusses in “Friends” deals with the randomness and chaos of war. War is unexpected, yet the unexpectation of war can lead to serenity

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

The friendship that started it all starts on a baseball field where the two boys are playing against each other. Near the ending of the baseball game, Danny Saunders hits Reuven Malter in the eye with a baseball, sending him to the hospital. For a moment they become enemies. When Danny first visits Reuven in the hospital, he feels nothing but hatred towards Danny. The seconds time Danny visits the hospital, they start talking and end up becoming close friends as each chapter carries on. Reb Saunders claims that God

Danny’s whole life is planned and based around judaism. For example, “There is a girl involved? And you will refuse to marry this girl? Yes” (273). This statement gives an example of how Danny’s religion really manipulates his future.

Danny’s father, an anti-Zionist, found out and banned Danny from speaking to Reuven. This passage indicates poor religious tolerance. Even though Reuven and Danny disagreed on some religious aspects, they were very close friends and it was wrong for Reb Saunders to forbid their friendship. In the end, Reb Saunders realized his mistake and asked both Reuven and Danny for his

Since Danny had such high respect for his father despite the silence he received from him, Reuven found it difficult to not intervene in the relationship. He knows how to handle any situation on his own now, whether he has someone there with him or not. Mr. Saunders did apologize to Danny for the way he raised his son, finally realizing the fault in his beliefs. The little relationship that Danny and his father did have growing up was one that Reuven resented as his relationship with his father was quite normal. Mr. Malter helped Reuven with his studies all throughout school, they enjoyed Shabbat together and chatted.