The Chosen Essay

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

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,

man appears in a variety of aspects throughout the book. When Reuven first meets Michael, Michael acts like a spoiled brat. However, the more Reuven gets to know him, he learns that Michael has a mental condition and has trouble controlling his anger at times. During Reuven's time at seminary, Rav Kalman repeatedly challenges him in his education; however, it turns out Rav Kalman needed someone to talk to and fill a hole in his heart. After Reuven and Rachel broke up, it must have been a tense situation, especially for Reuven, when Rachel started dating Danny. Surprisingly, Reuven and Danny's friendship remains as strong as ever. Even though the man vs. man conflict evidently arises in multiple situations, Potok resolves all of them quite

“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.

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 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.

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.

Danny wouldn’t have chucked the baseball at Reuven, if Reb Saunders had not made the decision of raising Danny in silence. “Do you know what I don't understand about that ball game? I don't understand why I wanted to kill you." (66). The reader can assume that all of the anger and pain Danny had towards his father caused him to throw the baseball straight at Reuven’s face.

There is literally no one in the world he can talk to, he needs a friend. The accident with the baseball has bound you to him and he has already sensed in you someone he can talk to without fear” (Potok 112). David, Reuven’s father, is trying to tell him that being Danny’s friend is important because he has never had a friend to fully trust and for him to open up to Reuven is a big deal, which is why he should value Danny’s friendship. This demonstrates a big change for Danny because he now feels as though he can truly be open with some which he has never felt before;

In society today people can feel trapped by many different things like expectations and rules. In the book "the chosen," by Chium Potok Danny feels trapped by his strict religious rules and traditions and by the expectations of his father and his father's congregation. Reuven uses an analogy in the story about a spider and a fly. The fly is trapped in the web of the spider and can't get out. When Rueven sees this he thinks of Danny.

He openly opposed the idea, and he even started a group whose primary purpose was to spread propaganda against the Zionists who were in support of the Jewish state. Reb Saunders even went as far as to tell Danny that he could not be friends with Reuven any longer because he did not agree with what Reuven’s father was rallying for. Finally, Reb Saunders and David Malter differ in the way in which they decide to raise their boys. David and Reuven have a very open relationship, and they talk about almost everything. If Reuven needs help or advice, he goes to his father, and they discuss it. Reb Saunders has decided to raise Danny in silence, and the two never discuss anything aside from their Talmud studies. Reb encourages Danny to try to find a solution to his own problems rather than relying on his father’s help. Throughout the novel, Potok develops David Malter and Reb Saunders as two opposing characters that could not be more different. Potok shows this from the beginning, and he even continues revealing it in the end. Though they are both of the Jewish faith, Reb Saunders and David Malter lead very different