The Chosen first became published in 1967, by author Chaim Potok. A Jewish rabbi himself, Potok gave readers a view of the life of two teenage jewish boys, both with very different fathers. Reuven Malter and Danny Saunders meet while playing against each other in a baseball game. Though the two teens did not immediately like each other, they both became good friends, despite their differences. As a Hasidic Jew, Danny lived a very strict lifestyle and did not maintain a good relationship with his father, Reb Saunders. Throughout The Chosen, Danny displayed many qualities that shaped him as a character. Danny Saunders possessed great intelligence and determination, as well as kindness. Danny Saunders possessed great intelligence with his unbelievable mind that astounded many. He had a photographic memory and hungered for knowledge, reading almost a dozen books a week. Furthermore, Danny would study Talmud for hours and then engage in a complicated, heated discussion with his father; the boy was constantly studying. He possessed a rare, brilliant mind, capable of great feats. While telling Reuven about Danny, Mr. Malter told his son, “You are a brilliant student. I tell you that now very proudly. But he is a phenomenon. Once in a generation is …show more content…
Despite his brilliant mind, not everything came easily to Danny, so he challenged himself. Danny began to learn German for the purpose of reading Freud, the father of psychoanalysis. Danny expressed great frustration over his reading of Freud but continued to read. His determination paid off when he finally discovered a method of understanding Freud’s writing. “He had worked out a method of doing Freud, he said, and seemed to be going all right so far.” (pg. 179) Because Danny was determined to learn Freud, he did not discontinue reading out of frustration, but worked out the issues and proceeded. Danny’s brilliant mind had no limitations because of his
Malter also shows compassion for others in the Chosen. In many occasions when something for the worst happens to the people around, Mr. Malter becomes so worried that his health goes down. He starts to worry so much for other and their problems that he forgets his own. In the beginning of the book, when Reuven gets hit in the baseball he remarks while in the hospital, “My Father came in looking very pale and worn.” (63) Then later on in the book when Reuven gets better Mr. Malter’s health coms back to him and he starts acting normal again. Showing these scenes Chaim Potok really captured Mr. Malter’s
Conroy displays his life through his novel, The Lords of Discipline, to give readers a visual demonstration of how life connections can transform the entity of a novel. Conroy's attendance to the Citadel, his family, and the South helped influence his innovative writing style.
Danny Saunders has an aptitude for learning. When he looks at a page of literature, he instantaneously memorizes it. Blatt after blatt of Talmud and even Ivanhoe forever remain in his fifteen year old head, and that truly leaves the men around him awestruck. Mr. Malter was one of these men. “But he is a phenomenon. Once in a generation is a mind like that born” (110). God gifted Danny with a photographic mind for a reason. Reb Saunders, Danny’s father, believes that God gave Danny a brilliant mind to do great things for the Hasidic church.
David Malter was part of the Jewish sect that took on a more modern approach. He is very understanding, and he cares very deeply for his son Reuven. Reuven and his father's relationship would be considered healthy by most people. They love each other very much, and they have a very open communication with each other.
The novel The Chosen is a story of two Jewish boys who become friends and go through lots of hard times together. The book starts out at a baseball game, one boy on one team and one boy on the other team. The game quickly turns more into a war rather than a game. Reuven was pitching when Danny came up to bat, Reuven threw the ball and Danny hit the ball straight back at him. The ball hit Reuven in the eye, shattered his glasses, and got a piece of glass in his eye. Reuven was taken to the hospital where doctors fixed his eye and he stayed there for five days.
In the book The Chosen, by Chaim Potok, Reuven Malter is shaped by everyone around him. During this interaction his character becomes more developed and engaging. Through the interactions, it becomes apparent that Reuven’s father is always teaching his child how to improve himself. The conversations between Reuven and his father help prepare Reuven develop the mentality and the personal qualities, such as wisdom, compassion, and tolerance, necessary to become a rabbi.
In Jon Krakauer’s non-fiction novel, “Into the Wild”, he tells a story of young man named Chris McCandless. McCandless had grown up in a wealthy family. He was a loner, mainly because of his thirst for social isolation, but seemed to be independent. McCandless had given away all of his money, left almost all of his possessions, became an explorer, and changed him name to Alexander Supertramp, without letting anyone know of his whereabouts which was selfish of him. Not even his own family. He was also a highly intelligent man, yet he also lacked to understand something immediately and the knowledge to keep safe when it is needed. In April of 1992, young McCandless stubbornly hitchhiked his way to Alaska to live in the wild nearby Mt. McKinley. Then four months later in late August, a group of hunters sadly found his dead body. Chris McCandless was very courageous for his decision to go out on his adventures, yet he was inconsiderate for his lack of common sense during the time he was out in the wilderness in Alaska.
Chaim Potok’s The Chosen is the story of a lasting friendship that blossoms between two Jewish boys, Danny Saunders and Reuven Malter, during and after World War II. On a deeper level, much of the plot focuses on the character of their fathers–Reb Saunders and David Malter–whose beliefs and ideals are rooted in two separate worlds. Reb Saunders is a zealous Hasidic rabbi who wants to impart his knowledge of his religion upon Danny and expects his son to follow in his footsteps. David is a professor and single father who comes from a liberal Jewish background. As the friendship between Reuven and Danny grows, both fathers try to reconcile their views with their sons and with their own understanding of the Jewish faith.
thinking while Reb Saunders, Danny’s father, is shown with traditional thinking. As the story progresses, Danny starts to question his traditional beliefs and becomes more open to modern thinking. This is shown when he decides to pursue psychology instead of becoming a rabbi like his father. The novel ultimately suggests that a balance between tradition and modernity is necessary for personal growth and acceptance of the future. generations.
Introduction Franz Kappus, a 19-year old student, wanted to solicit a career advice and a literary critique for the poems he had written (“Rainer Maria Rilke: Letters to a Young Poet” 1). Kappus solicited the advice and critique of Rainer Maria Rilke, a pioneer Austrian poet (“Rainer Maria Rilke: Letters to a Young Poet” 1). Rilke wrote ten letters in order to provide assistance to the needs of Kappus. These letters were in Rilke’s work, entitled, “Letters to a Young Poet. ” There are numerous advantages and complication in the humanistic approaches to the study of psychology.
Dave Saunders, protagonist of the short story “The Man Who Was Almost a Man”, is my chosen character to analyze and exhibit. Dave is a young man about seventeen years old who is in the struggle to prove to all of the adults on the farm that he is a man. To prove he is a man he wants to have a gun to shoot so that he can prove that he is a man, but when he does get the gun his plan backfires and shows his immaturity instead of proving he is a man. Towards the end of the story he gets on a train to go elsewhere to prove that he is a man. I believe Dave is in the struggle of becoming a man and is also in the pursuit of trying to become an important individual instead of being a nigger as his mother called him to let him know where he stands and as white people would call him in this time. Dave is trying to be respected and to become a man but in the end he just ends up humiliating himself.
A defiant young man who only wants one thing and his coming of age story, is what Richard Wright tells in his short story “The Man Who Was Almost A Man”. This short story is about a young seventeen year old man named Dave. Dave lives in a house with his parents, he goes to the store to get a catalogue to look at guns he wants to purchase. Joe is the man at the store who lets Dave keep the catalogue, he then tells Dave he will sell him his gun for two dollars. Dave goes home to his mother, who receives Dave’s paychecks, and he begs her for money to buy the gun from Joe after he has been obsessed with the catalogue during dinner.
“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth” 2 Timothy 2:15. Some consider they need to fit into the world or commit a spectacular work to be known as a remarkable person. In reality, all individuals really must do is follow God’s commands and other details will drop into place. The most problematic part reveals itself as the task to stay strong while following God’s laws. In the Novel The Chosen, Chaim Potok models Reuven Malter as an example for the other boys in the Jewish community as well as the readers because he tries his best to follow God’s laws and never gives up in doing so.
Willbern, David. "Reading After Freud." Ed. G. Douglas Atkins and Laura Morrow. Contemporary Literary Theory. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1989. 158-179.
All through the entire book, Chaim Potok attempted various endeavor in order to express the emphasis on developing his central characters, Reuven Malter and Danny Saunders. One of the main themes Chaim Potok tried to express in The Chosen is that true friendship plays a vital role in maintaining the welfare of any friends. To backbone his idea, Chaim Potok demonstrated several scenarios when Reuven and Danny are in difficult situations and ultimately have to sort out solutions before the problems could corrupt their relationship. Reuven Malter, son of a Modern Orthodox teacher, is smart, athletic and has a particular nick for mathematics. However, Reuven's desire is to become a rabbi of his own sect for he feels that he could " be more useful to people as a rabbi ," ("The Chosen" 74) by doing things such as to " teach them, and help them when they're in trouble " ("The Chosen" 74) Danny Saunders, on the other hand, is the son of a Russian Hasidic rabbi leader, Reb Saunders.