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The chosen chaim potok about silence
Examples of silence in the chosen
The chosen chaim potok about silence
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Chaim Potok uses many different types of silence in The Chosen. He utilizes many of them to facilitate illustrating the characters’ beliefs and emotions. The silence helps to buoy the imagery and strength of the emotions and assists in adding depth to the moment. Each silence also helps to clarify the messages that pass through the story, making them sharper and additionally refined.
Chaim Potok’s use of silence helps to exemplify the utter sorrow and angst of the Anti-Zionist Hasidic League (led by Reb Saunders) when the bloody fighting is occurring in Palestine. The League, which was previously contesting Zionism and the development of Israel without the coming of the Messiah via papers, flyers, and rallies, grew oddly silent with the comings of more violence in Palestine. “…as Arab forces began to attack the Jewish communities of Palestine, as an Arab mob surged through Princess Mary Avenue in Jerusalem…as the toll of Jewish dead increased daily, Reb Saunders’ league grew strangely silent.” (pg.240). The silence of the Hasids showed just how depressed and grief-stricken they were with the acts of violence against their people. They were so passionately opposed to Zionism that it would have had to take a very powerful series of events to get them to turn their energies away from crushing Zionism to another subject—which is what the events in Palestine did. It was like it was worse for them to witness such events than it was for the Zionists to make headway, which really is saying something. “Their pain over this new outbreak of violence against the Jews of Palestine outweighed their hatred of Zionism. They did not become Zionists; they merely became silent.” (pg.240). That silence also helps to magnify the anguish that all th...
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...And the world needs a tzaddik.’ ”
Silence was used in many different ways throughout this book. It was used to demonstrate and strengthen character emotions and reactions, and it helped to add depth to important or poignant moments in the story. It was used to show thought process or hard decisions and impeded thoughts. Though they were all different, they were the same in that they were all used to emphasize emotions and to amplify the messages in the story, as well as the imagery. Anguish, pain, and anger in particular were emotions that appeared many times in the story and were almost always accompanied by a silence that amplified their qualities. Chaim Potok’s use of silence in The Chosen deepens the meaning of the story, helps to clarify and outline its emotional structure, and makes the anecdote more thought provoking and inducing for the reader.
In the book The Chosen the four main characters have different views on how children should be raised. Danny Saunders was said to be raised in silence. Danny was raised in silence in that communication was cut off between Danny and his father, except when they were studying Talmud. The reason Danny’s father did not speak to his son is because Rabbi Saunders wanted to have Danny think things through himself. Reb Saunders also wanted Danny to grow up in the same manner he himself was raised.
Chaim Potok’s novel, The Chosen, describes a friendship between two Jewish boys raised in two different Jewish sects. Danny Saunders, a Hasidic Jew, slowly develops a true, long-lasting friendship with Rueven Malter, a modern Orthodox Jew. Although, Danny and Rueven experience difficulties early on in their friendship because of their different religious beliefs and practices, they learn to work through their differences and form a friendship that surpasses all of their religious inconsistencies. The story takes place in the 1940s in the neighborhood of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, New York. Jews inhabit most of the Williamsburg area and few non-Jews live here. During this time in the United States Jews experienced an immense amount of persecution because of World War II and the Holocaust. Potok uses his novel to describe the differences between the different sects of Judaism and how the different sects learn to appreciate one another.
In The Chosen, silence plays an important aspect in the characters lives. Reb Saunders forced silence and suffering upon his son Danny by not talking to him about anything other than his studies. He says he does this because he feels that Danny is so brilliant that he might not understand the suffering of others. Reb Saunders feels that silence is suffering by imposing non-communication, however, silence is really how Reuven, Danny, David Malter, and Reb Saunders communicate with each other and the world around them.
The tone is set in this chapter as Krakauer uses words to create an atmosphere of worry, fear, and happiness in McCandless’s mind. “The bush is an unforgiving place, however, that cares nothing for hope or longing”(4). McCandless is on the path of death, which creates worry and fear for the young boy. “He was determined. Real gung ho. The word that comes to mind is excited,” (6). Alex is very excited and care free, which Krakauer used to his advantage in making the tone of Alex’s mind happy. The author creates tones to make the reader feel the moment as if the readers were sitting there themselves. Krakauer uses dialogue and setting to create the mixed tones of this chapter. As one can see from the quotes and scenery the author uses tones that are blunt and are to the point to make the reader feel as though the emotions are their own. Krakauer uses plenty of figurative language in this chapter. He uses figurative language to support his ideas,to express the surroundings, and tone around the character. To start the chapter he uses a simile describing the landscape of the area, “…sprawls across the flats like a rumpled blanket on an unmade bed,” (9). This statement is used to make reader sense the area and set the mood for the chapter. The use of figurative language in this chapter is to make a visual representation in the readers mind. “It’s satellites surrender to the low Kantishna plain” (9).
In this book everyone knew what was going on, but nobody wanted to say anything. They knew what was going on but did nothing to prevent it. The reader on the other hand doesn’t know what is happening and only learning piece by piece each chapter. Not knowing what’s going on is tortuous for the reader but makes them want more, so they keep reading.
...of the situation, "The position of the Jews in liberated countries is desperate. The political pressure in Palestine is becoming unbearable. And so is my personal position as President of the Jewish agency. This is the hour to eliminate the British White Paper, to open the doors of Palestine and to proclaim the Jewish state" (Ganin). The British negative attitude gave the militant Zionists who wanted a new policy towards England and for new activist leadership a reason to take action. They felt, "...it's astonishing how fast they forgot about that..." (Silverberg). The Zionist leaders saw that after World War Two, Britain was exhausted economically and psychologically. British power had weakened because of the war. The Jewish community realized that they would not be able to rely on Britain for help and so they turned all their attention to the United States (Ganin).
...m. A part of the problem today in this conflict is the people not willing to change or go along with what their leaders enforce and their ideas. There have been many acts of aggression from the Jews themselves because they didn’t feel Palestine’s should receive land. Civil disobedience and acting out is a cause to making the conflict last longer.
This marked the beginning of the Palestine armed conflict, one of its kinds to be witnessed in centuries since the fall of the Ottoman Empire and World War 1. Characterized by a chronology of endless confrontations, this conflict has since affected not only the Middle East relations, but also the gl...
In Chaim Potok’s The Chosen, two contrasting characters are introduced—Reuven Malter and Danny Saunders. They are opposites. While Reuven is forward—speaking his mind, Danny Saunders shows a stark contrast—an inflective soul, listening to silence, and growing from it. These characters set the stage for a lasting relationship to form, to be strengthened, and to be stressed.
The Voice also seems to invite the listener into the town, when it tells us“ Hush, the babies are sleeping” it then goes into a string of images about the people of the town: “the farmers, the fishers, the tradesmen and pensioners, cobbler, schoolteacher, postman and publican”. Strings of images convey very strong feelings and can get across the atmosphere of a place very well. This particular string of images is telling the listener all the people in the town who is asleep. The effect of it is the Voice becoming friendlier with the listener and telling him/her about the town and its people.
“Death Marches”. Jewish virtual library everything you need to know about anti Semitism to Zionism. 2014 American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise .Web. 7 February 2014.
Even though Zionist and non-Zionist hearts bleed together at cruelty and mistreatment of Jews, there are many differences such as, the portrayal of Jews. “The basic proposition is that three-fourths of the Jews of the world are living in hopeless misery. Of the ten millions, one-half live in the pale of Settlement in Russia under conditions which have been depicted repeatedly to the horror of civilized mankind. One million are in Galicia, ni...
The next theme used by the author to inspire a feeling of despair in this story is the randomness of persecution. By making the villagers draw these slips of paper once a year would provoke a feeling of hopelessness. Because they know that no matter what they do one day they may be subjected to this brutal death. And it woul...
By developing a relationship between two people who come from completely distinct worlds, Chaim Potok was able to instigate and investigate a profound and deeply moving story of true friendship and the importance of father-son interconnection through self-realization in the work of The Chosen by explicitly introducing a series of challenges that question the morality and judgment of each protagonist. Through his masterpiece and by inserting complex situations, Chaim Potok took to his benefit to display the comparison between his characters and normal people their similarities and differences.
With both hands resting lightly on the table to each side of his white foam cup, Otis stared into its deep abyss of emptiness with his head bowed as if willing it to fill again, giving him a reason to enjoy the shelter that the indoors provided. I could almost touch the conflict going on inside of him, a battle of wills as if he was negotiating with an imaginary devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other. I sensed a cramp of discomfort seizing his insides, compelling him to flee, then a silent resolve, as if a moment of clarity had graced his consciousness.