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During World War II is when Danny and Reuven first met. Within The Chosen, by Chaim Potok are three quotes. Each quote represents the beginning of a new part to the book. Each part of the book contains a little more of the story of Reuven Malter and Danny Saunders’ friendship. The first quote can be related to Reuven’s obedience towards his father, quote two illustrates the Saunders’ views of silence, and the third quote explains that silence can be used as a way of communication. 4
Quoted at the beginning of the book is “I was a son to my father… And he taught me and said to me, “Let your heart hold fast my words…’” –Proverbs. This quote relates to Reuven’s obedience towards his father, David Malter. When Reuven and Danny first meet in the book, Danny accidentally hurts Reuven’s eye. And when Danny comes to apologize, Reuven refuses. That day, Reuven’s father also came to see him. When Reuven explains the situation he had had with Danny earlier that day, his father tells him he must forgive him. Obeying his father, when Danny visits again, Reuven tells him that he accepts his apolo...
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.
First, Danny and Reb Saunders’ flawed relationship is evident at the start of the novel
The relationship between the two fathers and the two sons is a very important theme in this book. Because of their different backgrounds, Reb Saunders and David Malters approached raising a child from two totally different perspectives. Despite the obvious differences in the two men’s beliefs, both did what they thought was right for their sons. Reb Saunders was a Hasidic tzaddik and wanted his son to follow in his footsteps. He raised Danny in silence, hoping to teach him to listen to silence, to learn compassion, and to develop a soul to go with his mind. Unless it had to do with religious studies, Reb never had an actual conversation with Danny after the age of 3. Reb wanted Danny to find things out for himself. On the other hand, Reuven’s father, Mr. Malters, felt it very important that he had good and frequent communication between himself and his son. The two would sometimes talk for hours about life, different religions, friends and anything else Reuven would want to ...
In the novel, The Chosen, Chaim Potok successfully captures the strange customs of a Jewish community through wit and satire. Potok's novel focuses on two Jewish boys, who live in a world where their families expect high standards of achievement of them. The wish to become an insightful leader in the Jewish community was an always-predominant custom of the two families. But with hard work and perseverance, the two boys (Rueven and Danny), find out that they really are, and what lives they will lead in the future. The novel concentrates on the desire to conceive a person's personal wants while conforming to tradition.
A silence exists between Reuven and Danny’s fathers as they never actually speak to each other, instead Reuven acts as the middleman between them. Reb Saunder’s gut reaction upon hearing David Malter’s speech on Zionism is to split Danny and Reuven like an atom, and a nuclear reaction occurs. Reuven wants to get into fights and scream at the anti-Zionists, and after his father’s heart attack Reuven has no one. “For the first few days the total silence inside the hospital was impossible for me to take….my schoolwork began to suffer.” (243) In his lonely apartment he labors studying the Talmud hoping one day that Rav Garshenson will call upon him in class to exhibit his knowledge and break the silence. Even Reuven’s father is silent when asked about the reasoning between the silence between Reb and Danny. Showing his dislike towards Reb, Reuven gives Reb the silent treatment by repeatedly declining invitations come over on the Shabbat. Silence is an unimaginable concept to Reuven, but it becomes a reality when only his thoughts accompany him due to the absence of his father and best
As the story evolves, Danny and Reuven become very good friends. This is a highlight for Danny, given that he has never had a close friend before Reuven. Danny has lived a very lonely life. He has not had any friends because he feels that no understands him. Reuven's father realizes Danny's loneliness, and gives Reuven some fatherly advice. He comments, "Reb Saunders' son is a terribly torn and lonely boy. There is literally no one in the world he can talk to. He needs a friend." (pg. 110) David Malter continues by saying, "The accident with the baseball has bound him to you and he has already sensed in you someone he can talk to without fear. I am very proud of you for that." (pg. 110) Reuven's father expresses his confidence to his son very openly which is an important aspect in comparing with Danny and his father's relationship.
The Chosen, a novel written by Chaim Potok, is filled with a variety of themes that are brought together through each individual chapter. Chapter 7 in the book had a major impact in bringing forth the novel’s theme. For instance, in this chapter, the narrator, Reuven, starts by establishing the basic plot. He states, “The next day, I met Danny’s father” (Potok 112). Having this plot established is key in the chapter for it is the day that could make or break their friendship in a matter of seconds. Reuven and Danny Saunders have become friends since the incident during the ball game. Yet, there is a conflict in their friendship. Danny is a Hasidic Jew and follows the strict rules and beliefs of the Hasidic faith. Reuven, on the other hand, is an Orthodox Jew who does not follow all of the traditional customs, but does honor his faith. Rev Saunders, Danny’s father, hears from his son about his relationship with Reuven Matler, and wants to meet the young teen to approve of this companionship. Danny has never had a comrade who had not been a Hasidic Jew. This begins to show part of how the two must work through numerous hurdles in order to sustain their friendship and let it grow. Another example in this chapter that supports the basic plot is how Rev Saunders not only quizzes Danny on the Talmud lecture, but unexpectedly quizzes Reuven. He needed to test the boy, not only to approve of him as a friend for Danny, but to see what the son of David Malter knew. Rev Saunders approaches Reuven and says, “I am happy my Daniel has chosen you for a friend. My son has many friends. But he does not talk about them the way he talks about you” (141). He approves of his son’s friendship with Reuven Malter.
Next, Potok introduces his theme of silence. Silence in this novel serves as both the theme and a conflict between characters. Potok shows us that like Reuven Malter, Danny Saunders life in silence develops a high respect of physical senses. Danny says this about his silence, "My father taught me with silence. . .to look into myself, to find my own strength, to walk around inside myself in company with my soul. . .. One learns of the pain of others by suffering one's own pain ... by turning inside oneself. . .. It makes us aware of how frail and tiny we are and of how much we must depend upon the Master of the Universe.
Written by Chaim Potok, The Chosen takes place during a significant moment in world history. The Chosen begins at the end of World War II in Williamsburg, which was heavily populated by Jews in 1940s. Throughout the book, The Chosen further includes various historical events in 1940s related to political situations in the world at that time. Those events are not mere backdrops but contribute significantly to the plot and content. Among them, there are five significant historical events that influence on the Malter’s and Saunders’ families. It includes D-Day, the death of President Roosevelt, end of World War II, revelation of the Holocaust in Europe, and struggle for the state of Israel creation. Each of those historical occurrences shows its
Silence teaches and creates things, it also leaves things bottled up inside and emotions running astray. In the book, The Chosen the characters didn't always know what was happening with others because they were silent many times. But some could know what each other were talking about like, Danny and Reuven. They could understand each other even when silent because of the close relationship they had Danny's silence is based on "Being raised in silence", "The technique and how it impacted Danny", and "How the method of raising a child can work out"
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.
Remarque also tried to teach his audience. Written within a decade of the end of the war, the book calls on those who forfeited their youth to the war not to allow time to hide what had happened. Time may heal all wounds, but the cause of those wounds must not be forgotten, nor allowed to repeat itself. The author is; however, pragmatic enough to realize that all will not learn the lesson; nevertheless, those who are willing to learn it will discover that the story has been told before, and without their intervention, it is doomed to be told again.
In The Chosen by Chaim Potok, vision is a metaphor for perceptive growth. During Book One, Reuven is naïve, and he fails to see through the eyes of others. However, after he meets Danny, the two boys progress into Book Two with more empathetic and mature eyes. In Book Three, at the end of the novel, the two boys – now young men – have grown perceptively to see and understand the paradox of the significance and insignificance of their existences.
In The Chosen by Chaim Potok, the main character Reuven Malter experiences silence in all forms. This phrase applies to him by the time that he never appreciated how much he and Danny Saunders has been talking and then suddenly Reb Saunders, Danny's father, separated them. This is appointed to in this passage, "I hated the silence between us and thought it unimaginable that Danny and his father never really talked. Silence was ugly, it was black, it leered, it was cancerous, it was death. I hated it, and I hated Reb Saunders for forcing it upon me and his son (Potok 235, Ch 14). Though in this passage Reuven said he hates the silence, it makes him more aware of what is happening and learns to enjoy it and make use of it. "In subsequent weeks, I was grateful for that silence" (Potok 242, Ch 14). This silence has opened his mind and has allowed him to think of more