Comparing Reuven And Danny's Culture

In The Chosen by Chaim Potok, Danny, Reuven, and Mr. Malter represent three brilliant men. Each man is smart in his own way, but bond together through their knowledge. Mr. Malter, the father of Reuven, brings an added volume of wisdom to the young men’s lives. He is able to teach the things far beyond the classroom. Throughout the book, not only the boys but also Mr. Malter gain a deal of brilliancy. They learn many things about themselves and the world through their friendships with other cultures, the war, and the many obstacles they traverse through. Danny, Reuven, and Mr. Malter portray brilliancy far beyond being smart in school.

Friendship is a wonderful yet confusing thing. This concept is brilliantly displayed in Chaim Potok’s The Chosen. In the book, the main character, Reuven, and Danny Saunders become friends through an interesting turn of events during a baseball game, the short version being that Danny ended up putting Reuven in the hospital with a baseball in the eye. After Reuven gets over some feelings of bitterness towards Danny, the two grow to be great friends. There are many difficulties when it comes to friendship, but the beauty of a good friendship is that good friends can power through them.

One of the most common fears among individuals is the fear of dying. But what is it that makes us so fearful? Above all, people worry they will not be remembered by those who they leave behind. However, they not only worry that their memories will be lost over time, but that their beliefs and traditions will be forgotten as well. Throughout their lives, individuals tend to act a certain way to ensure their morals will be carried on, even when they are gone. In order for their morals to be carried on, they have to have faith in the people that they share their life with. The Reb, in Mitch Albom’s have a little faith, told his daughter to “’[r]emember the memories’” so that his beliefs and teachings would not be forgotten even when he is long

Chaim Potok’s The Chosen is a book that is not characterized by its suspenseful plots nor rich dialogue; instead, it conveys powerful the powerful themes are friendship and self-identity through subtle interactions between characters and by intertwining events in history to further develop the story (Chosen). The Chosen explores the unlikely friendship between two Jewish boys: Reuven Malter and Danny Saunders. Reuven is an Orthodox Jew raised by his scholarly father and writer, David Malter. He has a very warm relationship with his father. This is contrasted by Danny's strained relationship with his father, Rabbi Isaac Saunders, also known as Reb Saunders, who is a stubborn and intolerant leader of his congregation of Hasidic Jews. Due to Danny's lack of compassion and empathy at young age, Reb Saunders decides to raise Danny in silence so he could hear the struggles and perils in the world. Having compassion is essential for Danny because he is to inherit his father’s position as a

In the realistic fiction novel The Chosen, by Chaim Potok, two boys make their transition into adulthood. In the beginning of the novel, Reuven, a Modern Orthodox Jew and Danny, a Chasidic Jew barely know each other, but start to after Danny hits Reuven with a baseball. After this, Reuven makes friends with Danny and they spend much time together. Danny wants to become a psychologist, against his father's wishes, and Reuven helps him achieve that. Their father's, David Malter and Reb Saunders often give insights into the pasts of Danny and Reuven. David Malter is an imperative character in the development of Danny and Reuven's friendship, allowing them to follow in their own paths

This quote introduces one of the many themes that are shown throughout the entire novel-the contrast between people and their diverse ideas. In their antagonistic relationship, Danny is portrayed as a formidable opponent and a possible rival for Reuven. Even during their first meeting with one another, almost immediately, Reuven notices the obvious differences between him and Danny. For starters, Reuven is Orthodox whereas Danny is part of a different sect of Judaism, known as Hasidism. Despite their contrasting appearances and beliefs, the two boys are also similar in many ways; they both play an important role in their softball teams including the genuine devotion they both have towards their own religion. Furthermore, although the two boys

In The Chosen written by Chaim Potok one of the greatest bonds in the book is between Danny and Reuven. They demonstrate that being a good friend is not merely about having pleasurable times but to be there for the other through the hard times. Not only that but being able to correct each other without arguments. Moreover, these two unlikely friends meet for the first time as enemies for a baseball game and Danny ends up injuring Reuven nearly blinding him in one eye. Somehow they overcome this and in the end, become great friends. Reuven and Danny demonstrate true friendship though loyalty, being there for one another, and they do not let obstacles ruin their friendship.

The minor characters in The Chosen are Mr. Savo, Billy, and Mickey, and each play an important role in helping Reuven’s perspectives transform. Mr. Savo is a middle-aged man who was a boxer. He suffered an injury to his eye in a match and ended up in the hospital, evidentially having his eye surgically removed. His conversations with Reuven make him feel more secure in his faith saying he “always likes kids that hold onto their religion”, showing Reuven he can wear his skullcap and pray without feeling judged. Mr. Savo tells stories to Reuven about boxing and his manager who lost faith in him. Mr. Savo provides the basis for Reuven’s exploration into taking for granted his health and eyesight.

The second important event in the friendship of Reuven and Danny is when Reuven eats a Shabbat meal with Danny. Reuven goes to the Hasidic synagogue because Reb Saunders wants to meet him. Reuven discovers that Reb never talks to Danny except when they are studying Talmud. Danny says to Reuven “…I told him we were friends” (p. 115). However, Danny says that Reb Saunders needs to approve of his friends, especially if it is not a Hasid. While Reuven is in the Hasidic synagogues, he sees how the Hasidic men treat Danny and Reb Saunders like their God. Reb Saunders Reuven about gematriya as a way of proving if he is worthy to become Danny’s friend. Reuven feels like he passed the test by pointing out a mistake in one of the gematriyot. The Hasidic

In Chaim Potok’s The Chosen, Reuven Malter, Danny, and Reb Saunders are three distinct characters that display their amazing, God-given characteristic of respect towards not only their family but also close friends. “Show respect even to those who don’t deserve it; not as a reflection of their character, but as a reflection of yours.” (Dave Willis) Derived from this quote is a good challenger and motivator to people of all religions to show respect and gratitude towards people who might not even deserve it. Reuven Malter displays respect toward his good friend, Danny Saunders, when he deeply studies the writings of psychoanalysis. Danny Saunders also treats not only his friend, Reuven Malter with respect of his religion, but also his father who normally strays away from speaking to his son. Reb Saunders, the father of Danny, has the job of a Jewish rabbi, and must constantly respect his son’s keen interest in topics other than religion. First, Reuven Malter’s respect will stand tested when his friend wants to discuss matters that do not have to do with religion.

Belief remains so important to the making of Mr. Saunders due to his job as a tzaddik and because of his troubling life. As a tzaddik, Reb is looked up to as a messenger from God and this means he must believe in God more than any other and show true humbleness before God. Danny describes his father’s role as, “kind of a messenger of God, a bridge between his followers and God” (119). Reb must also have had great belief throughout his childhood in Russia, when he inherited his role as tzaddik from his father and he did not know what to do. He trusted God to lead him and empower him, so he brought his followers to America, not knowing how others would treat them. Clearly, Reb Saunders demonstrates belief

The Chosen is one of the famous works of Chaim Potok’s numerous books. It was published in 1967, and it portrays the cultures and norms of two Jewish sects: the Modern Orthodox and the Hasidic. The story takes place during the Great Depression, a period when Jewish tradition was threatened to become extinct all together. The main protagonists of the story, Reuven Malter and Danny Saunders, represent the two opposing sects. The story depicts how these two sects looked at each other on unfriendly terms at beginning, but learned to set their differences aside and got along very well at last. Reuven and Danny experienced multiple hardships, as their cultures clashed and nearly destroyed their friendship. The author

Danny Saunders demonstrates smart, kindness, and religious as his personality develops throughout the story. During even the first few chapters Danny’s character begins to develop. As he progressively develops in the story we can see how well educated he actually is. He reads a lot and goes through a lot of schooling which shows through his actions which are not always proper but usually well thought out. In chapter 7 page 140 Danny displays how smart he is in this sentence “Danny repeated a short passage from the tractate Sanhedrin, and then his father quoted another passage from Yoma which contradicted the passage in Sanhedrin and Danny answered with a passage from Gittin which dissolved the contradiction.”(The Chosen, Chaim Potok) this shows how educated Danny is that he could quote and argue against a statement with father using the quotes.

Reuven is very annoyed that Reb Saunders is not allowing his son to talk to him. He really misses Danny. Being forced to be in the same room with Danny, but not being allowed to talk to him, makes Reuven very frustrated. The silence is ugly, because it forces Danny and Reuven to be near each other and think bad things about each other, but it doesn’t allow them to talk. Because Reuven and Danny can’t talk, Reuven can’t be 100% convinced that Danny’s feelings about their friendship hadn’t changed. The silence is leered because it’s mean-spirited, even though Danny and Reuven don’t dislike each other. The fact that Danny won’t acknowledge Reuven makes Reuven very hurt, and Reuven begins to wish that Danny Saunders would go to hell. The silence

The first reason that supports this thesis is the different way they teach their sons Talmud. Reb teaches Danny to study the Talmud in silence. It seems that the silence Reb is doing to Danny is cruel and mean. But Reb is teaching him like this because he thinks it is the best way to have