ipl-logo

Danny Saunders's Beliefs In The Chosen By Chaim Potok

697 Words3 Pages

"Change is the result of true learning." ~ Leo Buscaglia. Currently, many people become tricked into believing other's opinions because they are too afraid to voice their own. In the renowned novel The Chosen written by Chaim Potok, portrays Danny Saunders learns that holding strong to his beliefs are extremely important. A young boy destined to follow in his father's footsteps and become a Hasidic leader shows many that sometimes people must follow their convictions despite the expectations of others. Although formulating these difficult decisions may result in hurting many, it shapes humans into stronger people. Throughout the book, Danny demonstrates brilliance as he constantly wants to learn new information, curiosity as he longs to know …show more content…

Without his parents knowing, Danny has snuck away to the library numerous times. Once there he reads many books to increase his recognition of what happens around the world. Mr. Saunders learns about these secret trips and instead of talking to his son about them he asks Reuven about them. Danny's friend then tells him about the visits and that the boy is working on reading the Freud. "Master of the Universe, he almost chanted. You gave me a brilliant son, and I have thanked you for him a million times. But you had to make him so brilliant?" (168). Even his dad realizes the brilliance his son holds and wonders why he had to be so intelligent. He knows that even if he tried to forbid his son from visiting the library, Danny remains too brilliant to stop …show more content…

He realizes that he does not want to just become a Tzaddik, but wants to explore the rest of the world. The fellow thinks that there has to be a way that he can still embrace the Jewish culture and learn the ways of the rest of the world. Although, everyone believes that he will take over his father's role as a leader of the Jews, Danny thinks that he can get his other brother to take over the job. " I said my brother would make a fine Tzaddik...It occurred to me recently that if I didn't my father's place I wouldn't be breaking the dynasty after all" (201). Obviously, Danny thinks about not following in his father's footsteps frequently. If he performed that thought the results could be intense, however he shows independence by not remaining unafraid to do the right

Show More
Related

  • Apikorsim Book Summary

    573 Words  | 3 Pages

    His father told him to talk to him that he needed a friend because he was special. The time Reuven was in the hospital they learned about each other and became friends. Reuven learned that Danny wasn’t allowed to read any secular books and his father would not like it (who was the rabbi of the Brooklyn sect of Hasidism), and that Reuven’s father had been recommending those books. Shabbat dinner Reuven asked his father more about Danny, his father used history from as far backs as the early 1800s of the first Jews in

    Read More

  • Summary Of The Chosen By Chaim Potok

    648 Words  | 3 Pages

    He depends on others for help since he can no longer help himself. Finally, Reb Saunders, a highly looked upon Rabbi, earned the becoming title of a trustworthy man. Mr. Malter, Billy, Reb Saunders all have placed trust into someone. Mr. Malter relies great trust in his son, Reuven. He encourages his son to take part in a friendship that was looked down upon by many.

    Read More

  • The World Needs More People Like Reuven By Chaim Potok

    642 Words  | 3 Pages

    Though Danny seems kind and thoughtful, he still has somewhat a temper and can be difficult. Contrastingly, Reuven intelligently pursues mathematical logic with passion. Throughout the book, Mr.

    Read More

  • Friendship Between Reuven And Danny In Antigone

    270 Words  | 2 Pages

    Reuven was glad that Danny came to visit again despite their previous encounter. after sending Danny away, he was surprised at his own actions and had come to regret it at the end. His own father reminded him that the Talmud says that if a person is willing to apologize for his own wrongdoing, then you must at least try to understand and forgive him and that is exactly what Reuven intends to do after feeling angry and depressed with himself from what he had said to Danny. Throughout this chapter, an unlikely friendship between the two boys develop. They begin to talk and learn more about one another rather than dwelling in fateful day of the ballgame; in other words, they let bygones be bygones.

    Read More

  • Danny Saunders In Chaim Potok's The Chosen

    683 Words  | 3 Pages

    Due to the strict religious views of Danny’s father, Reb Saunders, Danny is forced to investigate the secular world in secret. Keeping his true feelings, doubts, and opinions inside and away from his father weighs on Danny and is only eased through his friendship with Reuven. Danny is torn between wanting to be independent and respecting his father and his beliefs. To the reader, Danny is perceived as trapped in a tyrannical home. He is struggling to make up his own mind about his beliefs even as his father presses his own strong beliefs onto him.

    Read More

  • Emotional Enigma In Danny Saunders's The Chosen

    465 Words  | 2 Pages

    Clearly, Danny is hurt by this silence and searches for a reason for the silence. Also, he wants to renounce his spot it his family’s Rabbinical dynasty, and is thus highly concerned in his brother’s shaky health. When these subjects are brought up, the book takes on a tone of either depression or panic. Danny appears as though he is searching inside himself for answers concerning his father’s silence and his brother’s sickness.

    Read More

  • Process Of Discovery In Reuven's The Chosen

    264 Words  | 2 Pages

    Although The Chosen focuses equally on both Reuven’s and Danny’s personal and religious development, it is Danny’s story that provides the central conflict of the novel and sets in motion both protagonists’ process of discovery. Danny and Reuven’s similarities—their love of learning, quick minds, and deep Jewish faith—allow them to relate to one another and become friends. At the same time, their differences in family situations, culture, and relationships to the non-Jewish secular world allow them to learn from one another. Throughout the novel, Danny learns restraint and introspection from Reuven. As Reb Saunders points out in the final chapter, Reuven entered Danny’s life when Danny “was ready to rebel.”

    Read More

  • Friendship In Chaim Potok's The Chosen

    476 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • How Choices Affected Paul In Edward Bloor's Tangerine

    508 Words  | 3 Pages

    It only takes only one person to change the way you think about yourself. The novel “Tangerine” by Edward Bloor is about a boy(Paul) who can't stand up to his fears. This changes throughout the book. Every choice has a consequence, and all of the characters made Big and small choices. Paul's brother Erik’s choices affected Paul in a positive way, but the consequences of his choices were not.

    Read More

  • Free Choice In Chaim Potok's The Chosen

    1215 Words  | 5 Pages

    To choose or to be chosen; which is better? The gift of choice is something not bestowed upon everyone, and this is especially true for the main character of Chaim Potok’s The Chosen. The novel describes the life of two boys, Danny Saunders and Reuven Malter, one of which has been granted the freedom to choose his own destiny, and the other has already had his life mapped out since the day of his birth. Throughout his childhood and much of his adolescence, Danny struggled between the life he wants and the one chosen for him by his father, Reb Saunders, the rabbi a Hasidic congregation. As the eldest son of his family, Danny has been born into the position of the future rabbi of his temple, however, he yearns for something much different.

    Read More

  • What Is The Theme Of Friendship In The Chosen By Chaim Potok

    1147 Words  | 5 Pages

    Danny, however, seems to have only a mind, and how brilliant a mind that he has! It constantly seeks knowledge and absorbs it like a sponge, and it seems as if he does not have a soul, which can be dangerous to a religious person. It is revealed that Mr. Saunders had a brother just like Danny, and he went off in search of knowledge, eventually dying in a gas chamber at Auschwitz, and Mr. Saunders does not want Danny’s life to end in the same way that his brother did. So he brings him up in silence, so that Danny may reflect and develop his soul, to have compassion and not only seek

    Read More

  • Personal Identity And Individuality In Glass Roses By Alden Nowlan

    716 Words  | 3 Pages

    What idea does the author develop regarding the conflict between pursuing a personal desire and choosing to conform? “Street lights glow red, green and yellow too, do you let signs tell you what to do?”... The words from Lady Gaga ponder over the balance between conforming to authority or self fulfillment. Do we let our individuality falter under the presence of authority and social demands, or do we maintain our own identity and achieve self-actualization? In a society where sacrifices have to be made in order to avoid prejudice, we show tenacity towards who we are at core.

    Read More

  • Comparing Danny And Reuven In The Chosen, By Chaim Potok

    1116 Words  | 5 Pages

    Both ultimately share insight with both Danny and Reuven including the importance of their friendship.

    Read More

  • How Does Jem Finch Change Your Perspective

    1302 Words  | 6 Pages

    Many people are set in their ways and look at everything the same way throughout their life; however, as life goes on, people change their views as the world around them changes. Yet, too many people think that you can not change your mind or perspective. That once you start to preach it, you are stuck with your perspective forever. Between the battle between the LGBTQ+ community trying to get more rights and the old battle reoccuring in today 's timeline between african americans and white, many perspectives are looked down as unjust and many people are too scared to change their mind and to face ridicule. In Harper Lee’s

    Read More

  • Analysis Of What's Inside By Avi

    822 Words  | 4 Pages

    Family is forever and nobody can change that. Through this story, “What’s Inside”, Danny shows us that he should have connected to family and not his peers. Like the narrator showed us that life’s most precious thing is family. This is because he knows family comes first no matter what. -

    Read More

More about Danny Saunders's Beliefs In The Chosen By Chaim Potok

Open Document