“Family- like branches on a tree, we all grow in different directions yet our roots remain as one.” This famous quote describes a theme in Chaim Potok’s book, The Chosen. Although the friendship between Reuven and Danny showed apparently, the family relationships also had a very strong say in the book. Loyalty displayed by both boys towards their fathers is evinced throughout the book. Although each family had their ups and downs, in the end, family became the most important thing. Danny even defended his dad’s style of teaching in front of his best friend, Reuven. Family loyalty is obvious in how Danny treats his dad, how Reuven confides in his father, and how Reb Saunders loves his son despite all his faults. Firstly, although his dad, Reb Saunders, did not give Danny many reasons to like him, Danny still loved him and defended his dad. At times, Danny might seem to despise Reb Saunders, but at the end of the day, he still loves him. For instance, after Reuven met Reb Saunders for the first time and got intimidated by him, Danny stood up for his dad. He even went as far as to say that he sometimes enjoyed his dad’s grilling. However at times, even though one does see the …show more content…
RebSunder and Danny’s father-son relationship was not as it seemed and Danny at the end still respected his father although his father had given him the silent treatment for as long as he could recall. Reb Saunder had honourable intentions behind teaching with silence and he only wanted what deems best for Danny. On the other hand, Reuven and David Malter had a special relationship that most people would envy. They could confide in each other and had no barriers between them. Reuven could ask any thing or state his opinion and Mr. Malter would give an honest reply and helped Reuven when he could. Family loyalty, although shown in two different ways, was a prominent theme The
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
Since Danny does apologize to Reuven later in the story, I believe he will not haves so much hatred for him. 5. “I lay still and thought about my eyes. I had always taken them for granted, the way I took for granted all the rest of my body and also my mind. My father had told me many times that health was a gift, but I never really paid much attention to the fact that I was rarely sick or almost never had to go to the doctor.
The difference in views between the two faiths and fathers are very evident and a driving point of the movie. It also was very evident how they raised their children and the effects it had on them. They are different but also have similar goals for their sons. Reuven is raised to be independent, mildly observant, and to act like his father because his mother died when he was young. On the other hand, Danny is raised under the microscope of his father and community.
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.
Reb Saunders is not understood by many because of the way in which he raises his son, Danny. Danny grew up in complete silence from his father. Reb Saunders would only speak to his son about the Hasidic religion. For Danny’s childhood and much of his young adult life, he had no one to turn to for advice on life. This style of parenting was not understood by Mr.Malter, who viewed it as a cruel way to raise a child.
Reb Saunders looked exhausted and sickly. Reb Saunders talks to Danny through Reuven, never speaking to Danny. He then explains why he raised the Danny the way he did. Reb saw that his son had a brilliant mind, but had little soul in his father’s eyes. Reb wanted Danny to realize the immense suffering in the world so he could develope a great soul.
“I [Reuven] saw Danny all the time in school, but the silence between us continued. We had begun to communicate with our eyes, with nods of our heads, with gestures of our hands. But we did not speak to each other.” (Pages 255-256) Reuven and Danny were not allowed to speak to each other, so they communicated without speaking. They kept their friendship alive even though Danny’s father had tried to kill it.
“‘Before you tell me how much you hate me,’ he said quietly, ‘let me tell you that I’m sorry about what happened. ’”(p.61). Danny also displays his uneasiness toward Reuven when he asks his father, Reb Saunders, if Reuben can stay at their house since Mr. Malter, Reuven’s dad, got extremely sick and had to stay in the hospital for a month. Danny also explained what he read to Reuven so that Reuven could understand it also. Danny showed how worried he was toward Reuven multiple times in the
Reuven is stubborn and willing to hold on to his own opinions even when there are evidences showing that he is not right. As the story approaches its end, Reuven is still continuing to make rash choices based off of his feelings rather than learning more about the situation. When Danny tells Reuven that his father wants him to come over for Passover, Reuven has no intention to, and tells his father about the invitation. However, Reuven’s father is oddly upset when he learns Reuven has been refusing the invitations: “[Reb Saunders] has been asking all long”
A family contains young minds that are at first taught the building of personality or character and controlling the emotions of him or herself, while also being taught how to set goals for life (Ritter) But as new generations came of age, the family became a weakened and fractured unit as husbands and wives gave way to the human nature of adultery in a widespread manor. Here in America, the family has been under constant assault and broken marriages and broken households are now a normal thing to see. Few fathers show the guidance and teaching to their children that is needed often requiring the mother to take on both roles. As children grow up being more spoiled and pampered to, they are never learning to accept and recover from setbacks.
In Rot & Ruin, the author uses the theme of family being important. Here is a example of the theme from the book “He barely liked his family-and by family he meant his older brother. Tom.” The conflict is that Benny and Tom do not have a good relationship and have grudges against each other. If you hold grudges against your family or do not have a good relationship with your family, you will have no one to fall back on and you will be by yourself.
Seeing Through Another’s Eyes In Chaim Potok’s book, The Chosen, blindness is a reoccurring theme throughout the book. The first example of blindness is Danny and Reuven live within five blocks from each other for fifteen years and have no idea that the other person exists. Because the boys have such a different culture, they live in their own world and are blind to each other.
The relationship between Pearl and Reverend Dimmesdale in The Scarlet Letter is one that both intrigues the reader and keeps them wanting to find out more. At the beginning of the story nothing is very clear about Pearl’s father but as you read on there are many cues that lead you to Reverend Dimmesdale, the pastor of the church where Pearl’s mother, Hester Prynne, was a member. Through all the twists and turns there are a few things that stick out in the readers mind such as the progression of their relationship, the behavior and psychology of Pearl and how the novel could be seen as a story almost all about Pearl. The progression starts during the third chapter of the novel when Hester and her young child are on the scaffold to be publicly shamed for her adultery.
In his book The Promise Chaim Potok leads the reader on a heartbreaking journey full of spiritual conflict and decision. As a sequel to The Chosen, The Promise picks up with Reuven Malter, the main character and a Jewish man now in his mid-twenties, attending Hirsch University, a Jewish seminary in Brooklyn, New York. Reuven keeps his friendship with Danny Saunders, whom he met on a baseball field during his teenage years and later went to college with, even though they now go their separate ways as Reuven becomes a rabbi, and Danny practices psychology. During the summer Reuven dates Rachel Gordon, the niece of Abraham Gordon, a man excommunicated from the Jewish society, and meets Abraham’s son, Michael, a stubborn teen with a mental issue. Also, over the same summer Reuven’s father, David Malter, wrote a controversial book about the Talmud.
In a usual family, there are set roles. A father, mother, and children. Stereotypically, each role is supposed to have a set job- the father is in charge of the family, making the rules, the mother cooks and helps the children, and the children play. This stereotype is slowly changing throughout the years, and some could argue that it is different for their family. One thing that should be true in all families, is that the parents are good role models for their children, leading them in the right direction in life.