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Reuven In Chaim Potok's The Chosen

717 Words3 Pages

In Chaim Potok’s, The Chosen, Reuven does not change over the course of the book. Reuven allows his emotions to make him act and think rashly rather than learning more about the situation. In the early chapters of, The Chosen, Reuven makes assumptions on people without understanding what they may have been thinking. When Reuven is in the hospital after the softball game and his father comes to visit, they discuss Danny and him hitting Reuven’s eye: “[Danny] said his team would kill us apikorsim” “Apikorsim?” “They turned the game into a war.” “I do not understand. On the telephone Reb Saunders said his son was sorry.” “Sorry! I’ll bet he’s sorry! He’s sorry he didn’t kill me altogether!” My father gazed at me intently, his eyes narrowing. …show more content…

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” “Reuven, when someone wants to speak to you, you must let them speak to you. You still have not learned that? You did not learn from what happened to you between you and Danny?” “He wants to study Talmud,

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