Chaim Potok The Chosen Literary Analysis

The theme in Chaim Potok The Chosen is that a father-son relationship is very important. They focus on David and Reuven Malter and also Reb and Danny Saunders relationships with each other. It shows the different ways that Reb and David teach their children how to learn the Talmud. Also, it shows the different ways that a father-son relationship can be like. One is Reb and Danny’s relationship which is strict and they don't talk a lot about other stuff beside religion. Another is David and Reuven's relationship which is very open and they talk about lots of different things. The book also shows a father-son relationship by showing what the fathers expect from their sons when they get older. Reb wants Danny to be a tzaddik just like he is. Also, David wants Reuven to be a professor. 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

Reb’s relationship with Danny is very different than David and Reuven’s relationship. Reb’s parenting is very strict and controlling of Danny. Danny and his father don’t talk about anything beside Talmud. Danny asked, “Have you ever sat in a bus with your father for hours and not exchange a single word of conversation, except for a short discussion about a passage of Talmud?” Reuven replied, “No, I told him quietly, I had never had that kind of experience” (181). This is showing that Danny and his father don’t talk about anything besides Talmud. It is also showing that Reuven and his father talk about many things together. Since Danny and his father don’t talk about a lot, Danny ends up keeping a lot of secrets from his father. A big secret he keeps from his father is sending out college