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Comparing Danny And Reuven In The Chosen, By Chaim Potok

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In the historical fiction novel, The Chosen, by Chaim Potok, people from all different backgrounds in judaism, decide how they will choose to live their lives. Reb Saunders, the Rebe, raises Danny in silence while David Malter, raises Reuven as an orthodox Jew. Each at some point question their part in their religion and the world, struggling to accept the life they have. After crossing paths at a baseball game, Danny Saunders and Reuven Malter seem to both evoke daunting opinions, clearly condescending each other. When Reuven injures his eye, ending up in a hospital both their fathers, David Malter and Reb Saunders try to bring them closer. Both ultimately share insight with both Danny and Reuven including the importance of their friendship. …show more content…

For Reb Saunders and David Malter, this life was chosen for them at birth, but they choose what being chosen means to them individually. For example, after the tragedy of the Holocaust, David Malter knows it is time to take action. He believes that “We cannot wait for God! We must make our own Messiah! We must rebuild American Jewry! And Palestine must become a Jewish homeland! We have suffered enough!” pg.197 As a Zionist, he believes that one must fill their life with meaning and make a difference in the world. This is his view of living as a Jew. Despite being chosen, he decides how he will choose to live with what's chosen for him. On the other hand, Reb Saunders is an anti zionist against all efforts aimed at the establishment of a Jewish state prior to the arrival of Messiah. He believes that “A man is born into this world with a tiny spark of goodness in him. The spark is God, it is the soul; the rest is ugliness and evil, a shell.” pg 282 This quote portrays Reb Saunders beliefs that as a Jew, his one purpose is to serve God. Living in judaism, he lives in silence not wanting to disturb his, or his son's soul, this is how far he will go to follow his beliefs about what it means to be a Jew. These actions are taken for the goal of achieving each of their views on judaism. They stand behind their choices all throughout the book and choose what being chosen means to …show more content…

Although, he has an ease to learn more then what is accepted by his father. He has an adept interest in secular studies, and dreams of becoming a psychologist, not the future Rebbe. This makes makes the acceptance of what's chosen for him even harder because “He had a great mind, but it never left him in peace. He wandered from city to city, never finding roots anywhere, never

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Comparing and Contrasting Mr.Malter and Reb Saunders The two father figures of The Chosen are Danny’s Father Reb Saunders and Reuven’s father Mr. Malter. Aside from being fathers, they represent the opposing views of Orthodox Judaism and Conservative/Reform Judaism. The two opposing faiths are introduced at the beginning of the movie while playing an almost unfriendly game of baseball. The narrator is Reuven and he talks about how the Orthodox dress, how they act, how they are repressive, and how he dislikes them and their views.

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When they meet at the baseball field they judge each other based on rumors they have heard or by the actions of the team. Reuven thinks of them as the “whole snooty bunch of Hasidim” (Chosen 62). Reuven thought Danny was a malicious person because he knew that Danny purposely tried to hit him. But later when Reuven opened up to Danny and stopped being so judgmental, Reuven realized that Danny was kind and just needed a friend. When Reuven is hit with the baseball, there is a chance he might be blind.

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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.

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Reuven Malter, the son of a modern Orthodox Jew, lives in Brooklyn, New York during the 1940s. He goes through many complicated life experiences which give the reader an in-depth understanding of his personality.

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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.

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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. Reuven Malter, also a son of a Jewish rabbi, constantly studies and tries to understand the history and meaning of his religion.

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Sometimes situations occur in our lives that happen because of chance awhile other times they occur because of a choice made. This is especially true with Eliezer in Elie Wiesel’s Night. Eliezer has a series of events happen to him that have happened be chance or by choice. Eliezer never asked to be a Jew in a time when it was so fatal to be one but it happened by chance.

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“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.

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