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Danny And Reuven Friendship Analysis

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The Importance of Friendship

If you live to be 100, I hope I live to be 100 minus 1 day, so I never have to live without you- Winnie the Pooh. In literature and movies, society repeatedly stresses the importance of friendship. The Chosen by Chaim Potok is no exception. Two Jewish boys, Danny and Reuven, grow up only two blocks from each other but lead parallel lives. When they finally meet as two teenagers on a baseball field, their lives change forever. The importance of friendship shines through its unique impact on Danny and Reuven, when they are together, and the toll it takes on them when they are forced to be separate.

The comradeship of friendship likely saves Danny from depression. Because Danny is so smart, the only way his father sees to teach him compassion is to stop talking to him and hope that through the pain of silence, he will learn sensitivity and empathy for others. As his father predicts, Danny hurts incredibly from this silence. Danny struggles to process his life without anybody to guide him so when Danny and Reuven meet, Danny pours out his intimate concerns and hurts. Throughout their friendship, Reuven listens and gives advice to Danny as Danny make major life decisions. Reuven also cheers Danny up, an important …show more content…

Unlike Danny, Reuven’s dad talks to him all the time. However when Reuven’s dad suffers from a heart attack, Reuven feels like his soul is torn apart. Coming to the rescue Danny invites Reuven to stay at his house in this tough time. The boy’s friendship also influences Reuven’s life by teaching him to be unprejudiced towards those who differ from him. If the boys had continued their lives on separate paths, Reuven would have always thought the Hasidic sect was weird and extreme. Through actually learning, what it is like to be Hasidic, Reuven’s perspective of the world changes and he grows in understanding and sympathy. The effects of friendship in Reuven’s life are far

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