How Does Chaim Potok Present The Theme Of Identity And Assimilation In The Chosen

Chaim Potok’s Depiction of the Immigrant Experience

Chaim Potok uses his novel, The Chosen, to captivate how hard the struggle is for Jewish Immigrants in America to assimilate and find their identity. Assimilation in America affects the characters ability to fully define their self-identity. Not only does Potok portray the internal struggles, but he also enhances the outer struggles of identity and assimilation by writing about the Holocaust. He does this while simultaneously portraying the appearance versus reality contrast throughout the novel.
The author, Chaim Potok, was a Jewish-American born in The Bronx, New York which is where the novel takes place. Chaim Potok “was the son of Polish immigrants who had strong ties to Hasidism

Many of the characters, including Reuven and Danny, cling to baseball as a way of assimilating to American culture. Reuven explains how “It was an unquestionable mark of one’s Americanism, and to be counted as a loyal American had become increasingly important to us during these last years of war”(Potok 12). Baseball is seen as an emblem of the Jewish Americans’ patriotism. It is a way to not only prove to the rest of America, but it is also a way to prove to themselves that they belong. They want to be identified with American culture while simultaneously staying loyal to their Jewish ties. Another analysis on the chosen states “As Potok sets out for the reader, the game itself is a product of America’s entry into World War II (Tablet, Aaron R. Katz) Giving baseball a double meaning; it simultaneously represents assimilation as well as one of the biggest struggles for the Jewish: World War II. It is important to these characters to identify as if they belong, but Potok also uses this novel to show how appearance and reality can be drastically different from one

World War II occurs during this novel, which intensifies the struggle to fit in. Reuven’s dad says how “A madman has destroyed our treasures. If we do not rebuild Jewry in America, we will die as a people.“(58, Potok) This quote shows the deeper internal pain of a Jewish man in America at this time for his whole culture and identity is at stake. Restrictive American immigration during this time also helped destroy American Jewry, however, it was people like Reuven's father whose dream merely kept it alive. David says, “The world kills us,” he said quietly “Ah, how the world kills us.” Which implies the struggles of having it feel like the world is working against them in a place that should feel like home. (Potok, 190) This also dramatically shifts the beliefs of the American Dream for immigrants. It is true that “Potok is unafraid of being blunt in his novel, as he accurately portrays the shock and pain that World War II had on Jewish people” (Tablet, Aaron R. Katz). Instead of appearing free and accessible, the American dream is now seen as a lot more difficult to ever obtain, especially for