The Wisdom of Age During the growth of every child, a necessary part of growing up requires wisdom – but although the various qualities that wisdom imprints on a child's development are absolutely required, they cannot come from the child itself. Children do not have the ability to think as carefully as one who has the experience of many years. Rather, wisdom must come from outside influences – and in the novel The Chosen, by Chaim Potok, Reuven Malter definitely requires wisdom. And throughout the course of the book, he certainly gains many types of wisdom from his older peers – the ones who have lived long enough to gain valuable insights that come with experience. A good example occurs near the beginning of the book, during the baseball …show more content…
During his time at the hospital while he recovers from his eye injury, Mr. Malter visits Reuven and talks to him about Danny. When Reuven says he hates Danny and that Danny deliberately aimed to hit the baseball into Reuven's eye, Mr. Malter immediately reprimands him: “'I do not like you to talk that way,' he said sternly... 'How can you say something like that if you are not sure? That is a terrible thing to say.” During his talk with Reuven, he makes a very important point: that you cannot make an opinion about someone without knowing all the facts, and even then it is still wrong to hate people. Mr. Malter shows experienced wisdom by teaching Reuven a point that cannot be learned without the experience that comes with …show more content…
When the doctors take a close look, they are very subtle and kind to Reuven, not telling him immediately about the glass shard: “I thought I saw him go tense... He straightened slowly.” During Reuven's stay at the hospital, the doctors never say or imply anything worrisome to Reuven, only taking care of him as best they can. Although the eye wound is serious, the doctors recognize that telling Reuven about how serious his injuries are could place unnecessary stress and fear upon him, so they demonstrate compassionate wisdom by soothing his