Theme Of Loyalty In Chaim Potok's The Chosen

In Chaim Potok’s The Chosen, a few strong themes exist. These underlying themes make themselves prevalent many times throughout the book. The theme of loyalty to family reappears over and over throughout the story. Readers can observe it in most of the book’s eighteen chapters. This theme makes itself known in three distinct ways. These ways that the theme of family loyalty use all revolve around the Saunders and Malters families. The way Danny defends his father’s reputation, the way he obeys him, and how Reuven and his dad are there for each other are all examples of family loyalty in this book. Readers observe this theme in how Danny defends his dad’s reputation. Even though people may be right about his dad, Danny stands up for his father. The reader sees this when Reuven calls Reb Saunders a tyrant. “I hope you don’t mind my saying this, but your father sounds like a tyrant.” (117). Danny counters this statement by saying that his father is a very strong-willed person. He avoids the word tyrant in an effort to not tarnish his father’s name. Danny defends his father for a second time when he explains the quizzing he goes through to Reuven. Reuven mentions that Danny’s

Readers first see this when Danny explains to Reuven how he will become a rabbi. He did not want to, but his family dynasty forces him to fulfill that role. Even though he didn’t want to become one, he felt trapped by tradition. Danny’s father later commands him to no longer speak to Reuven or go near him. “Danny was not to see me, talk to me, listen to me, be found within four feet of me. My father and I had been excommunicated from the Saunders family.” (231). If Danny disobeyed these rules, his father promised that he would not go to college. Even though Danny did not want to follow his father’s instructions and disagreed with some of them, he still did as his father asked of