Who Is Chaim Potok's The Chosen

The Chosen is a novel by Chaim Potok. It tells the story of a Modern Orthodox Jew named Reuven Malter, and how he befriends a Hasidic Jew named Danny Saunders. It includes how these two unlikely teenage boys become friends, grow up, and pursue their dreams in the future. It takes place during the end of World War II which is occurring in Europe. To begin with, this is a type of novel that I would not normally read. I am not really into the subject of World War II and the Jews. Due to that statement, I did not enjoy this book very much. I did, however, enjoy the beginning, as it contained a scene about baseball. I am a huge baseball fan and I enjoyed reading that section. I felt like this was a good book for me to read though, as I believe

I believe I had a hard time with this because of all the Jewish vocabulary. I feel as if the reader has a good background about the Jews with an understanding of the religion and dialect, it will be easier for the reader to understand this novel. There were multiple occasions where I had to backtrack and reread a section several times to fully understand what was going on. However, I do believe the book gets easier to read and understand as the book progresses on. I believe Potok used a great amount of detail in The Chosen. When Reuven is describing the baseball game and its events (Ch.1), it is told in a vast amount of detail, all the way from witnessing the other team, to playing second base, and up to the point of him pitching to Danny and injuring his eye. An example of that detail would be when Reuven was describing Danny Saunders. Reuben described him as “Having a face cut from stone, deep-blue eyes, hair the color of sand, and being built like a bear” (Pg. 11-12). Using detail like this will help the reader to understand the story and identify with the

Through parts of the book, I am able to feel like I am walking in the characters’ footsteps. For example, when Danny is describing how he is brought up in silence (Ch.8), I feel like I am able to jump in the story and experience how that would feel. I do not think I would be able to tolerate being brought up in silence. I also believe the reader is able to realize all the struggles Reuven and Danny must encounter during their friendship. The characters also underwent a great change. Danny, for example, comes out to his father about wanting to study psychology. Reb Saunders also realizes the damage he has done by raising Danny in silence, and starts talking to him to try to rebuild that relationship. On the flip side, I believe that the novel did not take place in an appropriate setting. The Chosen took place in Brooklyn, New York. I feel as if the story would be more realistic if it actually took place in Europe, where World War II was occurring. The reader would be able to truly realize the events that led up to the end of the war and the struggles of being a Jew during this period of time. I do not believe that the U.S. is a well enough setting to demonstrate