The Chosen (Chap 13-end) due Sun, March 7 by 8pm
1. Quote one line/passage OR note one image from within Chap 13-18 that feels imp’t to the text, and write a paragraph explaining why. (Note page #.)
2. What has this book left you thinking about? Explain. End your post w/ a question.
3. Also, reply to at least one student's post.
(Make your post 2 paragraphs long, and skip a line between paragraphs.)
3. Also, reply to at least one student's post.
(Make your post 2 paragraphs long, and skip a line between paragraphs.)
In chapters 13-18 of The Chosen, I feel that the last passage on page 229 is very important to the text because David Malter, Reuven's father, delivers an impactful speech at a Madison Square Garden rally in support of the Zionist cause, which Danny’s father, Reb Saunders, strongly opposes. Danny avoids Reuven for the entire day after the rally, but the next day, Danny secretly tells Reuven in the bathroom that, “his father had read the account of the rally in the Yiddish press” (Potok 231) and he was not to see [Reuven], talk to [Reuven], listen to [Reuven], be found within four feet of [Reuven]” (Potok 231). Reb Saunders threatened Danny that if he ever heard of him being in Reuven's presence, he would remove him from the college and send him to an out-of-town yeshiva for his rabbinic ordination. Reuven remains extremely angry with Reb Saunders and is very sad that his relationship with Danny appears to be over. As a result of Reb Saunders’ forbidding his son to talk to Reuven, Danny and Reuven did not talk to each other for over two years.
ReplyDeleteThis book has left me thinking about many things including, why is the title, “The Chosen?” My interpretation of the title is that it is related to an old Hasidic tradition where boys cannot date because their wives have already been chosen for them. On page 268, Reuven tells Danny that he “ought to get [himself] a girl” but Danny responds, with his eyes looking sad, “my wife has been chosen for me…. It’s an old Hasidic custom, remember?” (Potok 268). Why do you think this book by Chaim Potok is titled “The Chosen”?
Personally, I feel like the book may be titled "The Chosen" due to the reappearing concept of Danny and/or Reuven's life (mainly Danny more than Reuven) being already chosen for them, such as Danny was "the chosen" person to fulfill his families position, or that their parents expected them to be something they were not fully confident about. Just a thought, but personally I see a relation in that, other than that I am not exactly sure why it would be called "The Chosen" as there was not much of a reference to someone/something *being* chosen.
DeleteI too was confused and curious about the title of this book. I think that the references to the text that you, Porter and Madi, both made are very relevant to this question and help to answer it well. I agree that the old Hasidic tradition of having wives chosen for them could be the reason for the title but also feel myself agreeing with Porters interpretation of having Danny's and Reuven's life chosen for them. I agree that there was no direct reference to something or someone being or being called chosen. I think that personally I feel that the title could be interpreted as Danny being chosen by his religions God to play an important role in his religion, and Reuven secondarily as a important component to Danny's attaining of his religious potential.
DeleteIn Chapters 13-18 of "The Chosen" by Chaim Potok, I believe that the passage on page 286 felt like a well written summary of why, why everything happened the way it did, why the world was like this during these times. Mr. Malter speaks of this, telling the story of when Reuven was younger. "The years when he was a child and I loved him and talked with him and held him under my tallis when I prayed.... 'Why do you cry, Father?' he asked me once under the tallis. 'Because people are suffering,' I told him. He could not understand" (Potok 286). This quote for me personally really gives a deeper perspective into the book, thinking about how every situation, every moment, there is this unknown, things we may not have learned, sides we may not have been told, lies and deceit that had been spread, because at the end of the day, you can only sum it all up by just knowing people are suffering, one way or another, and it is up to you for what you do with that knowledge. Whether it is the Zionist movement in the book, or more general such as the relationship between Danny and his father, there is always suffering, you just may not see it the same as everyone else. I believe that line really struck home for me with these ending chapters.
ReplyDelete"The Chosen" has left me thinking about a lot of things, thinking about how life is so complex but from an outside view it can seem so simple, how things can drastically shift based on perspective, how sometimes if you do not know the full story, who are you to judge? These little thoughts that have been put into my mind are the reason I enjoyed this book so, it gave me something to think about at the end of the reading, more than just a story, but a seed of an idea, a concept farther than I understood. Yet I still wonder, and I ask anyone who wants to answer the same question, why did Reuven and Danny's relationship succeed? From such diverse backgrounds and families, what brought and held them so close together?
I think that it was their morals and determination. This is a tricky question because what really brings anyone together? I think that in the beginning, Reuven despised Danny and wanted nothing to do with him. But Danny’s persistence, and how he went back to Reuven in the hospital, eventually overcame Reuven’s stubbornness. They first bonded over baseball, something that was on the surface of their lives. But what made them develop a deeper connection, and stay friends was the things that were past the surface, so to speak. I think that part of the reason that they became such good friends was because of the way that their fathers had raised them, and also partially because of what was going on historically in the world. This book takes place during the Holocaust, and although it seemed to be far away from where they were, they all sort of shared a mutual sense of horror. But I think that because Danny was raised in the way he was, he might not have had many friends because the other kids were sort of scared of him. He was in this high place of power, and people bowed to him, so I think that the other children in his community might find him intimidating. Because Reuven was not from there, he and Danny got along well, and developed a deeper friendship.
DeleteIn chapters 13-18, I found a lot to be important, but one part that stood out to me was when Danny told Reuven that he applied to colleges majoring in Psychology. This part stood out to me because way earlier in the book, when Danny and Reuven had barely known each other for a few days, they talked about what they wanted to be when they were older. Danny had said that he wanted to be a psychologist, and I thought that it was important that he stuck with that throughout the whole book, even though going to college would be something that his father would likely not be very happy about. He tells Reuven “...that he was planning to write to three universities that day-- Harvard, Berkley, and Columbia, and apply for a fellowship in Psychology.” (Potok, 272), and then Reuven brings up how he thinks that he can do this without his dad finding out.” I asked him how he thought he would be able to keep his applications a secret.” (Potok, 272) Danny seems to have given this little thought, as he responds unhappily with “I don’t know.” (Potok, 272) Reuven then brings up the fact that if he is accepted into the college, that the letter will come by mail, and then his father will see it. This strikes fear in Danny, as he hadn’t previously thought of this. I think that this part in the book is important because it shows how determined Danny is, even when his world seems to be herding him in a different direction. It shows how determined he is to pursue his dreams, despite his current circumstances.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this book, I have many questions. One of which is; why have the boys go through so much together, and create such a strong bond, to just have Danny walk away- “Then he turned (…) and was gone.” (Potok, 291) Also, baseball seemed to be a huge part of their lives, but then why did it seem to mostly disappear after the glasses incident? And why is this book called “The Chosen”? Is it because they met each other when they wouldn’t have without the baseball game? I’m also a little unclear about Danny’s religious standpoint. He mentioned how he was planning on still being hascidic; “Whatever gave you the notion that I had any intention of not remaining an Orthodox Jew?” (Potok, 272), but then he cut off the symbols (his hair) that most identified with the religion: “His beard and ear locks were gone…” (Potok, 290). Why do you think that the author put the boys through all of those bonding moments, and allowed them to become so close to then have Danny leave?
I think the author put the boys through all of those bonding moments to show how and why their relationship developed over time. Despite Danny and Reuven having been raised under different beliefs of Judaism, they did not let that interfere with them becoming best friends. There was a two-year period during which Danny’s father forbid him from being in Reuven’s presence, but the strength of the boy’s relationship prevailed, and they eventually reunited. I think the author was trying to demonstrate that one does not have to have characteristics in common such as race, religion, ethnicity, etc. to be friends. Such differences should not have an impact or influence on forming friendships and relationships. At the end of the novel, I do not think that Danny was necessarily leaving Reuven. Danny was moving to an apartment in Manhattan, near Columbia University, and he parted ways with Reuven, but I believe that their friendship did not end because before Danny walks away, he promises Reuven that he will return on Saturdays to study Talmud. Danny may have left the same area as Reuven but indicates they will remain friends.
DeleteIn the final chapters of "The Chosen" by Chaim Potok, chapters 13-18, multiple things struck me as very important to the text, but the most so, I felt was the exposed rational for Reb Saunders treatment of Danny in chapter 18. Reb Saunders explains that "A man is born into this world with only a tiny spark of goodness in him. The spark is God, it is the soul....Yes, even a great mind can be a shell and choke the spark."[263] as well as speaking of how he was blessed by having a brilliant son but cursed with the task of raising him. He tells of his distraught in having a son with a mind but without a soul. He shared the story of his brother and his hunger for knowledge. It was previously discovered earlier in the book that the Reb Saunders silence was part of Danny's training as a tzaddik, but in this chapter we learn that it was prompted by Reb Saunders fathers similar silence. Reb Saunders shares his decision to repeat this treatment the effort to have his son turn inwards for guidance and find his own soul. This monologue continues for a while longer and describes how Reb Saunders understood that Danny would not be the heir to his position and even prompted this by allowing for Danny to be friends with Reuven and passing over Danny's studies. As I searched this section I found more meaning to Reb Saunders actions that I saw the first time I read it. I turned over in my mind how Reb had trained his son to be a tzaddik, not in the very specific way of following in his fathers footsteps, but in a more general sense of being a tzaddic to the world. It is expressed in this chapter multiple times that the only way to raise a tzaddic is as Reb Saunders did, and his father before him. Danny ends the chapter by responding to Reuven's father that yes, he would raise his son in silence (meaning as his father and grandfather did before him) if he could not find another way.
ReplyDeleteThis book has left me thinking about my life and its relation to the life of the characters I have seen grow in my mind as I read. It has left me thinking about my religion and faith. It has left me thinking about the almost absolute freedom that I plan and live my life. This book has prompted me to ponder my own future and my values in this life. I like Reb Saunders, his father, and Danny live life with the consideration of a religion we are devote too. I am glad that unlike the seeming extreme nature of Danny's Hassidic Jewish community, I live a life that as I look in retrospect, as well as my dreams for the future, I can only describe as beautiful. This book has opened my mind to the pillars of my soul and I will take what I have learned from it with me forever.