Danny In Chaim Potok's The Chosen

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Pages: 3

In the process of becoming a man a boy must go through change. To some boys change doesn’t come easily. Danny in The Chosen is very rigid in his personality and character. He doesn’t change much. His father had a firm grip on almost every aspect of his life. Reb Saunders had a an interesting way of molding his son. Throughout the book there is a battle between Reb Saunders and Danny about what Danny’s future will be. Chaim Potok in The Chosen demonstrates that a person’s character isn’t easily malleable through the relationship of Danny and his father.
Almost all of Danny’s life Reb Saunders didn’t speak to him. He always wondered why. He began to understand why his father did it. However, he still had mixed feeling about his treatment of silence. This method of teaching in
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Once during a Talmud discussion Reuven was tested to see if he was worthy to be Danny’s friend. Reuven passed and Reb Saunders said “I have many responsibilities, I am not always able to talk to him.” then Danny looks mad and stares at the floor.(ch.7 p.142) In the end of the book Reb Saunders is able to accomplish part of his goal for Danny. He helps Danny obtain compassion for others. Throughout most of the book his father’s harsh punishments make him angry and confused. It doesn’t help that he won’t talk to him. Because of the silence Danny seems to want to break free of it by choosing a different path. So the method of silence worked but it made it hard to change Danny in the way he wanted. If Reb Saunders had picked a different method me might have managed to make his son Tzaddik. However, in consequence he might not