Friendship In The Chosen, By Chaim Potok

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"You've Got a Friend in Me," the theme song of the Toy Story movie franchise, plays as background music in parts of the film where characters make or relive positive childhood memories. These memories of happy playtimes and outings teach that all a successful friendship needs is love, loyalty, and reliability. However, idealized views such as those presented in parts of Toy Story of what a successful friendship requires rarely acknowledge the fact that making friends often means making tough choices, overcoming differences, and even sacrificing relationships with others. In The Chosen, a fictional novel by Chaim Potok, the friendship between two young men, Danny Saunders and Reuven Malter, illustrated that fact. Both boys overcame religious …show more content…
Because of their different Jewish sects and beliefs, Danny and Reuven's viewpoints on many issues conflicted, but talking with Reuven allowed Danny to consider another party's viewpoint and form his own opinions on the matter in question. For example, following the Second World War, Zionism, or the idea of the formation of a Jewish State in Palestine, created great controversy in American Jewish populations. While Reuven and his father supported the idea, the extent to which Danny's father opposed it meant any discussion in favor of Zionism was practically forbidden in the Saunders household. However, when Reuven joined a group that supported Zionism in his school, he noted that, "As [he] expected, Danny did not join any of the Zionist groups. Privately, he told [Reuven] he wanted to join [his] group…" (228). Although Danny usually never heard from pro-Zionists because of his father's rejection of the idea, his friendship with Reuven allowed him to hear about the other side of things and decide for himself whether or not to support the idea. Obviously, he decided to support Zionism as he told Reuven of his desire to join the pro-Zionist college …show more content…
Throughout the book, Danny displayed an impressive devotion most notably to his father, who he respected and obeyed even through the man's' streaks of violence. However, as the friendship between the two boys strengthened, Danny started slowly putting his relationship with Reuven ahead of his obedience and loyalty to his father. For instance, following a speech by Reuven's father in support of Zionism—a speech that infuriated Danny's father—Reuven learns Danny, "…was not to see [him], talk to [him]…be found within four feet of [him]…It was even dangerous for Danny to meet [him] in the bathroom, but he had to tell [him]" (231). Danny's friendship with Reuven caused him to directly disobey his father because he put more importance on informing his best friend why their interactions stopped than he did on his loyalty to his father. Clearly, the friendship between the two boys influenced Danny's sense of obligation to his family, because he willingly defied his father in order to talk to
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