Comparing Danny And Reuven In Chaim Potok's The Chosen

The Chosen (Vision)

Both Danny and Reuven’s view of the world changed forever because of one petty baseball game. Danny used to be terrified to speak to his father, for fear of rejection. He told Reuven that he practically had to win the game, leaving the specific reason up to his friend’s imagination (Potok pg. 71). Danny had grown up knowing his father’s plan for him to be a tzaddik and he had accepted it at a young age. He would have never dared to go against his father’s Hasidic teachings. He had been, in a way, cut off from the real world. All he knew was what his father and church told him. The only way he was able to control his life was when he read. He would often sneak off the library and read books that he knew his father would not approve of. He thought

he was getting away with it, but his father eventually found out.

His father also uncovered the fact that Danny did not want to replace him as tzaddik, but instead wanted to go into the field of psychology. Although he was unnerved at first, Danny’s father accepted his son’s decisions and let him do what he desired. “Today, my Daniel is free…” (Potok pg. 288).

Reuven’s view changed a little bit more literally than Danny’s did. After Danny hit the baseball into Reuven’s glasses, he almost loses his sight. Before almost losing it forever, Reuven never really valued his sight. He classified it as one of those things that is just given to everyone. He never saw it as a gift and he never understood how lucky he was to experience it. When he was allowed to get up and go home, he was amazed at how beautiful everything looked. He saw everything in a new, fresher, cleaner light and definitely appreciated it more (Potok pg. 95). He also forgot how much he loved reading until he was not able to do it. There were so many basic life skills that he could not

complete to the best of his abilities because he was not allowed to read. Reuven’s view of Danny and Hasidism also changed with his restored vision. He had always assumed because Danny was Reb Saunders’ son, that he was just like him, but that was not true. Danny was his own person with his own beliefs, even though he had to follow his father’s in order to attempt to gain his approval. Danny’s father raised him in silence and that baffled Reuven because he could not imagine his own father raising him like that; “It would make me sick.” (Potok pg. 143). Reuven finally understood that not all fathers were like his; not all fathers listened to you when you needed to talk to someone or gave you advice when you were in a tough situation. It was a hard lesson to learn, especially seeing as his best friend was experiencing something very similar to it, but he took it in stride. Because of their friendship and because of that ballgame, both boys’ lives changed forever. They now saw the world differently and with open minds because they had both been through their own experiences that prepared them for life outside of their father’s homes.