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Family influence on children's development
Family influence on children's development
What influence do parents have on the development of their children
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Chaim Potok’s novel The chosen was published in 1967 and traces two adolescent boys journey within American Jewish society. The book unfolds into three distinct sections which document historical chronicles from World War II. Specifically targeted within the realm of 1944 till D-Day. Within The chosen, It explores the theological differences of two fathers within the Jewish Orthodox denomination. Furthermore, their imbalance provides the backdrop for the author to create two parallel characters. Potok introduces the reader to Danny Saunders and Reuven Malter. Through these individuals, the writer exhibits the challenge of balancing traditionalism vs modernity. Also, Potok provides insight into how the Holocaust forced certain characters to …show more content…
choose between isolation or adapting to change. Finally, the novel illustrates religious complications shown internally through friendship and father-son relationships. Throughout the novel, Potok disputes the concept of traditionalism vs modernity within the Jewish doctrine. His use of parallel characters allows the reader to comprehend diverse mindsets within the Jewish faith. Also, the author displays historical evidence as a strong force contributing to the plot. These characters are influenced by the Holocaust and the establishment of a State of Israel. Furthermore, Reb Saunders and David Malter set up the framework for The Chosen. These two individuals introduce two distinct different theological points of view. First, the traditionalist is illustrated through Reb Sanders. On page 190, he describes the Holocaust, “How the world drinks our blood, how the world makes us suffer” he continues “It is the will of God. We must accept the will of God” (Potok 190). His approach to the suffering of Jews reflects aspects of divine will. His character also shows patriarch characterizes inside the Hasidic Institute and deep commitment to prayer. He is specifically rooted in the Judaic studies which lead to his conservative limited worldview. In his treatment to Reuven, the reader is shown that he is quickly angered and acts based on his anti-zionist beliefs. In comparison, David Malter configures qualities of the modernist, Zionist and Humanitarian. Potok portrays Malter as a caring, passionate father believing in a cause. Through great effort, he tries to help European Jews escape persecution. He is very open-minded and strives to consider different points of views. His career as a teacher molds a well-rounded and very intelligent man. Instead of focusing primarily on religion for answers like Sanders, his love for science still stands. After he learns about the Holocaust he devotes all his time to pursuing a Jewish State. A powerful statement concluded by David Malter says, “What do we have left to us now, if not American Jewry” he continues “Some Jews say we should wait for a Messiah. We cannot wait for God! We must make our own Messiah! We must build American Jewry. And Palestine must become a Jewish homeland” (Potok 196-197). Furthermore, the Orthodox scholar completely rejects Reb Saunders theology. Mr. Sanders is retreating into isolation and choosing to neglect the world he lives in. Instead, Malter is embracing this horrific period for the Jewish community during World War II. He chooses to interpret the mass killing as a symbol of rebirth. He wants to repair and replenish Judaism. At the beginning of the novel, the author is shown that he believes that unless American Judaism isn't rebuilt it would perish. Through the Zionist movement, he takes it into his own hands to help create a Jewish homeland. Secondly, The Chosen illustrates the religious conflict between father son relationships.
Throughout the novel, Danny experiences the hardship of following his father's vision of him becoming a Rabbi. Instead, he is faced with internal disagreement with managing the secular and religious integrity. Danny doesn't want to follow his father's path because he has been gifted with a great mind. Due to his strict upbringing he feels forced and burdened with the responsibility of becoming the next leader of the Hasidic Jewish society. It is mentioned that he feels, “Like a bird in pain” and “Trapped” (Potok) between following the traditionalist approach or modernity. Potok portrays Danny as a dedicated Orthodox Jew forced to decide between his passion and his obligations to his faith. His private studies at the library studying western literature finally results in a confrontation with his father. His focus upon Phycology, in particular, Freud is forbidden. While trying to explore the modern world he is sucked back into religion. Also, throughout the book, Potok describes their unique interactions. Silence plays a significant role within The Chosen. Through very strict up bringing, the author sees Danny pining for someone to talk to. The struggle of communication between Father and son affects him immensely. Reb Sanders tries to justify his methods by claiming this method teaches Danny to become humble. Furthermore, to reflect on the hardships of his fellow Jews and feel the …show more content…
pain of others. This becomes a central idea throughout the book and causes their relationship to suffer. On page 284, Reb Sanders says,“My father himself never talked to me, except when we studied together. He taught me with silence. He taught me to look into myself, to find my own strength, to walk around inside myself in company with my soul” (Potok 284). He tries to portray his emotional detachment as a positive influence on his son. In conclusion, through this type of childhood, it raised Danny to recognize others weaknesses and be a strong leader in the future. The novels use of silence is displayed a tool to teach his son. Reb uses his father traditionalist technique on Danny because it worked on himself. Furthermore, after analyzing the author's thesis, I believe that it is impossible to maintain complete footing in traditionalist approach.
In the novel, Reb has isolated himself from modern society. Even during the Holocaust, his fanatic theology leads him to do nothing. Instead of following David Malter’s activism, he waits for the Messiah. In an ever changing world you have to adapt, this man does not. I believe that you can maintain tradition but you have to be acceptant to others and your surroundings. The novel implies that it is important for people to engage in the outside world. Also, Potok shows that religion can be a source of conflict amongst family and friends. Even though they are both Orthodox Jews, the author is shown their distinct differences. Numerous parallel characters within the novel are affected, one of the distinct ones are between Reuven and Danny. I was shocked when Reb Saunders prohibits his son Daniel from communicating with Reuven. I think that his father over reacted, and used his personal hatred towards Zionism as a selfish motive. Even through the struggle, these two adolescent boys are finally united. At the end of the book, I finally understood that it is hard to balance your faith while being open to a modernist
civilization. In conclusion, Claim Potok illustrated a deeply moving story which showed true friendship and the father son relationship. The novel displays this through religious challenges and scenarios which question morality. Also, the chosen use of historical chronicles helps drive the plot of the novel. Furthermore, it leads to the protagonist Reuven meeting Danny in the softball league. After reading The Chosen, I know understand there is a great deal to Judaism. Also how the youth if affected by living within this type of religious atmosphere.
It is during these discussions that they begin to learn more about each other. "For the first fifteen years of our lives, Danny and I lived within five blocks of each other and neither of us knew of the other 's existence." (Potok 1). Danny tells Reuven about his secret reading in the library and the man that recommends books for him. The boys realize that the mysterious man is in Reuven’s father.
The third main relationship is Hasidism verses Zionism. The relationship between the two fathers and the two sons is a very important theme in this book. Because of their different backgrounds, Reb Saunders and David Malters approached raising a child from two totally different perspectives. Despite the obvious differences in the two men’s beliefs, both did what they thought was right for their sons. Reb Saunders was a Hasidic tzaddik and wanted his son to follow in his footsteps.
Six million Jews died during World War II by the Nazi army under Hitler who wanted to exterminate all Jews. In Night, Elie Wiesel, the author, recalls his horrifying journey through Auschwitz in the concentration camp. This memoir is based off of Elie’s first-hand experience in the camp as a fifteen year old boy from Sighet survives and lives to tell his story. The theme of this memoir is man's inhumanity to man. The cruel events that occurred to Elie and others during the Holocaust turned families and others against each other as they struggled to survive Hitler's and the Nazi Army’s inhumane treatment.
The Silber Medal winning biography, “Surviving Hitler," written by Andrea Warren paints picture of life for teenagers during the Holocaust, mainly by telling the story of Jack Mandelbaum. Avoiding the use of historical analysis, Warren, along with Mandelbaum’s experiences, explains how Jack, along with a few other Jewish and non-Jewish people survived.
After a whole book of building up, from Danny having to visit the library secretly to him having to hide his college plans, the writer reveals that the person Danny has always tried to keep secrets against knew and acquiesced all of his actions since the very beginning. Unlike how they portrayed him as, Reb Saunders does his best to raise Danny with freedom and spirituality at the same time instead of controlling Danny and trying to limit his freedom. Finally, though unwillingly, he lets Danny go, “Today is the-the Festival of Freedom.” There was a soft hint of bitterness in his voice. “Today my Daniel is free….”(288). At last, Danny is allowed to pursuit his dreams free from the burden of his family heritage. This final event raps up the book in a truly ironic way by alternating the readers’ views on Reb Saunders and his way of raising Danny that seemed cruel and
The Holocaust took place during World War II, when Adolf Hitler became the dictator of Germany in 1933. Would your identity change, if you were put through an epidemic. In the first section of the book, Eliezer Wiesel is a twelve year old boy who studies Judaism, but he wants to study Kabbalah, Wiesel described himself as faithful religious man. However, throughout Night, the evolution of Wiesel’s religious beliefs, symbolizes the struggle of the Holocaust.
They became friends and kept seeing each other after Reuven got out of the hospital. One day, Reuven went over to Danny’s house to meet his father. Danny’s father was a rabbi and raised his son in silence. They never talked except when they studied the Torah together. Reuven’s father was a Zionist and Danny’s father was an anti-Zionist.
Chaim Potok’s The Chosen explores two father son relationships, one between the Malters and one between the Saunders. In the final chapter of the book, Danny and Reb Saunders finally come to an understanding of each other, but not without the help of Reuven. Although they are a strong family, the Saunders need an outside force to help them communicate and solve Danny’s problems overall. The last chapter covers the need for suffering and pain and shows how Danny grows with Reuven’s help.
“The Father” by Carolyn Osborn is a story about Darwin and Casey, a couple who meet and begin a whirlwind love affair. This love affair leads to an unexpected pregnancy. Casey, the mother, leaves when the baby is just one month old only to return when the child is three years old. Soon, Darwin is caught in a court battle for custody of a son. Two days before the court date, Darwin discovers he is not the biological father of the child. This makes no difference to Darwin as he has loved and cared for the child since he was born. The central idea of this story is that sometimes the best parent isn’t always the biological parent.
In Art Spiegelman’s Maus, the audience is led through a very emotional story of a Holocaust survivor’s life and the present day consequences that the event has placed on his relationship with the author, who is his son, and his wife. Throughout this novel, the audience constantly is reminded of how horrific the Holocaust was to the Jewish people. Nevertheless, the novel finds very effective ways to insert forms of humor in the inner story and outer story of Maus. Although the Holocaust has a heart wrenching effect on the novel as a whole, the effective use of humor allows for the story to become slightly less severe and a more tolerable read.
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, by John Boyne, significantly distorts the truth of the Holocaust in order to evoke the empathy of the audience. This response is accomplished by the author through hyperbolizing the innocence of the nine-year old protagonist, Bruno. Through the use of dramatic irony, Boyne is able to both engage and involve the audience in the events of the novel. Although it is highly improbable that a son of a German high-ranking Schutzstaffel (SS) officer would not know what a Jew is and would be unable to pronounce both Fuhrer and Auschwitz, (which he instead mispronounces as ‘Fury’ and ‘Out-with’ respectively, both of which are intentional emotive puns placed by the author to emphasize the atrocity of the events), the attribution of such information demonstrates the exaggerated innocence of Bruno and allows the audience to know and understand more than him. This permits the readers to perceive a sense of involvement, thus, allowing the audience to be subjected towards feeling more dynamic and vigorous evocation of emotions and empathy towards the characters. Fu...
Quentin Tarantino’s 2009 film Inglourious Bastards entails a Jewish revenge fantasy that is told through a counterfactual history of events in World War II. However, this story follows a completely different plot than what we are currently familiar with. Within these circumstances, audiences now question the very ideas and arguments that are often associated with World War II. We believe that Inglourious Basterds is a Jewish revenge fantasy that forces us to rethink our previous understandings by disrupting the viewers sense of content and nature in the history of World War II. Within this thesis, this paper will cover the Jewish lens vs. American lens, counter-plots with-in the film, ignored social undercurrents, and the idea that nobody wins in war. These ideas all correlate with how we view World War II history and how Inglourious Basterds muddles our previous thoughts on how these events occurred.
Imagine waking up on a normal day, in your normal house, in your normal room. Imagine if you knew that that day, you would be taken away from your normal life, and forced to a life of death, sickness, and violence. Imagine seeing your parents taken away from you. Imagine watching your family walk into their certain death. Imagine being a survivor. Just think of the nightmares that linger in your mind. You are stuck with emotional pain gnawing at your sanity. These scenerios are just some of the horrific things that went on between 1933-1945, the time of the Holocaust. This tragic and terrifying event has been written about many times. However, this is about one particularly fascinating story called The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne.
“The War Against The Jews” by Lucy Dawidowicz explores a very dark time in history and interprets it from her perspective. Through the use of other novels, she concurs and agrees to form her opinion. This essay will explore who Dawidowicz is, why she wrote the book, what the book is about, what other authors have explored with the same topic, and how I feel about the topic she wrote about. All in all, much research will be presented throughout the essay. In the end, you will see how strongly I feel about the topic I chose.
Parent and children relationships are the main point of a play in many literary works. Through their relationship the reader can understand the conflicts of the play, since the characters play different roles in each other’s lives. These people are usually connected in physical and emotional ways. They can be brother and sister, mother and daughter, or father and son. In “Death of A Salesman,” by Arthur Miller the interaction between Willy Loman and his sons, Biff and Happy, allow Miller to comment on the father-son relationship and conflicts that arise from them. In “ The Glass Menagerie,” by Tennessee Williams shows this in the interaction between Amanda and her children, Laura and Tim.