Reuven In Chaim Potok's The Chosen

The batter pivots and swings hitting the ball high over the heads of the fielders, and the crowd goes wild. Playing sports has entertained and united people across the world. Even authors recognize the importance of sports in today’s society and incorporate them into their books to draw people quickly into the story. Chaim Potok uses baseball in his book The Chosen to bring together two teens Reuven Malter, a polite young Orthodox Jew, and Danny Saunders, a Hasidic Jew with a mind like a supercomputer, who would otherwise never have become friends due to their religious differences. During his friendship with Danny, Reuven learns about Jewish history and about being a true friend. Also, Reuven tries to help out people and less fortunate creatures. In fact, Reuven portrays kindness, reflects upon life, and respects others as he matures into a young rabbi.

First, Reuven exhibits kindness. He is kind to small animals and people in his life. For example, Reuven shows his kindness to animals others would like to kill. When he sees a fly in a spider web, he “blew hard against the web” to free the fly from its position of hopeless doom (The Chosen 174). In addition, Reuven cares about people he meets in his life. After he got

Numerous times, he contemplates religious differences and the significance of events in peoples’ lives. For instance, Reuven often asks his father about religious matters. Whenever he is confused or troubled about Danny’s different religious beliefs, he asks his dad about it. Additionally, Reuven reflects upon how small things can have large influences on someone’s life. Soon after his time in the hospital, he realizes that his life had changed “all because of a ball game” (111). Due to playing baseball, Reuven met and developed an unlikely friendship with Danny who had radically different religious beliefs than he did. Obviously, Reuven Malter asks probing questions and searches for