Silence teaches and creates things, it also leaves things bottled up inside and emotions running astray. In the book, The Chosen the characters didn't always know what was happening with others because they were silent many times. But some could know what each other were talking about like, Danny and Reuven. They could understand each other even when silent because of the close relationship they had Danny's silence is based on "Being raised in silence", "The technique and how it impacted Danny", and "How the method of raising a child can work out"
Silence is another way of talking for the Saunders'. It's how Reb Saunders taught Danny because it was the only way he knew how to teach his son. Reb said, "My father never talked to me, except when
we studied together. He taught me with silence." (Potok, 265). He did the same thing to Danny as his dad did to him. Reb is a sympathetic person and he wants Danny to also have a soul and have concern for others just like he did. Reb has much love for Danny but he doesn't show it. We can see that Reb's father's silence technique has worked in teaching Reb. Silence created Danny and Reuven's relationship. If Reb did not raise Danny in silence, he may not have been looking for a friend. After the argument about Zionism, Reb decided that Reuven and Mr. Malter are not allowed to speak or come into contact with the Saunders' family. The silence between Danny and Reuven teaches that you can communicate without actually speaking. While Reuven is explaining a section of the Talmud, and it says that Danny and Reuven were exchanging glances and communicating their feelings. This shows that you can communicate with your best friends and people that you have close relationships with, even without talking. You will know what each other are thinking or what you are about to say. This method of silence for raising a child worked out by Danny maturing on his own. Potok does not completely endorse Reb Saunder’s treatment of Danny. When Reuven meets Danny, he is not established to silence. Reuven’s relationship with his father is based on conversation and Mr. Malter is his friend, because Mr. Malter is a good listener and offers good advice. So Reuven and his father think of silence as something strange and empty, and they consider Reb Saunders’s silence toward Danny torture and cruel.Danny’s experience with silence parallels and Reuven’s experience with blindness forced him to turn inward. And that made him develop a better sense of his soul, a greater empathy for others, and a better sense of the world and his role in it. Silence can be a good thing. It has proven that by how it teaches and creates things in the The Chosen, but it also can provide a fence between two people. In The Chosen most silences do mean something. Silence created Danny and Reuven into who they were at the end of the story by it creating, teaching, or being a fence. Silence is one of the best themes that controls and dominates this book.
In the matter where they are the same, both Danny and Reuven learn lots from their father and have their religious viewpoints learned from their father. For Danny, he comes from a long line of Hassidic rabbis which most likely led to his upbringing as a Hassidic Jew too. Danny learned his religious stance from his father just as how Reuven learned about his religious viewpoint as a Zionist from his father. When Reuven is excommunicated from speaking with Danny and their family, Reuven grows even more closely to his father and truly takes the initiative to push for the Jewish homeland, just like how Danny obeys his father’s commands and stays out from helping the creation. While Danny and Reuven are similar in the sense that they learn of their Jewish traditions from their father, they are also different in the sense that they were brought up differently. Danny is brought up in silence, as Reb Saunders believes in “speaking through silence.” Danny’s father doesn’t talk to Danny four years. Reb speaks through his wife and Reuven or other people too. Reb Saunders explains why he decided to do this when he is speaking to Reuven and Danny towards the end of the
The basis of all the conflicts in the entire novel stem from the differences in family life, which are brought on by the discrepancies of religious beliefs. Rueven, who is an Orthodox Jew, goes to a parochial school where Hebrew is taught instead of Yiddish (which would be considered the first Jewish language). Rueven's school is also very integrated with many English-speaking classes. But on the other hand, Danny, who attends a yeshiva (also a Jewish school), considers himself a true Jew because he (unlike Rueven) wears the traditional side curls and is educated in Yiddish. At first the two boys cannot stand each other, many times Danny refers to Rueven as "apikorsim," (32) which basically translates to... someone who is not true to their religion. These differences between the two soon become obsolete with one unfortunate accident, and make them realize they could use each other to get through some hard times. "Silence is all we dread. There's ransom in a voice--But Silence is infinity."-Emily Dickinson
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. He raised Danny in silence, hoping to teach him to listen to silence, to learn compassion, and to develop a soul to go with his mind. Unless it had to do with religious studies, Reb never had an actual conversation with Danny after the age of 3. Reb wanted Danny to find things out for himself. On the other hand, Reuven’s father, Mr. Malters, felt it very important that he had good and frequent communication between himself and his son. The two would sometimes talk for hours about life, different religions, friends and anything else Reuven would want to ...
As the story evolves, Danny and Reuven become very good friends. This is a highlight for Danny, given that he has never had a close friend before Reuven. Danny has lived a very lonely life. He has not had any friends because he feels that no understands him. Reuven's father realizes Danny's loneliness, and gives Reuven some fatherly advice. He comments, "Reb Saunders' son is a terribly torn and lonely boy. There is literally no one in the world he can talk to. He needs a friend." (pg. 110) David Malter continues by saying, "The accident with the baseball has bound him to you and he has already sensed in you someone he can talk to without fear. I am very proud of you for that." (pg. 110) Reuven's father expresses his confidence to his son very openly which is an important aspect in comparing with Danny and his father's relationship.
...ing identity to the point where it no longer exists. This identity can be lost through extreme devotion, new experience, and immense tragedy. Relationships with the most meaningful companions impact both main characters, Elie and Frederic. Due to the events they must encounter alongside loved ones, Elie and Frederic change completely, losing the identity that once existed. The most impactful events of any life are those that involve struggle and tragedy. Any tragic event that one encounters can significantly alter the purpose of life forever. Tragic events such as taking away what one may hold dearest, such as a loved one in the cases of Elie and Frederic. This type of loss can create a saddened, purposeless life in all humans.
Silence — the sound of quiet, the state of mind, the lack of meaning — all these pertain to its definition. Communication is expanding, noise is increasing, music is becoming more obtainable as people search desperately for a moment of peace or a breeze of silence. As the scarcity of physical silence increases, its value as a rare commodity increases as well. The idiom “Silence is golden” may perhaps only grow closer to reality as time passes, as exemplified by the white noise machines or silent fans entering the market and fictionalized in Kevin Brockmeier’s short story, “The Year of Silence.” In light of this, Brockmeier explores the value of silence and noise in his story without putting one above the other. Through strange clues and hidden
The novel The Chosen is a story of two Jewish boys who become friends and go through lots of hard times together. The book starts out at a baseball game, one boy on one team and one boy on the other team. The game quickly turns more into a war rather than a game. Reuven was pitching when Danny came up to bat, Reuven threw the ball and Danny hit the ball straight back at him. The ball hit Reuven in the eye, shattered his glasses, and got a piece of glass in his eye. Reuven was taken to the hospital where doctors fixed his eye and he stayed there for five days.
The short documentary video “Prisoners of Silence” focuses on neurodevelopmental disorders with a clear emphasis on autism. It further delves into the rather controversial method of treatment for autism known as facilitated communication, which was first developed in the early 1990s. The video follows the introduction and ultimately the downfall of such a treatment as controversy quickly ensues after a series of sexual abuse cases and ample scientific evidence are produced.
In The Chosen, silence plays an important aspect in the characters lives. Reb Saunders forced silence and suffering upon his son Danny by not talking to him about anything other than his studies. He says he does this because he feels that Danny is so brilliant that he might not understand the suffering of others. Reb Saunders feels that silence is suffering by imposing non-communication, however, silence is really how Reuven, Danny, David Malter, and Reb Saunders communicate with each other and the world around them.
...distractions. Taking time to observe and analyze the silence can bring something to the surface that could never be confronted in any other way. We need to embrace silence presented throughout life, for we will come out with more definitive, powerful voices.
Alienation in All Quiet on the Western Front According to the Webster's New World College Dictionary, alienation is 1. Separation, aversion, aberration. 2. Estrangement or detachment. 3.
All of these factors put stress on the relationship, initially, and in the end strengthened it. The first mentioned, was the difference between Danny and Reuven’s religions. Although they were both Jewish, the novel shows that there were perceptible differences. The next mentioned was Reuven’s inability to understand “listening to silence”. Although Reuven may not have seen significance, Danny found silence to be very important, even related to wisdom. The final stressor mentioned was David’s methodological questioning of Danny at the end of the novel. It created tension in an already stressful situation, although helpful.
In “The Great Silence” Ted Chiang presents the reader with the idea that humans and other intelligent species do live on earth. Communication between different species on earth can be difficult because they can’t express their thoughts to one another. According to a possible solution to fermi’s paradox, intelligent life would rather hide than to present themselves to potential enemies. Humans have a hard time trying to find other species to communicate with because they only focus on extraterrestrial life. Humans created the Arecibo observatory to send out signals into space and pick up any signals that could be sent by extraterrestrial life. Although Humans cannot speak directly to other species we are able to communicate with our actions and vibes.
“Holding firmly to the trunk, I took a step toward him, and then my knees bent and I jounced the limb. Finny, his balance gone, swung his head around to look at me for an instant with extreme interest, and then he tumbled sideways, broke through the little branches below and hit the bank with a sickening, unnatural thud, It was the first clumsy physical action I had ever seen him make. With unthinking sureness I moved out on the limb and jumped into the river, every trace of my fear forgotten.” (Knowles 59-60). Gene Forrester, one of the main characters in John Knowles' novel A Separate Peace, describes his best friend Phineas' fall from a “tremendous tree, an irate steely black steeple beside a river,”(Knowles 6) at their all boys boarding school, Devon. Gene is an introverted young boy who is very academically gifted. Finny, however, is an extremely extroverted childish young boy who is very athleticaly gifted. Finny's fall eventually leads to terrible things, such as death and guilt. Throughout the novel Knowles uses Phineas' fall from the tree to symbolize his loss of innocence, to show Gene's guilt, and to develop Phinea's death.
With that knowledge the deaf character gained more confidence when communicating and was able to achieve bigger goals in their life then when they had little to no knowledge of how things worked in society. Reading about these characters just gave me a small insight into the deaf community but with the documentary ”Through Deaf Eyes,” has open my mind and eyes that they are people who can thrive in and change the world just as anyone can when they put their mind to