Stereotypes In Chaim Potok's The Chosen

In the beginning of “The Chosen” Reuven and Danny were separated by their different religions. Danny and Reuven lived five blocks away from each other and for fifteen years they never spoke to each until this baseball game. The boy’s religious stereotypes have blocked these two boys into becoming friends earlier on in life. A stereotype is defined as a “generalization about an entire class of phenomena based on some knowledge of some members of a class.” (Wood, Fixmer-Oraiz pg. 107) Reuven’s preconceived stereotype of Hasidic Jews made him think that Danny had a “Hasidic-bred sense of superiority.” (Potok pg. 20) Reuven thought that Danny viewed himself as superior because Hasidics are known for only spending their time reading and studying

the Talmud. Hasidic followers did not spend their time reading anything that contradicts the Talmud. “Relying on stereotypes can lead us to overlook important qualities of an individual and to perceive them only in terms of what we consider common to a general category.” (Wood, Fixmer-Oraiz pg. 107) When Reuven stereotyped the Hasidic people, he did not consider the individuality of Danny. Reuven view of Danny was limited to the stereotypes that he believed in. At the baseball game, Reuven did not know Danny personally, so he was oblivious to Danny’s uniqueness. Reuven soon became aware that Danny had a unique interest in psychoanalysis and he was fascinated in a specific psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud. Reuven began to view Danny more than this superior stereotype. Moreover, their friendship would not have occurred if Reuven did not overcome his stereotype of the Hasidic.