fathers and sons
"Fathers and Sons" could of have easily been the title for Chaim Potok's novel The Chosen. In his first book, The Chosen, Potok portrays two different father and son relationships where the tradition becomes the source of conflict for his central characters, as they each seek their identities in the contemporary, secular society1. From one father and son relationship to the other each has its own set of problems and has their own way to communicate with one another. The conflicts in The Chosen functions at several levels. These are generational conflict, the temperamental conflict, the conflict between head and heart, and the opposition between a petrified fanaticism and humane tolerance2. In Chaim Potok's The Chosen each father and son relationship represent two different sides of Jewish life. The Chosen begins with a softball game between two Jewish parochial schools. Reuven Malter who is the son of a Jewish scholar is hit in the face with a ball hit by Danny Saunders who is the son of a Hasid that almost makes him blind. These two boys have two different backgrounds. Reuven is Orthodox; Danny is a Hasid, the son of a rabbi and destined by his father to take his hereditary place as tzaddik- a teacher
Throughout The Chosen, Potok portrays two different relationships between father and son and how each one effects the outcome of their offspring. From Reuven becoming a rabbi to Danny becoming a psychologist or "tzaddik for the world," the presence of their relationship with their father played an enormous role. , spiritual advisor, mediator between his community of followers and God3. This simple game in which the novel begins with not only triggers the conflict but determines the direction the novel would take. While recovering in the hospital the two boys become spiritual and intellectual brothers. Neither one could have imagined that through their one incident at the baseball game that they would grow to become spiritual brothers. Each teaches the other about their beliefs and their differences in their ways that each one of them are brought up. For Reuven and Danny are can be compared to the Ying and Yang because one supplements the other. Danny is a young man torn between fulfilling the expectations of being a rabbi like his father and satisfying his own need for secular knowledge. On the other hand Reuven represents the old fashioned Jew and the perfect child. From the beginning of the novel one can quickly sense that Danny will rebel and Reuven will become a rabbi. Reb Saunders chose to raise Danny Saunders according to the unusual Hasidic tradition that dictates that under certain circumstances a father and son should speak only when discussing religious texts. Danny has a relationship with his father where usually it is full of complete silence. Every weekend they would have Talmud study sessions. Although their relationship is full of suffering and no conversing of subjects other than Talmud Danny is aware of
Some common words found in the essay are:
Reb Saunders, Chosen Potok, Danny Hasid, Danny Saunders, Ying Yang, Rabbi Saunders, Potok's Chosen, Reuven Malter, Hasid Jews, reb saunders, father son, Chaim Potok's, relationship father, father son relationship, son relationship, played enormous role, father aware, exactly father, enormous role, secular subjects, potok portrays, chosen potok portrays, chosen potok,
Approximate Word count = 1183
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
