Mr. Malter, Reuven’s father, worked as an academic
Mr. Malter, Reuven’s father, worked as an academic
“The way of the fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice.” In his novella, The Chosen, Chaim Potok describes two contrasting Jewish families in the 1930’s and 40’s. As members of a moderate Jewish sect, the Malters practice their religion with reverence, but also avail themselves of modern entertainment forbidden by strict Jews, such as watching a film at the theater. Contrastingly, the Saunders lead the Hasid sect in the area, one of the most conservative and strict orders. Quiet Reb Saunders displays, zeal, sorrow, and contemplation while guiding his flock of Hasid Jews.…
Guglielmo Marconi is to the telephone pole as the Wright Brothers are to the airplane. Both of the people noted were inventors of great items, though they hadn’t invented the ideas of their works. Off of the subject of inventions, this essay will discuss a strange subject. Are great men hard to understand? In the book “The Chosen “ by Chaim Potok, Mr. Malter makes the statement “Great men are difficult to understand” in regards to Reb Saunders. This statement could also be associated with the Wright Brothers, the creators of the first controllable airplane. Their motives for wanting to abandon their humble, and comfortable lives, to compete in a race to create the first airplane will never be completely explained. All great people, including the Wright Brothers, are hard to understand.…
In Proverbs 18:15 “The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge, for the ears of the wise seek it out.” In the book The Chosen by Chaim Potok, The similarities or the characters through the entirety of the book, in the book, David, Danny, and Reuven all share the love for knowledge and wanting to know more and more every day about everything and anything they can get their hands on. The love and pursuit of knowledge with these three men is a very interesting, in how much they love to learn and they want for more and more knowledge.…
Chaim Potok in his novel, The Chosen, uses parallels between characters to compliment one another by sharing knowledge and contrasting one another. There are two particular characters that are especially prominent. Reuven and Danny are both raised as American Jews and are the same age, at times they build and learn off of one another as they grow up together. Danny’s photographic memory makes memorizing things easy, but at times he struggles with other subjects. Potok writes, “Two blatt?…
“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.” This famous verse comes from Exodus 20:12 and Chaim Potok really emphasized respecting and reverence to patriarchy in his book The Chosen. In this book, the main characters, Reuven Malter and Danny Saunders, both have an amazing admiration for the fathers. Both their fathers have very distinct beliefs and Danny and Reuven show reverence to them in many ways. Not only do the boys obey their fathers but they do it with respect and they also take care of their fathers throughout the book. Danny and Reuven demonstrate a reverence to patriarchy through submission, taking care of, and respecting their fathers.…
Gibbs, R., & Colston, H. (2007). Irony in Language and Thought. New York: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. [Online]. Retrieved at: www.library.nu [April 11th 2011]…
Throughout relationships, it is conflict and resolution that brings two people closer together. The Chosen, by Chaim Potok, focuses on this idea of enhancing companionships with differences. Throughout the novel, there are various types of relationships which all go through a conflict of some sort that needs to be solved in order to survive the bump in the road. Reuven and Danny at first hate each other but then grow to like each other when they learn how much they have in common. The Malters, Reuven and David, have a strong and healthy connection including many lessons from his dad. The Saunders, Danny and Reb have a harsher relationship but Danny later finds out it is out of love and teachable moments. Chaim Potok suggests that relationships need conflict to develop and strengthen.…
Secondly, situational irony is a discrepancy, or difference between what's expected and what really happens. One such example of this type of irony occurs for the accused; The punishment of "witches". Do they die because they truthfully say they aren't witches or live with the lie that they are? Goody Proctor was a genuine person, and yet died with the truth that she was innocent of witchcraft. What is more important, morals, or your own life? You're the judge of the case.…
The author use irony to make the characters seem real because the characters say something and do the opposite. Real people do that to.…
Throughout the book “The Chosen” by Chaim Potok the author writes about how two Jewish boys are raised. One having a strict father who does not allow him to have his own mind and the other father being acceptable of what his son does. This book surprisingly has a key similarity to an article titled, “Should Parents Monitor Their Children’s Social Media.” Both the book and the article struggle with whether or not parents should censor what their children are doing.…
Hardships sorrowfully fall on every one, whether it be your age or size. Handling these hardships takes respect, kindness, and perseverance to both who withstand and overcome these difficult obstacles. In Chaim Potok`s The Chosen, a young man Revun Malter represents a character of a true role model. He intelligibly shows strong signs of honor, sympathy, and courage when dealing with these such problems, and uses his finest ability to correct learn from his mistakes. Therefore, each and every day Revun has to make big steps to construct himself to become a fine young man. Throughout the book, Revun inspires to act as an honorable son and person and help his friends and family through these hard times and occurring hardships. He leads himself by respecting others, acting kindly, and asking God for perseverance to help him become a trustworthy role model.…
“ ‘He can fill that tiny span with meaning, so its quality is immeasurable though its quantity may be insignificant,’ (p. 257).” David Malter spoke for all to hear in The Chosen by Chaim Potok, and this novel shows the rough edge of Reuven Malter and Danny Saunder’s lives along with their father’s teachings. During the beginning of the story, Reuven and Danny hate each other, then they create a strong friendship that leads them to an increase in their knowledge of this world. David Malter and Reb Saunders demonstrate their similarities and differences in religion, father-figure, and teachings to show that life must encounter difficulties and problems in order to see how the progresses with one…
Situational Irony- Occurs when incongruity appears between expectations of something to happen, and what actually happens instead. " Clevinger was a genius... a Harvard undergraduate... [going] far in the academic world... In short, he was a dope." (Heller, 68) Heller uses this quote to reveal a constant problem in what we conceive as intelligent. We normally assume that Harvard graduates are the smartest people; however, Heller is talking about the difference between book smarts and street smarts. This is important because in war, there is no real need for book smarts.…
There are crucial parts throughout the novel that Hosseini wanted us at readers to visualize as we read. Three ironic moments illustrated in the novel that I picked was when Baba told Amir “Now, no matter what the mullah teaches, theres is only one sin, only one. And that is theft” (16). The second irony is Baba tells Amir that there is one better than a Pashtun by your side. “We may be hardheaded and I know we’re far too proud, but, in the hour of need, believe me that there’s no one you’d rather have at your side than a Pashtun” (140). The last irony I found unique is the lip scar Amir gets later on in his life that is the same as Hassan’s lip when he was little.Hosseini utilizes irony as a part of his book to give another push to the story. His ironic moments in the novel helps shape our understanding of the story giving us a perspective on both sides of a problem. .…
T. Coraghessan Boyle uses irony in his short story Carnal Knowledge, which gives it a humorous tone. The way the narrator reacts to ironic events shapes our understanding of both him, and the meaning of the story as a whole; although humans can adapt to their surroundings to get want they want, they will always return to their original basic set of morals and standards.…