| Term Paper Title | Malters Development In The Chosen |
| # of Words | 710 |
| # of Pages (250 words per page double spaced) | 2.84 |
Malter's Development in The Chosen
One of the most emotional scenes from Chaim Potok's The Chosen is when
Reuven goes with Danny Saunders to talk to his father. Danny has a great
mind and wants to use it to study psychology, not become a Hasidic
tzaddik. The two go into Reb Saunders' study to explain to him what is
going to happen, and before Danny can bring it up, his father does. Reb
Saunders explains to the two friends that he already known that Reuven
is going to go for his smicha and Danny, who is in line to become the
next tzaddik of his people, will not. This relates to the motif of
"Individuality" and the theme of "Danny's choice of going with the
family dynasty or to what his heart leads him."
The most developing character from the novel is Reuven Malter. One of
the ways that he developes in the novel is in hus understanding of
friendship. His friendship with D\fanny Saunders is encouraged by his
father, but he is wary of it at first because Danny is a Hasid, and
regards regular Orthodox Jews as apikorsim because of the teachings of
his father. Reuven goes from not being able to have a civil conversation
with Danny to becoming his best friend with whom he spens all of his
free time, studies Talmud and goes to college. Reuven truly grows
because he leans, as his father says, what it is to be a friend. Another
way that Reuven grows is that he learns to appreciate different people
and their ideas. He starts out hating Hasidim because it's the "pious"
thing to do, even though his father (who I see as the Atticus Finch of
this novel) keeps telling him that it's okay to disagree with ideas, but
hating a person because of them is intolerable. Through his friendship
with Danny, studies with Reb Saunders, brief crush on Danny's sister
(who was never given a name), and time spent in the Hasidic community,
he learns that Hasids are people too with their own ideas and beliefs
that are as valuable as his. He learns why they think, act, speak, and
dress the way that they do and comes to grips with the fact that he
doesn't have a ...Read entire document
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