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Allusions
Chapter 1
Explanation and Analysis—Reuven & Danny:
Throughout The Chosen, main characters Reuven Malter and Danny Saunders are presented as foils of one another. Through the two boys’ contrasting traits and beliefs, readers discover their individual motivations and the ways in which they eventually overcome their differences to remain friends. A particular example of Reuven and Danny’s presence as foils appears in Chapter 1, when Reuven imagines himself through Danny’s perception of non-Hasidic Jews:
I was an apikoros to Danny Saunders, despite my belief in God and Torah, because I did not have side curls and was attending a parochial school where too many English subjects were offered and where Jewish subjects were taught in Hebrew instead of Yiddish, both unheard-of sins [...] I found myself growing more and more angry, and I felt the anger begin to focus itself upon Danny Saunders, and suddenly it was not difficult at all for me to hate him.
Related Themes:
Chapter 7
Explanation and Analysis—Mr. Malter & Reb Saunders:
Like their sons, Mr. Malter and Reb Saunders also appear as narrative foils throughout The Chosen, particularly in their views towards Zionism and the Zionist project. Readers learn that the two men largely respect each other, but they hold incredibly strong beliefs regarding the value or non-value of Hasidism. Evidence for Malter and Saunders’s role as foils appears regularly throughout the novel as the men debate and spar, with one example appearing in Chapter 7:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“Your father is a great scholar. But what he writes, ah, what he writes!” He shook his head. “I worry myself about my son’s friends, especially if such a friend is the son of David Malter. Ah, what your father writes! Criticism. Scientific criticism. Ah! So when he tells me you are now his friend, I worry myself.”
Related Themes:
