The Chosen written by American-Jewish author and rabbi, Chaim Potok, emphasises the importance of parent child relationships, specifically between Fathers and sons, within adolescent years. Between the ages of 10-19 children are moulded through the environment they’re raised in and the elements of relationship that are present. During this time, they acquire much of their character traits that build individual perspective and provide a structure for the development of one’s own values. Communication, honesty and acceptance are elements that should be prioritised within a parent child relationship. In The Chosen, Danny Saunders and his father, Reb Saunders, have a fractured and distant relationship, which contains a scarcity of the crucial elements
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“A heart I need for a son, a soul I need for a son, compassion I want from my son, righteousness, mercy, strength to suffer and carry pain, that I want from my son, not a mind without a soul!” (page 264) Reb was frightened of Danny’s intellectual brilliance, he was frightened of the man his son would become, he wanted to teach him what it meant to suffer, wanted him to find his soul. With silence came the construction of a barrier between the Father and son, and it wasn’t until the near end of the novel that Reb reveals his motives were out of fear and love combined and admits the cruelty of the tradition. Despite the apparent emotional distance and anything but love Reb emits, Danny admires his Father’s sudden honesty, and elements of appreciation and mental repose are suggested through his ability to tear through the silence of the room and the lingering pain of his childhood with his tears. The lack of honesty became a major factor which moulded Danny to become a distant and hostile character in the beginning, implying that he cannot see his self-worth. This issue is fuelled upon by Reb’s remote nature towards him, but the clear companionship between him and his other children. The emotional turmoil and anguish Danny experienced throughout his adolescence gave way to, perhaps, the feeling of being an outcast and the arise of his aspirations …show more content…
It signifies the fact that you value each other’s differences and are able to communicate together through honesty. “Today is the – the Festival of Freedom. Today my Daniel is free…/ Let my Daniel become a psychologist. I have no more fear now. All of his life he will be a tsaddik. He will be a tsaddik for the world. And the world needs a tsaddik.” (page 250/278) Towards the conclusion of the novel, Reb Saunders comes to accept his son for who he is and who he wants to be, rather than what tradition has labelled him as. Danny did not actively choose to be Hasidic; the characteristic is an aspect of his life that had been chosen for him before birth. He is faced with carrying the difficult burden the label holds at the same time as respecting the tradition. The lack of acceptance within their relationship can be explained by the conflict of abiding by what has been chosen and choosing one’s own path. However, Reb acknowledges the torture his son’s heart had experienced throughout his adolescence and recognises that the temptation of American modernism can have an effect on the eagerness towards traditional Hasidim. Acceptance of his son’s future and the ability for Reb to realise that his son will still be a Tzaddik, however, a modern American version rather than a traditional Hasidic one ties together their relationship and paves a way to a rekindled father son
“A heart I need for a son, a soul I need for a son, compassion I want from my son, righteousness, mercy, strength to suffer and carry pain, that I want from my son, not a mind without a soul!” (page 264) Reb was frightened of Danny’s intellectual brilliance, he was frightened of the man his son would become, he wanted to teach him what it meant to suffer, wanted him to find his soul. With silence came the construction of a barrier between the Father and son, and it wasn’t until the near end of the novel that Reb reveals his motives were out of fear and love combined and admits the cruelty of the tradition. Despite the apparent emotional distance and anything but love Reb emits, Danny admires his Father’s sudden honesty, and elements of appreciation and mental repose are suggested through his ability to tear through the silence of the room and the lingering pain of his childhood with his tears. The lack of honesty became a major factor which moulded Danny to become a distant and hostile character in the beginning, implying that he cannot see his self-worth. This issue is fuelled upon by Reb’s remote nature towards him, but the clear companionship between him and his other children. The emotional turmoil and anguish Danny experienced throughout his adolescence gave way to, perhaps, the feeling of being an outcast and the arise of his aspirations …show more content…
It signifies the fact that you value each other’s differences and are able to communicate together through honesty. “Today is the – the Festival of Freedom. Today my Daniel is free…/ Let my Daniel become a psychologist. I have no more fear now. All of his life he will be a tsaddik. He will be a tsaddik for the world. And the world needs a tsaddik.” (page 250/278) Towards the conclusion of the novel, Reb Saunders comes to accept his son for who he is and who he wants to be, rather than what tradition has labelled him as. Danny did not actively choose to be Hasidic; the characteristic is an aspect of his life that had been chosen for him before birth. He is faced with carrying the difficult burden the label holds at the same time as respecting the tradition. The lack of acceptance within their relationship can be explained by the conflict of abiding by what has been chosen and choosing one’s own path. However, Reb acknowledges the torture his son’s heart had experienced throughout his adolescence and recognises that the temptation of American modernism can have an effect on the eagerness towards traditional Hasidim. Acceptance of his son’s future and the ability for Reb to realise that his son will still be a Tzaddik, however, a modern American version rather than a traditional Hasidic one ties together their relationship and paves a way to a rekindled father son