Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas
explored in a literary work.
The Importance
of Parallels
The Chosen is a bildungsroman,
a novel that traces the intellectual, moral, and psychological growth
of a young protagonist. What makes The Chosen unusual
is its focus on the development of two main characters rather than
one. As a result of their friendship, Reuven and Danny develop along
parallel lines. To reinforce the importance of Reuven and Danny’s
relationship to their respective developments, Potok fills his novel
with a seemingly endless array of pairs, parallels, complements,
and contrasts. Some characters’ parallel relationships are important because
they fulfill similar roles. For example,
David Malter and Rav Gershenson parallel each other because in David
Malter’s absence, Rav Gershenson becomes Reuven’s wise instructor. Other
parallel characters are important because they complement one another
by sharing knowledge. Reuven and Danny are one such pair: Danny
introduces Reuven to his broad yet rigorous method of analyzing
Talmud, while Reuven teaches Danny patience and open-mindedness
when Danny is frustrated with experimental psychology. Still other
parallel characters are important because they contrast with one
another. For example, while David Malter and Reb Saunders are both
fathers and religious scholars, they demonstrate fundamentally different
beliefs about parenting and religious tolerance.
In addition to creating parallel characters, Potok pairs
abstract concepts as well. He relates Reuven’s experience with near-blindness
to Danny’s experience with silence. He points out the similarity between
Danny and Reuven’s apartments. He even connects events, such as
David Malter’s heart attack after FDR’s death.
On one level, the use of parallels makes us
aware of how important relationships are in Potok’s world. Potok
argues that every person, every object, everything in his the universe
is intimately connected to something else. For Potok, there can
be no growth, no development, and no progress without an awareness of
this ever-present connection.
On a deeper level, Potok’s pairs echo the psychoanalytic
theory of Jacques Lacan. Lacan was a French psychoanalyst and student
of Freud’s works. His most famous contribution to psychology was
his formulation of what he called the mirror stage. According to
Lacan, there is a crucial stage in human development when, as infants,
we first see ourselves in a mirror. This marks the first time in
our lives, Lacan explains, when our interior sense of ourselves
is associated with an external image of ourselves. It is a moment
of important identification, when we begin to develop a sense of
our own identity. Lacan argues that we need external images, reflections
of ourselves, to define our sense of who we are. The parallels in The
Chosen are structured in this way. The complements and
contrasts in the world are mirrors the characters use to develop
their sense of the world and themselves.
Silence As a
Path to the Soul
Chaim Potok’s working title for The Chosen was A
Time For Silence. Silence is present throughout
the novel, although its importance is obscure until the novel’s
resolution. Potok often inserts the word “silence” in the text,
leaving us to figure out its meaning. For example, in Chapter 4,
Reuven notes that a “warm silence, … not in the least bit awkward”
passes between him and Danny. At first glance, this use of the word
“silence” seems unrelated to the mysterious silence between Danny
and his father. But later, we learn that silence, like communication,
can help people better understand each other.
Reb Saunders reveals his reasons for his silence toward
Danny in Chapter 18. By depriving Danny of
a certain physical stimulus, Reb Saunders forces him to cultivate
other senses of perception. In other words, the imposed silence
forces Danny to mature. Danny’s experience with silence parallels
Reuven’s experience with blindness, forcing him to turn inward,
and thus develop a better sense of his soul, a greater empathy for
others, and a better sense of the world and his role in it.
