The Chosen

The baseball game establishes the theme of Judaism and the Quest for Knowledge. Reuven and Danny are observant Jews—they devote much of their time to studying the Talmud—but Potok juxtaposes Danny’s Judaism with Reuven’s Judaism, making Reuven’s Judaism seem lax. Though they are both Jews, what they learn and how they express their faith are very different. Reuven says his “yeshiva was somewhat looked down upon by the students of other Jewish parochial schools of Brooklyn: it offered more English subjects than the required minimum” (11). Reuven’s school emphasizes knowledge in worldly (English) subjects, while Danny’s Hasidic school confines knowledge to Jewish issues and the Talmud. Danny tells Reuven, “I told my team we’re going to kill you apikorsim this afternoon” (30). Due to what they learn, the Hasids view Reuven and his team as bad Jews, while Danny and his team are admirable Jews. As Reuven puts it, “[T]he yeshiva team had translated this afternoon’s baseball game into a conflict between what they regarded as their righteousness and our sinfulness” (38).

The juxtaposition between Danny’s team and Reuven’s team turns the baseball game into a symbol of war. It’s not a friendly game—it’s violent. A runner slams into Reuven, Danny hits multiple balls at the pitchers (and strikes Reuven), and someone from Danny’s team screams, “Burn in hell, you apikorsim” (38). As Reuven tells his dad at the hospital, “They turned the game into a war” (72).

The diction used by the characters furthers the war symbolism. Davey refers to Danny’s team as “murderers,” and Galanter, the coach, constantly uses war terminology, telling his team, “This is a ball game. The enemy’s on the ground […]. Throw it like a sharpshooter” (13). The war diction alludes to World War II. There’s a literal war taking place, and it will eventually impact the characters. As Malter tells his son, “Very important things are happening, Reuven” (73).

Through Galanter, Cavo, and the rabbi, Potok injects Chapters 1 and 2 with humor. Galanter’s relentless war terminology makes him somewhat silly. At the hospital, he mutters “Jesus,” creating an ironic moment—the twist: Galanter is Jewish, and Jews don’t believe in Jesus. The rabbi adds humor due to his aloofness. He cares more about the book he reads than the game. Cavo’s harmless rants about boxing bring comic relief to Reuven’s and Billy’s serious situations.

Chapter 2 establishes the theme of the ups and downs of father-son relationships. Spotting his dad, Reuven says, “I almost cried out, but I held back and waited for him to come up to my bed” (67). After he leaves, he cries again. Reuven and his dad are close (so are Billy and his dad), and their solid relationship will juxtapose the rockier relationship between Danny and his dad.

Elements of the theme Silence and Communication are introduced here, namely the latter, as the reader sees the warm and open communication between Reuven and his father. There is mutual concern for each other, expressed in the son’s worries about his father’s health and the father’s honesty about his son’s eye injury and recovery. The Intricacies of Friendship are alluded to in the first line of the book, when Reuven mentions how he and Danny didn’t know each other for the first 15 years of their lives, implying that they have had a long relationship since then. However, the circumstances of their first meeting are a far cry from friendship, as Danny seems to hold nothing but disdain for Reuven’s practice of Judaism. Whatever emerges from this first meeting will be intricate and unique.