How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
"But how can we raise ourselves above dust?" (7.130)
If David’s weapon is his typewriter, the Reb’s is the Torah. He wages wars against being dust. Rising against dust means following the Torah to extremes. He learns that if he tries to impose his weapon on his son to the exclusivity of other weapons, he will lose a different battle: the battle with himself to be a good father.
Quote #5
There was no tension here at all but a battle between equals […]. And I soon realized […] Reb Saunders was far happier when he lost to Danny than when he won. (8.194)
At this point in time, the "battle between equals" that Reuven describes is the only kind of talking Danny and Reb Saunders engage in. This has turned their home into a battlefield, where a war of silence is being fought.
Quote #6
"My son is my most precious possession. I have nothing in the world compared to my son. I must know what he is reading." (8.101)
Reuven is caught in the crossfire of the Reb and Danny’s battle with silence. Danny and Reuven aren’t the only ones who learn things in The Chosen. By the end of the novel, the Reb has learned that his son isn’t a "possession," but someone he can share the beauty of life with. He also learns to get past using Reuven as a "buffer" between himself and his son, and to ask Danny what he wants to know directly. This ends their "war," at least on the most extreme level.