The Chosen Theme of Love

Love is deep, difficult, and mysterious in Chaim Potok’s The Chosen. The novel centers around two teenage boys who move from angry competition to friendship, and from friendship to brotherly love. The novel doesn’t offer much in the way of romantic love, but intense and conflicted friendships and familial passions abound.

1. So you’ve read Reb Saunders’s explanation of why he only spoke to Danny about the Talmud for all those years. Do you think his silence was a loving act? Why or why not?
2. How do the different characters express love, in their various relationships?
3. Do the characters do a good job of balancing their own desires with their love for others? Do they get better at it by the end of the novel?
4. Reuven spends much of the novel hating Reb Saunders. Is his hate justified? Does it ever turn into love?
5. How does Danny feel about his father?

The Chosen shows that what we think is hate can sometimes really be love.

Even though Reuven doesn’t understand many things about Danny, he is still able to make loving choices that help Danny achieve his dreams.