The Chosen Identity Quotes

How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #4

"The way he acts and talks doesn’t seem to fit what he wears and the way he looks. […] It’s like two different people." (4.26)

Reuven begins to understand that appearances are not always a good measure of identity. It’s a good thing his glasses broke when they did.

Quote #5

Somehow everything had changed. I had spent five days in the hospital and the world around seemed sharpened now and pulsing with life. (5.17)

As a result of meeting Danny, Reuven’s identity is shifting and changing more rapidly than it was before. As he rises to meet his new identity, every thing becomes new and exciting.

Quote #6

"What an image it gives me of myself." (8.138)

When Danny reads a book of so-called history that speaks disparagingly of the Hasidim, even to the point of slander, he feels a massive confusion. Even though he has nothing to do with the people written about in the book, he looks like them, dresses like them, and lives like them. He feels like the whole idea he’s had of himself all along is a lie. Everyone tells him not to pay attention to what he’s just read, but it sticks to him nonetheless, and intensifies his desire to be free from the identity he was born into.