The Chosen Summary
Chaim Potok

The Chosen by Chaim Potok Chaim Potok was born in 1929 in the Bronx, New York, the child of Hasidic parents who had fled Eastern Europe. After graduating from Yeshiva University in 1950, he went on... Read more

Chaim Potok "wrote of what he knew best, Jewish-Americans in the 20th century struggling with two contradictory yet valid points of view," according to Shirley Saad writing for the United Press Intern... Read more

Chaim Potok, rabbi and critical scholar of Judaic texts, has demonstrated in his literary career that the American novel is indeed a viable genre for writing about Jewish theology, liturgy, history, a... Read more

Critical Essay by Karl Shapiro [The Chosen] is a deeply considered exegesis of modern Judaism. Formally, it should be ticketed as an allegory. The plot is simple and slight, though strong and graceful... Read more

Critical Essay by Eliot Fremont-smith ["The Chosen"] starts with a rousing softball game between two Jewish parochial schools that quickly explodes into a bloody holy war. This is, unfor... Read more

Critical Essay by Hugh Nissenson ["The Chosen"] is Chaim Potok's first novel and—let's face it—there's something rough and unpolished about his style. ... Read more

Critical Essay by Sam Bluefarb The conflict in Chaim Potok's novel The Chosen functions at several levels. These are: the generational conflict; the temperamental; the conflict between head and... Read more

In the following excerpt, Abramson provides an overview of the major themes, characters, and narrative presentation in The Chosen. Jewish and Non-jewish Worlds The Chosen is set largely within a Jewis... Read more

In the following review, Schmidt offers high praise for The Chosen. The Chosen is a very special book. It deals with a special era—the middle 1940's when war and the end of war was chang... Read more

My Name is Asher Lev's Asher and The Chosen's Reuven Malter were brought up in much the same fashion, but Reuven seems to appreciate his family more than Asher does. Their families are also quite s... Read more

        In the first book of the novel The Chosen written by Chaim Potok, the author shows that the beginning of a true friendship will defy all boundaries whether ther... Read more

In Chaim Potok's, The Chosen, he highlights the lives of a couple young men as they grow both together and individually. One of the boys is Daniel Saunders, the son of a tzaddik and Hasidic Jew. He c... Read more

The story "In my Father's Court," by Isaac Bashevis Singer connects in many ways to both The Chosen and My Name is Asher Lev, both written by Chaim Potok. Danny Saunders, from The Chosen, is the so... Read more

"Assimilate v. To absorb into the prevailing culture." The story in The Chosen at times seems to be near the quintessence of that definition. The characters in the book were all affected by it in so... Read more

Reb Saunders raised his son in silence. During the time of which this book was written, it was considered "another way to raise" a child. Reb Saunders did this to show his child compassion. When D... Read more

Families choose many ways to raise their children, such as to be brought up in freedom, or to be "brought up in silence." Families are always big influences in their children's lives, the influence i... Read more

In Chaim Potok's novel: The Chosen, Danny Saunders, the son of a Hasidic Rabbi has to come to terms with his own future following in his father's footsteps as a rabbi. During his early teenage ye... Read more

The novel "The Chosen" by Chaim Potok is a story about a Jewish boy growing up in Brooklyn, New York. The story begins with two boys competing in a school softball game. The main character, Danny Sa... Read more

The Chosen Book Notes is a free study guide on The Chosen by Chaim Potok. Browse the summary below:   Author Biography / Context of the Work   One-Page Plot Summary   Character De... Read more