Essay: The Chosen
... over their elders that at one time made them separate. This contrasting religious style is paramount to the overall theme of individuality and freedom in the book. Immediately, the tone of the story is set when the boys encounter each other at the baseball game, and the hatred bouncing between the two portrays the boys’ absolute differences in their lives. Danny, coming from the hasidic sect of the Jewish religion, has debatable ideas compared to Rueven, who is an Orthodox Jew. Also, the clothing worn by the two sects differed in many ways. Danny often wore craftans, and a skullcap, and had curly tendrils located on the side of his face called earlocks. Rueven, on the other hand, usually wore jeans and a nice shirt, other than the day of Shabbat where everyone’s best clothes appeared. By the same token, each boy attended a yeshiva, also known as school, but their yeshiva cirriculum’s were not similar. Danny’s yeshiva taught mostly Yiddish and only limite...