On a journey through life, it is our relationships that influence us. Relationships are key to Chaim Potok's novel, The Chosen. These relationships consist of the friendship of Danny and Reuven, the relationship between Reuven and his father, and the relationship of Danny and his father. The most important relation is the connection between Danny and Reuven.
             The fact that Danny and Reuven are both of the Jewish faith, but Danny is Hasidic shows that they are alike, but different in many ways. One difference is how they are raised. Danny Saunders' father, Reb Saunders, chooses to raise his son in silence because Danny is next in line to be the Tzaddik. As a result of this, he feels isolated from his father and feels like he cannot talk to him. Danny does not want this, so Reuven helps him get along with his father by encouraging him to tell Reb Saunders about his wishes to be a psychologist. When they are at the library, Reuven also encourages Danny not to give up when trying to read Freud. Reuven does want to be a rabbi, so Danny brings him home to his father to study the Talmud. Reuven appreciated Reb Saunders and Danny for this. This appreciation is revoked when Reb Saunders casts a silence between the two of them for Mr. Malter's actions. "It seemed incredible to me, so outrageously absurd. Not Freud, but Zionism had finally shattered our friendship"(Potok 218). Reuven cannot believe that modern thought was not the one to come between them; instead it was their religions and political beliefs. At the end, the silence is lifted, and they reunite.
             Other important relationships in The Chosen are father-son relationships, one of these being Reuven and his father. Reuven and his father, David Malter, share a loving, understanding and caring relationship. They talk to each other often about what is going on in their lives. Once when Reuven came home late after b
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