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Chapter 4
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Chosen, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Judaism and Tradition
Choosing and Being Chosen
Fathers, Sons, and Rebellion
Friendship
World War II and War
Summary
Analysis
Reuven and his father take a taxi back from the hospital and are greeted with an elaborate lunch by their housekeeper, Manya. After lunch Reuven walks around his home noting that he has lived here all his life but never really seen it. He describes each tiny detail: from the distance between the bookshelf and the window to the color of his bedspread.
Manya's presence emphasizes the fact that Reuven has no mother. Reuven’s detailed description of his home shows that his suffering has heightened his awareness. There is much to see in a place if you choose to look.
Themes
On his walls Reuven notes pictures of famous Jewish figures, images of war maps and Franklin Delano Roosevelt cut out from the New York Times and Albert Einstein from Junior Scholastic.
The Malter’s home shows the importance of Judaism ,secular intellectualism, and current events—the war—on their lives.
Themes
Reuven walks through his father’s room to get to the living room. Mr. Malter does not like to be disturbed while working, but Reuven walks through the dark, book-filled room quickly and notices all of a sudden that his father has not coughed once since they have come home.
Mr. Malter’s dislike of being disturbed shows that work and study is taken very seriously in this home. Mr. Malter’s health seems very closely connected to his son’s; it was his worry for Reuven that made him sick.
Themes
Reuven sits in his living room and looks out the window “tasting” the sights and sounds of the world. Everything looks brighter and more alive after his time in the white hospital ward. He cannot believe that his injury was only five days ago because he feels like a changed man. He remembers that Danny is coming tomorrow and sits thinking about him for a long time.
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