Quote 2 particular lines or passages from within Chap 2-4: one that feels imp’t to the text and one that feels imp’t to you, and explain why they feel imp’t. End your post w/ a question. (Note page #s.) Also, reply to at least one student's post.
Important to the text: Pg 74. "Reuven, if you can, make Danny Saunders your friend." "I like him a lot, abba." "No. Listen to me. I am not talking only about liking him. I am telling you to make him your friend and to let him make you his friend." I feel surprised when Reuven's father told him to make friends with Danny. Danny even wanted to kill Reuven. It was a big turning point of the book. I feel the author will describe the friendship between Reuven and Danny a lot. Important to me: Pg 81. "Are you really going to become a rabbi and take your father's place?" "Yes," he said quietly. "You don't sound like a Hasid, though," I told him. "What do I sound like?" "Like a––an apikoros." I did not really know how Danny's characteristics come from until after reading this passage. Danny was helpless about his life and had no choice. He had to become what his father expected him to be. Question: Why Danny wanted to kill Reuven during that baseball game?
well you talk about him living up to his fathers expectations and I think perhaps it had something to do with that and them being "Apikoros" There seems to be kind of a feud between the two and Danny was trying to make his father proud by being better than the other team.
I think Danny wanted to kill Reuven because in some tiny corner of his brain he blamed Reuven for everything. By some convuluted logic he thought "well if there weren't any apikoros we would be allowed to play baseball because everyone is holy enough" or something like that.
" Are you feeling better now?" I heard the blind boy ask me, and I turned to look at him. "I'm a lot better, my head doesn't hurt.""We were all very worried about you." (43) I love this part because I like billy and Mr. Savo a lot and the atmosphere they create in the hospital but also because of how they treat him despite the fact that they are complete strangers. When you're blind it makes no difference whether you open your eyes or not. I couldn't imagine what it was like to know that no matter whether my eyes were opened or closed it made no difference, everything was still dark. (53) I thought the description here was really nice. Honestly this is how I would think to describe being dead. Just kind of that idea of there being nothing and reading it kind of creeped me out. In Reuvens case I hope being friends with Billy will help ease this fear for him. Do you think his eye will heal or not and how will that affect the storyline?
Perhaps it will affect the storyline merely by introducing the friendship between Reuven and Danny. But it is also possible for Reuven's injury to be the central plot device. If that was the case though, I wonder why the opening narration begins with a comment about how Danny and Reuven lived so close together but didn't know each other.
I don't think Reuven's eye will heal. But it doesn't really affect his friendship with Danny. It just shows they really are truly friends. Bodies don't affect them because they communicate in soul. I like Billy and Mr. Savo a lot because they are really nice to Reuven. It is important to him to have friends like Billy and Mr. Savo.
I think that his eye will heal but not as well as he, or the doctors would like it too. I think that it will maybe change the story line, but not play a huge part in future events.
"'Hello' Danny Saunders said softly. 'I'm sorry if I woke you. The nurse told me it was all right to wait here.'(62)" While this is a small line, I feel it is important to the book. After the brief encounter between Danny and Reuven at the baseball game, it seemed that they loathed each other. However in the opening pages, Reuven writes as if he and Danny are old friends. Discussing how they grew up near each other. I believe this is the beginning of a friendship. "An orderly came over with my clothes, and I began to dress. I was very nervous and my knees felt weak. After a while, I stood there, wearing the same clothes I had worn for the Sunday ball game. it had been some week, I thought." I wonder how this week will affect Reuven and his social standing with his friends. This quote reminds me of when I broke my leg, and the first day I had to go back to school. I had no idea what I was doing, what had happened in my classes, and was really confused for the rest of the week. It was sort of like moving, and I wonder if Reuven will fell the same way I did. Do you think being friends with Danny, or being out of class for a week will affect Reuven more as the book goes on?
I think that being friends with Danny will strongly affect Reuven as the book continues, because I get the sense that their relationship is a very important part of the novel's story-line. When Danny visited Reuven in the hospital the first time, Reuven realized that his first impression of Danny wasn't accurate, and adjusted it as they continued talking over the next few days. Although being out of class for so long will affect Reuven as well, as it is clear he enjoys school, my guess is that the development of his friendship with Danny will affect him more due to how much he will need to fight against what he thinks he knows about Danny, and the stereotypes that they will both need to look past.
"Yes. You now what a friend is Reuven? A Greek philosopher said that two people who are ture friends are like two bodies with one soul.' I nodded. "Reuven, if you can, make Danny Saunders your friend" (74). I found this conversation between Reuven and his father very interesting. When I first read this, I was taken by surprise. However, as I reflect back on this quote I think it will have a very significant impact on the novel. If Reuven can forgive Danny for his horrifying actions that occurred during the baseball game, I can only imagine what will happen between Danny and Reuven. It will take a great amount of courage and bravery from both of them to learn to forgive each other, and push through any sort of hateful thoughts they have against each other. It also seems evident that they may be jelous of each other's talents, such as Danny being able to hit and Reuven being able to pitch such convincing curve balls. I can see them becoming friends, but not close friends. I couldn't imagine just forgiving Danny, and then becoming best friends with him after he just had hurt me. However, I believe this passage is going to lead to a friendship that will last throughout the rest of the novel, and will have a significant meaning to the end of the story. "You did a foolish thing, Reuven,' he told me sternly. 'You remember what the Talmud says. If a person comes to apologize for having hurt you, you must listen and forgive him" (63). This quote was important to me because I have been in situations where someone has come to apologize to me, and I still want to hold a grudge against them. I can easily relate to the feeling of not wanting to forgive them, or taking their accidental actions and relating it to their own personality, when in reality, that's not how the person is at all. However, in the end, I will always forgive the ones who have hurt me. This quote stresses the importance of learning to listen and forgive, which is important for everyone to take into consideration when placed in a situation where someone has gotten hurt. Do you think Danny and Reuven will be able to put all feelings aside and be able to become friends? How will their feelings for each other effect their friendship?
Also, I think the book gets its title from the first passage you chose: "'The Talmud says that a person should do two things for himself. One is to acquire a teacher. Do you remember the other?' 'Choose a friend,' I said.' 'Yes'" (Potok 74). I agree that this scene is very important. His father encourages him to become friends with Danny. Danny Saunders is "the Chosen."
IMPORTANT TO ME: "'I looked at him, and suddenly I had the feeling that everything around me was out of focus. There was Danny Saunders, sitting on my bed in the hospital dressed in his Hasidic-style clothes and talking about wanting to kill me because I had pitched him some curve balls. He was dressed like a Hasid, but he didn't sound like one. Also, yesterday I had hated him; now we were calling each other by our first names. I sat and listened to him talk. I was fascinated just listening to the way perfect English came out of a person in the clothes of a Hasid. I had always thought their English was tinged with a Yiddish accent. As a matter of fact, the few times I had ever talked with a Hasid, he had spoken only Yiddish. And there was Danny Saunders talking English, and what he was saying and the way he was saying it just didn't seem to fit in with the way he was dressed, with the side curls on his face and the fringes hanging down below his dark jacket'"(Potok 67-68).
It's interesting how he has ideas about people like Danny based on experiences he's had in the past and things he's heard that don't seem to go with what Danny is actually like at all. I love the bit about Danny having payot and being dressed like a Hasidic Jew, but talking about wanting to kill Reuven. It almost seems comical, and I can definitely relate.
IMPORTANT TO THE TEXT: "'Say, who was that rabbi on the bench? Is he a coach or something?' Danny Saunders laughed. 'He's one of the teachers in the yeshiva. My father sends him along to make sure we don't mix too much with the apikorsim'" (Potok 71).
If Reb Saunders has to send a rabbi with them to make sure they don't mix with the kids from the secular schools, then I can't imagine he will be thrilled that his son is becoming friends with an "apikorsim." Will they have to hide their relationship like Danny has to hide his books?
Will they have to hide their relationship like Danny has to hide his books?
I was thinking about this too. I think that either Danny will tell his father, or the boys will try to hide their friendship and then his father will find out. Either way I think that Reb Saunders will not be happy with his son being friends with Reuven. I hope we find out more about Reb Saunders and his reasoning for trying to shield his son from not religious activities. I understand that religion is important to him, but I do not fully understand why Danny is not allowed to do anything else.
FROM CLARE I think Danny will try to hide his friendship with Reuven from his father, but that his father will find out eventually. I suspect that at some point, Danny will start making decisions independently of his father, and that his father will be angered by that. If his father has found out about his friendship with Reuven at that point, he will likely blame Danny’s actions on Reuven. In other contexts, both fictional and not, I have seen overbearing parents blaming their children’s actions on their friends because they don’t believe that their own children could possibly disagree with them.
Before Danny came to visit Reuven at the hospital, Reuven talked to his father about what happened, and was met with disapproval after expressing his anger toward Danny to his father. “‘He deliberately aimed at me, abba. He hit me deliberately. Now you’re getting sick worrying about me.’ My father looked at me in amazement. ‘He hit you deliberately?’ . . . ‘. . . I’ll bet he’s sorry! He’s sorry he didn’t kill me altogether!’ My father gazed at me intently, his eyes narrowing. I saw the look of amazement slowly leave his face. ‘I do not like you to talk that way,’ he said sternly. ‘It’s true, abba.’ ‘Did you ask him if it was deliberate?’ ‘No.’ ‘How can you say something like that if you are not sure? That is a terrible thing to say’” (Potok 49). This quote is important to me because it shows the sound morals on which Reuven has been raised. In reacting this way, Reuven’s father showed him that it is not okay to let anger get the best of him and cause him to forget one of life’s important goals: to verify assumptions before wrongly accusing someone of a certain belief or action. Related to this, when Danny returned to the hospital to see Reuven for a second time, they discussed another important concept that struck me as important to the novel. “‘Whenever I do or see something I don’t understand, I like to think about it until I understand it.’ He talked very rapidly, and I could see he was tense. ‘I’ve thought about it a lot, but I still don’t understand it. I want to talk to you about it. Okay?’ ‘Sure,’ I said. ‘Do you know what I don’t understand about that ball game? I don’t understand why I wanted to kill you.’ I stared at him. ‘It’s really bothering me’” (Potok 66). This marks the second time Potok has explored the idea of not understanding the source of one’s anger. It seems as though Danny is expressing the same feeling Reuven did while describing the ball game. This quote is important to the book because it shows us a new part of Danny, and it also shows that the two boys are perhaps feeling the same way. The difference is that Danny stopped to think about why he was feeling this way, whereas Reuven allowed it to continue growing and brought it with him to the hospital. If Reuven noticed that the anger Danny described was very similar to his own – abrupt and unexplained – why do you think he didn’t say anything? Do you think the concept of anger will appear in other ways throughout the novel?
I also think Reuven and Danny are alike in many ways especially in their ways of showing their anger. I do think that anger will show up again in this book, but maybe not Reuven and Danny upset at each other. I feel like after this friendship started to grow they probably will not return to the feelings they had during the game. I think Reuven was too in shock of how human Danny actually was unlike the angry hateful person Reuven pinned him as.
When Danny came to visit Reuven the second time, at the beginning of chapter four, they began to talk about what type of books they enjoy reading, which lead them to discuss their belief in God and what they wanted to be when they grew up. Reuven says, “I’m all mixed up about you...You sound almost as if you don’t believe in God” (Potok 81). Danny replies with the following passage: He smiled but said nothing. It was a sad smile, and his blue eyes seemed sad, too. He looked back out the window, and we sat in silence a long time. It was a warm silence, though, not in the least bit awkward. Finally, he said very quietly, “I have to take my father’s place. I have no choice. It’s an inherited position. I’ll work it out–somehow. It won’t be that bad, being a rabbi. Once I’m a rabbi my people won’t care what read. I’ll be sort of like God to them. They won’t ask any questions.” “Are you going to like being a rabbi?” “No,” he said. “How can you spend your life doing what you don’t like?” “I have no choice,” he said again. “It’s like a dynasty. If the son doesn't take the father’s place, the dynasty falls apart. The people expect me to become their rabbi. My family has been their rabbi for six generations now. I can’t just walk out on them. I’m–I’m a little trapped. I’ll work it out, though–somehow.” But he didn't sound as if he thought he would be able to work it out. He sounded very sad (Potok 82). I think that this passage is important to the book because it shows that these people's lives are tied directly to their religion and it is very hard for them to branch out and not follow the path that is laid before them. I also think that this passage shows the difference between the two boys lives and how their families look at religion differently. I am interested to see if Danny changes his ideas/views about religion because of his growing friendship with Reuven, or the other way round.
At the very end of chapter two, Reuven is about to spend his first night in the hospital. As the nurses finish their duties and leave, Reuven begins to think about the new friends that he met that day, especially Billy: I turned my head and looked at Billy. He lay very still with his eyes wide open. I watched him for a moment, then closed my eye. I wondered what it was like to be blind, completely blind. I couldn’t imagine it, but I thought it must be something like the way I was feeling now with my eyes closed. But it’s not the same, I told myself. I know if I open my right eye I’ll see. When you’re blind it makes no difference whether you open your eyes or not. I couldn’t imagine what it was like to know that no matter whether my eyes were opened or closed it made no difference, everything was still dark (Potok 53). This passage was one that was important to me. I really liked the image that it put in my head and the fact that it made me think about how much everyone relies on sight even though we have other senses. When I was younger I would sometimes tie a blindfold around my eyes and pretend that I was blind. It never lasted very long. I was impatient and got frustrated quickly. But it made me realize that tying a blindfold around my eyes would never be the same as being blind. I think that this quote does a really good job of pointing out that unless you have gone through the exact same struggle that someone else has gone through, it is hard to really imagine what it must be like for them.
Do you think Danny and Reuven's ideas about religion will change/ be influenced by each other? Why is it that so difficult for us to understand what another person is feeling unless we too have personally experienced the same feeling?
I think we cannot understand what others are feeling unless we have experienced the same feeling because feelings are vastly abstract. Even if we have experienced a feeling and know it, it is difficult to connect even then. People are born to be very focused on themselves, so connection with others is sometimes difficult.
I believe that their understanding of society is beginning to change completely. As we have already seen, their relationship started with insults towards the other’s religions. Even since then, they have already introduced the fact that their beliefs aren’t defining them. They are confused as to why they are so similar, and yet they were taught to somewhat despise each other. Your other question reminded me of this quote from To Kill A Mockingbird: “You never truly understand a person until you consider things from their point of view… until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”
Important to the text: "' You did a foolish thing , Reuven,' he told me sternly. 'You remember what the Talmud says. If a person comes to apologize for having hurt you you must listen and forgive him'" (63). This quote is important to the book and the story line because what Reuven's father said lead to Danny and him becoming friends. Also this is important to the book because it shows the relation between Reuven's religion and his life. Even though both are intertwined, we saw in the game how sometimes their religion can be lost in the heat of the moment. I've been told that if someone apologizes the right thing to do is to forgive them. So Reuven's father is talking to him on a spiritual and average level. Stood out to me: "'No one knows he is fortunate until he becomes unfortunate,' my father said quietly. 'This is the way the world works'" (73). This quote stood out to me because I can relate to how in my every day life I take a lot of thing for granted, but when they go away or I loose something I realize how important it really was. I really enjoy how this book is easy to relate to and how so many quotes were important to the book and to me. What do you think would have happened if Reuven's father didn't make him talk to Danny again?
I can also easily relate to many passages found in the novel. I especially like the passage you chose about becoming unfortunate, and think that it is common in many others to take everything they have for granted. This quote is a general reminder for all the things that we are so lucky to have, and should be thankful for every day. If Reuven's father did not make Reuven talk to Danny again, I feel that their friendship would not have began until later on in the story. I also think that Reuven would experience feelings of regret, in how mean he was towards Danny the first day he came to visit and apologize to him. Even if Reuven did not realize how hurtful he was being towards Danny that day he visted, later on he would come to realization, and in a way, "miss" his visits from Danny. I also am curious if something would occur between Reuven's father and Danny's father.
The quote "He wishes everyone could talk in silence" seemed important to me. Danny seems as if he wishes his father would talk more so he could be less lonely. Danny later also says, "Once I'm a rabbi people won't care what I read. I'll be sort of like G-d to them. Reb Saunders is the rabbi now, and therefore "sort of like a G-d". Danny, as Reb Saunders son (and a brilliant student) would probably be alienated by his peers. Now with Reuven, he can finally have a friend on his level.
A quote that feels important to me is this exchange between Reuven and Danny "Are you going to like being a rabbi?" "No." Danny doesn't want to be a rabbi, and yet he feels it is his duty to. It seems like an easy choice for us, at least in my mind every neuron is screaming "JUST GET OUT OF THERE DANNY!" But for him it's his entire community. Hassidism is his life, and if he leaves, he may never be able to go back. Sometimes I see this in my and other's lives. While a decision may seem easy for one person, there is a lot more to consider for another.
What decision do you think Danny will make, to stay or to go? Do you think that because of Reb Saunders silence Danny is starved for attention?
I think you bring up an interesting point with the fact that Hassidism is his life and that's why he has to be a Rabbi and can't leave. I also think that he doesn't want to disappoint his family because he mentions that his family have been rabbis for generations. I think that he will somehow find a way to not disappoint his community but also do what is best for him at the same time. I don't think he would ever truly leave.
I think that Danny would have stayed on his inherited path as Rabbi, but I also think Rueven will help him to pursue a career that he wishes to pursue. I think Danny will, eventually, stray from the "family business" and do what he wants to with his life.
I think that the highlight of these three chapters were the development of the relationship between Danny and Reuven. They have gone to hating each other to starting a friendship, and Reuven has begun seeing Danny in a different way than before. This quote in particular stood out to me as important to the story: "'I really am mixed up about you. You look like a Hasid, but you don't sound like one. You don't sound like what my father says Hasidim are supposed to sound like.” (p. 81) He has clearly been influenced by prejudice and stereotypes in his thinking about Hasidic Jews. Now that he is confronted with someone who is actually Hasidic, he is questioning what he has been taught in the past.
We have also learned about Billy a lot more. One quote that was important to me was: “‘Billy tells me you have been very nice to him,’ he said to me… ‘I appreciate that very much,’ he said. ‘Billy wonders if you would call us when he gets out of the hospital.’” This shows us a very compassionate side of Reuven. I doubt that Billy has had many friends in the past, especially in the hospital. I think it’s great that they are becoming friends as well.
How do you think the friendships forming between Reuven and Billy and Reuven and Danny will become involved in the rest of the book?
Personally, I hope that we see more of Billy's recovery through the rest of the book, since we know that he went through an important procedure to restore his sight, and we don't know if it went well or not. In my opinion, I don't think that Reuven would not follow up on Billy as it is revealed if the procedure worked, so it should be interesting to see Reuven get to know him better. I most definitely think that we will see much more of the relationship between Danny and Reuven through the rest of the book. In my opinion, it's the most critical part of the book, and I don't think that the author could leave that behind. We're just starting to see just how much Danny is willing to reveal to Reuven, and we can clearly see that Danny means a lot to Reuven, and he wants to become really close friends with him, not just because his father has told him to do this, but because he genuinely feels a connection with him, and wants to be friends with him. I think they'll be able to connect more about their religion and their futures more as the book develops and they both start to encounter more conflicts.
"I looked at him, and suddenly I had the feeling that everything around me was out of focus… And here was Danny Saunders talking English, and what he was saying and the way he was saying it just didn't seem to fit in with the way he was dressed, with the side curls on his face and the fringes hanging down below his dark jacket”(67-68). This seems like the beginning of a great change in Reuven’s opinion of Danny, and seemingly the whole world. In this quote, I believe it represents the way in which judgements can be so inaccurate. Reuven describes the Hasidic features of Danny, though expresses how they don’t seem to fit him. Both boys are surprised at their many similarities, even with their different beliefs. Reuven is surprised by Danny’s perfect English and honesty about his opinions and feelings, despite the stereotypes about Hasids. Reuven is learning to see Danny differently, by looking beyond his appearance. He confirms this point by telling Danny: “You look like a Hasid, but you don’t sound like one”(81). Do you think this theme of judgement will be prominent in this book?
Important to me: “I moved my wrist slowly. It still hurt. That Danny Saunders was a smart one, and I hated him. I wondered what he was thinking now. Probably gloating and bragging about the ball game to his friends. That miserable Hasid!”(40).
This quote is important to me, primarily because I can remember times when I have felt a similar way. Not necessarily the hatred, but the assumptions about other people that are influenced off of an experience. Reuven assumes the worst in Danny, when later he comes to apologize about the game. I like how this book is so relatable even though we live in completely different times than the characters.
One quote that I think is important to the story was on page 79: "'But a few days later, while we were studying, he said that man was created by God, and Jews had a mission in life.' 'What mission is that?' 'To obey God.' 'Don't you believe that? He looked slowly away from the window. I saw his deep blue eyes stare at me, then blink a few times. 'Sure I believe it,' he said quietly. His shoulders were bowed. 'Sometimes I'm not sure I know what God wants, though.'" I think this is a really important quote for the development of Danny's character, which so far for me has been the most critical development of the story, even more important than the plot itself. Here, we see Danny, whose shoulders are bowed with the weight of a belief forced onto him, a belief in a strange power that he doesn't have any real evidence for. He has no other foreseeable future other than the devotion to this belief, and yet he admits to Reuven that he's not really sure how he's supposed to do that, since he doesn't even know what God wants. He just knows that he's supposed to obey him. Danny admits to Reuven right after this that he's never told this to anyone, and I think that's important because he thinks everyone else around him besides Reuven would think he's completely insane for not being able to tell what God wants, and yet he trusts Reuven to not only not make fun of him for saying this, but to understand what he's saying, and that's really crucial to their relationship.
A quote that's really important to me from this section is on page 84: "'How can you spend your life doing what you don't like?'" While this is a really short and simple quote, it reveals to me just what I like about Danny's character: he's being forced into a lifetime of devotion to something that he has no choice about. I feel lots of the time like there's a lot of pressure on me, and also many of the other children in my generation, to do well in many areas, and that's a really difficult expectation to uphold. While I know that I can do whatever I want as well as I do well in it, and Danny has no choice as to what he needs to do well at, I feel like the idea is still very similar. Lots of kids these days will probably feel like Danny does: whether they are expected to inherit the family business or into a certain subject area, the feeling is just the same.
In what ways do you think the author will reveal to us more aspects of Danny's character, and do you think they will relate to the same idea of him not being able to choose his future?
COMMENT FROM CLARE Important to the Text: “He put the radio on the night table. A radio brought the world together, he said very often. Anything that brought the world together he called a blessing” (p. 50). From his actions so far, particularly those surrounding Reuven and Danny’s friendship and how he helped Danny find books in the library, Reuven’s father seems to think that people are mostly good and the things that divide them are superficial. I think he is frustrated with discrimination, and that he brings up the radio specifically because, as he mentioned earlier, that is how people know what is happening in the world. He believes that wanting to know what is happening outside one’s own life forms connections between people. Important to Me: “I wondered what it was like to be blind, completely blind. I couldn’t imagine it, but I thought it must be something like the way I was feeling now with my eyes closed. But it’s not the same, I told myself. I know if I open my right eye I’ll see. When you’re blind it makes no difference whether you open your eyes or not. I couldn’t imagine what it was like to know that no matter whether my eyes were open or closed it made no difference, everything was still dark” (p. 53). It is said that everyone takes what they have for granted, but this is is usually used in the context of gratitude. However, taking things for granted doesn’t just mean taking good things for granted. Just as Reuven takes for granted the ability to see, Billy takes for granted his inability to see. Reuven doesn’t know what the world is like for a blind person, and Billy doesn’t know what the world is like for a person who can see. Maybe “take for granted” isn’t the right phrase here, but essentially, I liked that this book doesn’t just view situations in terms of “it could be worse” and “it could be better” but instead emphasizes that it could be different.
One quote that I though was important to the story was on page 40 when Rueven is in the hospital. "'I never saw a light like that,' I said. 'Which light is that?' one of the orderlies asked. 'The fluorescent. How do they get it to change colors like that?' The orderlies looked at each other. 'Just take it easy, kid,' one of them said. 'Just relax.' 'I never saw a light change colors like that,' I said. 'Jesus,' Mr. Galanter said under his breath." Before this part, I saw Rueven's eye injury as a severe black eye. Maybe some stitches and an ice pack would be necessary, but not much else. The combined impact of Rueven seeing the lights change when they weren't and Mr. Galanter saying 'Jesus' really made me pay closer attention to what was happening and start to worry for Rueven. The quote that stood out to me the most was on page 80. Even though it's Danny describing another book, I thought it was meaningful. "'He's got this passage in the book about ants on a burning log. The hero, this American, is watching the ants, and instead of taking the log out of the fire and saving the ants, he throws water into the fire. The water turns into steam and that roasts some of the ants, and the others just burn to death on the log or fall off into the fire. Its a great passage. It shows how cruel people can be.'" This bit stood out to me because I though Danny's interpretation of the scene was very accurate, and the way he told it to Rueven was very clear and understandable. The scene he was describing also obviously stayed in his mind, which is very interesting because the things that stick in our heads are the things we either relate to or understand. The fact that this particular scene stayed in Danny's mind says something about him. What part, if any, made you realize that Rueven could be seriously hurt?
Important to the text: Pg 74. "Reuven, if you can, make Danny Saunders your friend." "I like him a lot, abba." "No. Listen to me. I am not talking only about liking him. I am telling you to make him your friend and to let him make you his friend."
ReplyDeleteI feel surprised when Reuven's father told him to make friends with Danny. Danny even wanted to kill Reuven. It was a big turning point of the book. I feel the author will describe the friendship between Reuven and Danny a lot.
Important to me: Pg 81. "Are you really going to become a rabbi and take your father's place?" "Yes," he said quietly. "You don't sound like a Hasid, though," I told him. "What do I sound like?" "Like a––an apikoros."
I did not really know how Danny's characteristics come from until after reading this passage. Danny was helpless about his life and had no choice. He had to become what his father expected him to be.
Question: Why Danny wanted to kill Reuven during that baseball game?
well you talk about him living up to his fathers expectations and I think perhaps it had something to do with that and them being "Apikoros"
DeleteThere seems to be kind of a feud between the two and Danny was trying to make his father proud by being better than the other team.
I think Danny wanted to kill Reuven because in some tiny corner of his brain he blamed Reuven for everything. By some convuluted logic he thought "well if there weren't any apikoros we would be allowed to play baseball because everyone is holy enough" or something like that.
Delete" Are you feeling better now?" I heard the blind boy ask me, and I turned to look at him. "I'm a lot better, my head doesn't hurt.""We were all very worried about you." (43) I love this part because I like billy and Mr. Savo a lot and the atmosphere they create in the hospital but also because of how they treat him despite the fact that they are complete strangers.
ReplyDeleteWhen you're blind it makes no difference whether you open your eyes or not. I couldn't imagine what it was like to know that no matter whether my eyes were opened or closed it made no difference, everything was still dark. (53)
I thought the description here was really nice. Honestly this is how I would think to describe being dead. Just kind of that idea of there being nothing and reading it kind of creeped me out. In Reuvens case I hope being friends with Billy will help ease this fear for him.
Do you think his eye will heal or not and how will that affect the storyline?
Perhaps it will affect the storyline merely by introducing the friendship between Reuven and Danny. But it is also possible for Reuven's injury to be the central plot device. If that was the case though, I wonder why the opening narration begins with a comment about how Danny and Reuven lived so close together but didn't know each other.
DeleteI don't think Reuven's eye will heal. But it doesn't really affect his friendship with Danny. It just shows they really are truly friends. Bodies don't affect them because they communicate in soul. I like Billy and Mr. Savo a lot because they are really nice to Reuven. It is important to him to have friends like Billy and Mr. Savo.
DeleteI think that his eye will heal but not as well as he, or the doctors would like it too. I think that it will maybe change the story line, but not play a huge part in future events.
Delete"'Hello' Danny Saunders said softly. 'I'm sorry if I woke you. The nurse told me it was all right to wait here.'(62)" While this is a small line, I feel it is important to the book. After the brief encounter between Danny and Reuven at the baseball game, it seemed that they loathed each other. However in the opening pages, Reuven writes as if he and Danny are old friends. Discussing how they grew up near each other. I believe this is the beginning of a friendship.
ReplyDelete"An orderly came over with my clothes, and I began to dress. I was very nervous and my knees felt weak. After a while, I stood there, wearing the same clothes I had worn for the Sunday ball game. it had been some week, I thought." I wonder how this week will affect Reuven and his social standing with his friends. This quote reminds me of when I broke my leg, and the first day I had to go back to school. I had no idea what I was doing, what had happened in my classes, and was really confused for the rest of the week. It was sort of like moving, and I wonder if Reuven will fell the same way I did.
Do you think being friends with Danny, or being out of class for a week will affect Reuven more as the book goes on?
I think that being friends with Danny will strongly affect Reuven as the book continues, because I get the sense that their relationship is a very important part of the novel's story-line. When Danny visited Reuven in the hospital the first time, Reuven realized that his first impression of Danny wasn't accurate, and adjusted it as they continued talking over the next few days. Although being out of class for so long will affect Reuven as well, as it is clear he enjoys school, my guess is that the development of his friendship with Danny will affect him more due to how much he will need to fight against what he thinks he knows about Danny, and the stereotypes that they will both need to look past.
Delete"Yes. You now what a friend is Reuven? A Greek philosopher said that two people who are ture friends are like two bodies with one soul.' I nodded. "Reuven, if you can, make Danny Saunders your friend" (74). I found this conversation between Reuven and his father very interesting. When I first read this, I was taken by surprise. However, as I reflect back on this quote I think it will have a very significant impact on the novel. If Reuven can forgive Danny for his horrifying actions that occurred during the baseball game, I can only imagine what will happen between Danny and Reuven. It will take a great amount of courage and bravery from both of them to learn to forgive each other, and push through any sort of hateful thoughts they have against each other. It also seems evident that they may be jelous of each other's talents, such as Danny being able to hit and Reuven being able to pitch such convincing curve balls. I can see them becoming friends, but not close friends. I couldn't imagine just forgiving Danny, and then becoming best friends with him after he just had hurt me. However, I believe this passage is going to lead to a friendship that will last throughout the rest of the novel, and will have a significant meaning to the end of the story.
ReplyDelete"You did a foolish thing, Reuven,' he told me sternly. 'You remember what the Talmud says. If a person comes to apologize for having hurt you, you must listen and forgive him" (63).
This quote was important to me because I have been in situations where someone has come to apologize to me, and I still want to hold a grudge against them. I can easily relate to the feeling of not wanting to forgive them, or taking their accidental actions and relating it to their own personality, when in reality, that's not how the person is at all. However, in the end, I will always forgive the ones who have hurt me. This quote stresses the importance of learning to listen and forgive, which is important for everyone to take into consideration when placed in a situation where someone has gotten hurt.
Do you think Danny and Reuven will be able to put all feelings aside and be able to become friends? How will their feelings for each other effect their friendship?
Also, I think the book gets its title from the first passage you chose:
Delete"'The Talmud says that a person should do two things for himself. One is to acquire a teacher. Do you remember the other?'
'Choose a friend,' I said.'
'Yes'" (Potok 74).
I agree that this scene is very important. His father encourages him to become friends with Danny. Danny Saunders is "the Chosen."
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ReplyDeleteIMPORTANT TO ME:
ReplyDelete"'I looked at him, and suddenly I had the feeling that everything around me was out of focus. There was Danny Saunders, sitting on my bed in the hospital dressed in his Hasidic-style clothes and talking about wanting to kill me because I had pitched him some curve balls. He was dressed like a Hasid, but he didn't sound like one. Also, yesterday I had hated him; now we were calling each other by our first names. I sat and listened to him talk. I was fascinated just listening to the way perfect English came out of a person in the clothes of a Hasid. I had always thought their English was tinged with a Yiddish accent. As a matter of fact, the few times I had ever talked with a Hasid, he had spoken only Yiddish. And there was Danny Saunders talking English, and what he was saying and the way he was saying it just didn't seem to fit in with the way he was dressed, with the side curls on his face and the fringes hanging down below his dark jacket'"(Potok 67-68).
It's interesting how he has ideas about people like Danny based on experiences he's had in the past and things he's heard that don't seem to go with what Danny is actually like at all. I love the bit about Danny having payot and being dressed like a Hasidic Jew, but talking about wanting to kill Reuven. It almost seems comical, and I can definitely relate.
IMPORTANT TO THE TEXT:
"'Say, who was that rabbi on the bench? Is he a coach or something?'
Danny Saunders laughed. 'He's one of the teachers in the yeshiva. My father sends him along to make sure we don't mix too much with the apikorsim'" (Potok 71).
If Reb Saunders has to send a rabbi with them to make sure they don't mix with the kids from the secular schools, then I can't imagine he will be thrilled that his son is becoming friends with an "apikorsim." Will they have to hide their relationship like Danny has to hide his books?
Will they have to hide their relationship like Danny has to hide his books?
DeleteI was thinking about this too. I think that either Danny will tell his father, or the boys will try to hide their friendship and then his father will find out. Either way I think that Reb Saunders will not be happy with his son being friends with Reuven. I hope we find out more about Reb Saunders and his reasoning for trying to shield his son from not religious activities. I understand that religion is important to him, but I do not fully understand why Danny is not allowed to do anything else.
DeleteFROM CLARE
I think Danny will try to hide his friendship with Reuven from his father, but that his father will find out eventually. I suspect that at some point, Danny will start making decisions independently of his father, and that his father will be angered by that. If his father has found out about his friendship with Reuven at that point, he will likely blame Danny’s actions on Reuven. In other contexts, both fictional and not, I have seen overbearing parents blaming their children’s actions on their friends because they don’t believe that their own children could possibly disagree with them.
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ReplyDeleteBefore Danny came to visit Reuven at the hospital, Reuven talked to his father about what happened, and was met with disapproval after expressing his anger toward Danny to his father.
ReplyDelete“‘He deliberately aimed at me, abba. He hit me deliberately. Now you’re getting sick worrying about me.’
My father looked at me in amazement. ‘He hit you deliberately?’
. . .
‘. . . I’ll bet he’s sorry! He’s sorry he didn’t kill me altogether!’
My father gazed at me intently, his eyes narrowing. I saw the look of amazement slowly leave his face. ‘I do not like you to talk that way,’ he said sternly.
‘It’s true, abba.’
‘Did you ask him if it was deliberate?’
‘No.’
‘How can you say something like that if you are not sure? That is a terrible thing to say’” (Potok 49).
This quote is important to me because it shows the sound morals on which Reuven has been raised. In reacting this way, Reuven’s father showed him that it is not okay to let anger get the best of him and cause him to forget one of life’s important goals: to verify assumptions before wrongly accusing someone of a certain belief or action.
Related to this, when Danny returned to the hospital to see Reuven for a second time, they discussed another important concept that struck me as important to the novel.
“‘Whenever I do or see something I don’t understand, I like to think about it until I
understand it.’ He talked very rapidly, and I could see he was tense. ‘I’ve thought about it a lot, but I still don’t understand it. I want to talk to you about it. Okay?’
‘Sure,’ I said.
‘Do you know what I don’t understand about that ball game? I don’t understand why I wanted to kill you.’
I stared at him.
‘It’s really bothering me’” (Potok 66).
This marks the second time Potok has explored the idea of not understanding the source of one’s anger. It seems as though Danny is expressing the same feeling Reuven did while describing the ball game. This quote is important to the book because it shows us a new part of Danny, and it also shows that the two boys are perhaps feeling the same way. The difference is that Danny stopped to think about why he was feeling this way, whereas Reuven allowed it to continue growing and brought it with him to the hospital.
If Reuven noticed that the anger Danny described was very similar to his own – abrupt and unexplained – why do you think he didn’t say anything? Do you think the concept of anger will appear in other ways throughout the novel?
I also think Reuven and Danny are alike in many ways especially in their ways of showing their anger. I do think that anger will show up again in this book, but maybe not Reuven and Danny upset at each other. I feel like after this friendship started to grow they probably will not return to the feelings they had during the game. I think Reuven was too in shock of how human Danny actually was unlike the angry hateful person Reuven pinned him as.
DeleteWhen Danny came to visit Reuven the second time, at the beginning of chapter four, they began to talk about what type of books they enjoy reading, which lead them to discuss their belief in God and what they wanted to be when they grew up. Reuven says, “I’m all mixed up about you...You sound almost as if you don’t believe in God” (Potok 81). Danny replies with the following passage:
ReplyDeleteHe smiled but said nothing. It was a sad smile, and his blue eyes seemed sad, too. He looked back out the window, and we sat in silence a long time. It was a warm silence, though, not in the least bit awkward. Finally, he said very quietly, “I have to take my father’s place. I have no choice. It’s an inherited position. I’ll work it out–somehow. It won’t be that bad, being a rabbi. Once I’m a rabbi my people won’t care what read. I’ll be sort of like God to them. They won’t ask any questions.”
“Are you going to like being a rabbi?”
“No,” he said.
“How can you spend your life doing what you don’t like?”
“I have no choice,” he said again. “It’s like a dynasty. If the son doesn't take the father’s place, the dynasty falls apart. The people expect me to become their rabbi. My family has been their rabbi for six generations now. I can’t just walk out on them. I’m–I’m a little trapped. I’ll work it out, though–somehow.” But he didn't sound as if he thought he would be able to work it out. He sounded very sad (Potok 82).
I think that this passage is important to the book because it shows that these people's lives are tied directly to their religion and it is very hard for them to branch out and not follow the path that is laid before them. I also think that this passage shows the difference between the two boys lives and how their families look at religion differently. I am interested to see if Danny changes his ideas/views about religion because of his growing friendship with Reuven, or the other way round.
At the very end of chapter two, Reuven is about to spend his first night in the hospital. As the nurses finish their duties and leave, Reuven begins to think about the new friends that he met that day, especially Billy:
I turned my head and looked at Billy. He lay very still with his eyes wide open. I watched him for a moment, then closed my eye. I wondered what it was like to be blind, completely blind. I couldn’t imagine it, but I thought it must be something like the way I was feeling now with my eyes closed. But it’s not the same, I told myself. I know if I open my right eye I’ll see. When you’re blind it makes no difference whether you open your eyes or not. I couldn’t imagine what it was like to know that no matter whether my eyes were opened or closed it made no difference, everything was still dark (Potok 53).
This passage was one that was important to me. I really liked the image that it put in my head and the fact that it made me think about how much everyone relies on sight even though we have other senses. When I was younger I would sometimes tie a blindfold around my eyes and pretend that I was blind. It never lasted very long. I was impatient and got frustrated quickly. But it made me realize that tying a blindfold around my eyes would never be the same as being blind. I think that this quote does a really good job of pointing out that unless you have gone through the exact same struggle that someone else has gone through, it is hard to really imagine what it must be like for them.
Forgot to end with a question:
DeleteDo you think Danny and Reuven's ideas about religion will change/ be influenced by each other?
Why is it that so difficult for us to understand what another person is feeling unless we too have personally experienced the same feeling?
I think we cannot understand what others are feeling unless we have experienced the same feeling because feelings are vastly abstract. Even if we have experienced a feeling and know it, it is difficult to connect even then. People are born to be very focused on themselves, so connection with others is sometimes difficult.
DeleteI believe that their understanding of society is beginning to change completely. As we have already seen, their relationship started with insults towards the other’s religions. Even since then, they have already introduced the fact that their beliefs aren’t defining them. They are confused as to why they are so similar, and yet they were taught to somewhat despise each other.
DeleteYour other question reminded me of this quote from To Kill A Mockingbird: “You never truly understand a person until you consider things from their point of view… until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”
Important to the text: "' You did a foolish thing , Reuven,' he told me sternly. 'You remember what the Talmud says. If a person comes to apologize for having hurt you you must listen and forgive him'" (63). This quote is important to the book and the story line because what Reuven's father said lead to Danny and him becoming friends. Also this is important to the book because it shows the relation between Reuven's religion and his life. Even though both are intertwined, we saw in the game how sometimes their religion can be lost in the heat of the moment. I've been told that if someone apologizes the right thing to do is to forgive them. So Reuven's father is talking to him on a spiritual and average level.
ReplyDeleteStood out to me: "'No one knows he is fortunate until he becomes unfortunate,' my father said quietly. 'This is the way the world works'" (73). This quote stood out to me because I can relate to how in my every day life I take a lot of thing for granted, but when they go away or I loose something I realize how important it really was. I really enjoy how this book is easy to relate to and how so many quotes were important to the book and to me.
What do you think would have happened if Reuven's father didn't make him talk to Danny again?
I can also easily relate to many passages found in the novel. I especially like the passage you chose about becoming unfortunate, and think that it is common in many others to take everything they have for granted. This quote is a general reminder for all the things that we are so lucky to have, and should be thankful for every day. If Reuven's father did not make Reuven talk to Danny again, I feel that their friendship would not have began until later on in the story. I also think that Reuven would experience feelings of regret, in how mean he was towards Danny the first day he came to visit and apologize to him. Even if Reuven did not realize how hurtful he was being towards Danny that day he visted, later on he would come to realization, and in a way, "miss" his visits from Danny. I also am curious if something would occur between Reuven's father and Danny's father.
DeleteThe quote "He wishes everyone could talk in silence" seemed important to me. Danny seems as if he wishes his father would talk more so he could be less lonely. Danny later also says, "Once I'm a rabbi people won't care what I read. I'll be sort of like G-d to them. Reb Saunders is the rabbi now, and therefore "sort of like a G-d". Danny, as Reb Saunders son (and a brilliant student) would probably be alienated by his peers. Now with Reuven, he can finally have a friend on his level.
ReplyDeleteA quote that feels important to me is this exchange between Reuven and Danny "Are you going to like being a rabbi?"
"No."
Danny doesn't want to be a rabbi, and yet he feels it is his duty to. It seems like an easy choice for us, at least in my mind every neuron is screaming "JUST GET OUT OF THERE DANNY!" But for him it's his entire community. Hassidism is his life, and if he leaves, he may never be able to go back. Sometimes I see this in my and other's lives. While a decision may seem easy for one person, there is a lot more to consider for another.
What decision do you think Danny will make, to stay or to go?
Do you think that because of Reb Saunders silence Danny is starved for attention?
I think you bring up an interesting point with the fact that Hassidism is his life and that's why he has to be a Rabbi and can't leave. I also think that he doesn't want to disappoint his family because he mentions that his family have been rabbis for generations. I think that he will somehow find a way to not disappoint his community but also do what is best for him at the same time. I don't think he would ever truly leave.
DeleteI think that Danny would have stayed on his inherited path as Rabbi, but I also think Rueven will help him to pursue a career that he wishes to pursue. I think Danny will, eventually, stray from the "family business" and do what he wants to with his life.
DeletePage numbers are 72 and 81 respectfully.
ReplyDeleteI think that the highlight of these three chapters were the development of the relationship between Danny and Reuven. They have gone to hating each other to starting a friendship, and Reuven has begun seeing Danny in a different way than before. This quote in particular stood out to me as important to the story: "'I really am mixed up about you. You look like a Hasid, but you don't sound like one. You don't sound like what my father says Hasidim are supposed to sound like.” (p. 81) He has clearly been influenced by prejudice and stereotypes in his thinking about Hasidic Jews. Now that he is confronted with someone who is actually Hasidic, he is questioning what he has been taught in the past.
ReplyDeleteWe have also learned about Billy a lot more. One quote that was important to me was: “‘Billy tells me you have been very nice to him,’ he said to me… ‘I appreciate that very much,’ he said. ‘Billy wonders if you would call us when he gets out of the hospital.’” This shows us a very compassionate side of Reuven. I doubt that Billy has had many friends in the past, especially in the hospital. I think it’s great that they are becoming friends as well.
How do you think the friendships forming between Reuven and Billy and Reuven and Danny will become involved in the rest of the book?
The second quote is on page 64.
DeletePersonally, I hope that we see more of Billy's recovery through the rest of the book, since we know that he went through an important procedure to restore his sight, and we don't know if it went well or not. In my opinion, I don't think that Reuven would not follow up on Billy as it is revealed if the procedure worked, so it should be interesting to see Reuven get to know him better.
DeleteI most definitely think that we will see much more of the relationship between Danny and Reuven through the rest of the book. In my opinion, it's the most critical part of the book, and I don't think that the author could leave that behind. We're just starting to see just how much Danny is willing to reveal to Reuven, and we can clearly see that Danny means a lot to Reuven, and he wants to become really close friends with him, not just because his father has told him to do this, but because he genuinely feels a connection with him, and wants to be friends with him. I think they'll be able to connect more about their religion and their futures more as the book develops and they both start to encounter more conflicts.
Important to the book:
ReplyDelete"I looked at him, and suddenly I had the feeling that everything around me was out of focus… And here was Danny Saunders talking English, and what he was saying and the way he was saying it just didn't seem to fit in with the way he was dressed, with the side curls on his face and the fringes hanging down below his dark jacket”(67-68).
This seems like the beginning of a great change in Reuven’s opinion of Danny, and seemingly the whole world. In this quote, I believe it represents the way in which judgements can be so inaccurate. Reuven describes the Hasidic features of Danny, though expresses how they don’t seem to fit him. Both boys are surprised at their many similarities, even with their different beliefs. Reuven is surprised by Danny’s perfect English and honesty about his opinions and feelings, despite the stereotypes about Hasids. Reuven is learning to see Danny differently, by looking beyond his appearance. He confirms this point by telling Danny: “You look like a Hasid, but you don’t sound like one”(81).
Do you think this theme of judgement will be prominent in this book?
Important to me:
“I moved my wrist slowly. It still hurt. That Danny Saunders was a smart one, and I hated him. I wondered what he was thinking now. Probably gloating and bragging about the ball game to his friends. That miserable Hasid!”(40).
This quote is important to me, primarily because I can remember times when I have felt a similar way. Not necessarily the hatred, but the assumptions about other people that are influenced off of an experience. Reuven assumes the worst in Danny, when later he comes to apologize about the game. I like how this book is so relatable even though we live in completely different times than the characters.
One quote that I think is important to the story was on page 79:
ReplyDelete"'But a few days later, while we were studying, he said that man was created by God, and Jews had a mission in life.'
'What mission is that?'
'To obey God.'
'Don't you believe that?
He looked slowly away from the window. I saw his deep blue eyes stare at me, then blink a few times. 'Sure I believe it,' he said quietly. His shoulders were bowed. 'Sometimes I'm not sure I know what God wants, though.'"
I think this is a really important quote for the development of Danny's character, which so far for me has been the most critical development of the story, even more important than the plot itself. Here, we see Danny, whose shoulders are bowed with the weight of a belief forced onto him, a belief in a strange power that he doesn't have any real evidence for. He has no other foreseeable future other than the devotion to this belief, and yet he admits to Reuven that he's not really sure how he's supposed to do that, since he doesn't even know what God wants. He just knows that he's supposed to obey him. Danny admits to Reuven right after this that he's never told this to anyone, and I think that's important because he thinks everyone else around him besides Reuven would think he's completely insane for not being able to tell what God wants, and yet he trusts Reuven to not only not make fun of him for saying this, but to understand what he's saying, and that's really crucial to their relationship.
A quote that's really important to me from this section is on page 84: "'How can you spend your life doing what you don't like?'"
While this is a really short and simple quote, it reveals to me just what I like about Danny's character: he's being forced into a lifetime of devotion to something that he has no choice about. I feel lots of the time like there's a lot of pressure on me, and also many of the other children in my generation, to do well in many areas, and that's a really difficult expectation to uphold. While I know that I can do whatever I want as well as I do well in it, and Danny has no choice as to what he needs to do well at, I feel like the idea is still very similar. Lots of kids these days will probably feel like Danny does: whether they are expected to inherit the family business or into a certain subject area, the feeling is just the same.
In what ways do you think the author will reveal to us more aspects of Danny's character, and do you think they will relate to the same idea of him not being able to choose his future?
COMMENT FROM CLARE
ReplyDeleteImportant to the Text:
“He put the radio on the night table. A radio brought the world together, he said very often. Anything that brought the world together he called a blessing” (p. 50). From his actions so far, particularly those surrounding Reuven and Danny’s friendship and how he helped Danny find books in the library, Reuven’s father seems to think that people are mostly good and the things that divide them are superficial. I think he is frustrated with discrimination, and that he brings up the radio specifically because, as he mentioned earlier, that is how people know what is happening in the world. He believes that wanting to know what is happening outside one’s own life forms connections between people.
Important to Me:
“I wondered what it was like to be blind, completely blind. I couldn’t imagine it, but I thought it must be something like the way I was feeling now with my eyes closed. But it’s not the same, I told myself. I know if I open my right eye I’ll see. When you’re blind it makes no difference whether you open your eyes or not. I couldn’t imagine what it was like to know that no matter whether my eyes were open or closed it made no difference, everything was still dark” (p. 53).
It is said that everyone takes what they have for granted, but this is is usually used in the context of gratitude. However, taking things for granted doesn’t just mean taking good things for granted. Just as Reuven takes for granted the ability to see, Billy takes for granted his inability to see. Reuven doesn’t know what the world is like for a blind person, and Billy doesn’t know what the world is like for a person who can see. Maybe “take for granted” isn’t the right phrase here, but essentially, I liked that this book doesn’t just view situations in terms of “it could be worse” and “it could be better” but instead emphasizes that it could be different.
One quote that I though was important to the story was on page 40 when Rueven is in the hospital.
ReplyDelete"'I never saw a light like that,' I said.
'Which light is that?' one of the orderlies asked.
'The fluorescent. How do they get it to change colors like that?'
The orderlies looked at each other.
'Just take it easy, kid,' one of them said. 'Just relax.'
'I never saw a light change colors like that,' I said.
'Jesus,' Mr. Galanter said under his breath."
Before this part, I saw Rueven's eye injury as a severe black eye. Maybe some stitches and an ice pack would be necessary, but not much else. The combined impact of Rueven seeing the lights change when they weren't and Mr. Galanter saying 'Jesus' really made me pay closer attention to what was happening and start to worry for Rueven.
The quote that stood out to me the most was on page 80. Even though it's Danny describing another book, I thought it was meaningful.
"'He's got this passage in the book about ants on a burning log. The hero, this American, is watching the ants, and instead of taking the log out of the fire and saving the ants, he throws water into the fire. The water turns into steam and that roasts some of the ants, and the others just burn to death on the log or fall off into the fire. Its a great passage. It shows how cruel people can be.'"
This bit stood out to me because I though Danny's interpretation of the scene was very accurate, and the way he told it to Rueven was very clear and understandable. The scene he was describing also obviously stayed in his mind, which is very interesting because the things that stick in our heads are the things we either relate to or understand. The fact that this particular scene stayed in Danny's mind says something about him.
What part, if any, made you realize that Rueven could be seriously hurt?