"Suffering and joy teach us, if we allow them, how to make the leap of empathy, which transports us into the soul and heart of another person." (Fritz Williams). In The Chosen, many characters go through great amounts of suffering, but Danny goes through extremes. Initially, he does not understand the meaning of his suffering, or how it affects him. However, by the end of the novel, it becomes clear that his suffering has made a positive influence on him, and has given him virtues that would have otherwise been impossible to obtain. Danny's suffering causes him to become more understanding, empathetic, and open-minded.
In the novel, Danny first experiences suffering after he furiously hits a baseball into Reuven's eye, causing serious damage. Although Reuven is the one who suffers physically, Danny suffers emotionally from all the pain associated with the guilt and remorse of his actions. "His voice wasn't angry, it was sad. ‘You want me to say I'm miserable? Okay, I'm miserable.'" (Potok 62). Danny's grief causes him to suffer, but at the same time it opens doors to a new relationship and to new ways of thinking. Before, Danny had been consumed with being superior, but this incident causes him to branch out and become more understanding of the world around him. "‘No hard feelings anymore?' he asked me. ‘No hard feelings,' I said. ‘I just hope the eye heals all right.' ‘I hope so, too,' he said fervently. ‘Believe me.'" (Potok 71). Danny's attitude has been transformed from that of superiority and self-righteousness to that of mutuality, and even humility.
While Danny is studying experimental psychology, he is greatly troubled by the differing approaches of studying the human mind that seem to be polar opposites of what he is used to. "‘Psychoanalysis is a scientific tool for exploring the mind. What do rats have to do with the human mind?'" (Potok 199). Danny can't stand the new methods of studying psychology and goes through a long period of suffering. Although he does not know it, his suffering allows him to become more open-minded, and accept things more easily. This is shown when he decides to talk to his professor about how he feels, and comes away enlightened. "‘He said that experimental psychology was interested in applying the methodology of the natural sciences to discover how all human beings behaved. It doesn't generalize about personality behavior only on the basis of a certain segment of people. That makes a lot of sense.'" (Potok 211). Danny's new understanding did not come about simply from talking to his professor, it was also due to the pain and misery he went through.
Later in the novel, Danny goes through an immense amount of suffering when his father forces him to stay away from Reuven for two years. "I wondered often during those months whether Danny was also going through these same dreadful experiences. I saw him frequently. He seemed to be losing weight, and I noticed he was wearing different eyeglasses." (Potok 220). Danny is obviously suffering terribly, shown by Reuven's observations of Danny losing weight, and the look in Danny's eyes. Reb Saunders had apparently made this final test to be hard; he wanted to ensure that his son had a soul, and would be empathetic. "‘He suffered and learned to listen to the suffering of others. In the silence between us, he began to hear the world crying.'" (Potok 267). Danny's father is pleased with the results of his son's suffering and he fearlessly sends Danny off as a ‘tzaddik of the world'. His father knows that the suffering which he put his son through has paid off, and that Danny can understand love, pain, and other emotions which one cannot grasp with just a mind.
Danny suffers quite often in The Chosen. The most notable of his sufferings include his misery over Reuven's eye, the pain and confusion he experienced over experimental psychology, and the two year silence between him and Reuven. Each time, however, his suffering leads to him becoming more empathetic and understanding which are shown by his words of compassion and enlightenment. Despite all the confusion and misunderstanding surrounding Danny's sufferings, he and others know that he has ultimately become a well rounded and open-minded person.
