The Chosen: Chapter 2 Summary & Analysis

Reuven and Mr. Galanter go to the Brooklyn Memorial Hospital. Reuven’s eye is feeling worse and he is shuttled from doctor to doctor. Mr. Galanter calls Reuven’s father.

Reuven has only been to the hospital once when he got his tonsils out and he is scared and nervous that his father will be frightened when he gets the call. An older doctor, Dr. Snydman comes and once he realizes that Reuven was wearing glasses when he was hit he says that Reuven needs to go upstairs.

Reuven is put on a stretcher and thinks that the lights are changing colors in the elevator. He remembers Danny Saunders’s grin and then sees a bright light over his head.

Reuven opens his eye and sees a nurse. His head feels better and he is hungry. Reuven meets the man in the bed next to him, Tony Savo, who is an ex-boxer. Reuven thinks about how much he hates Danny. He also meets a young blonde boy, Billy Merrit, and realizes that Billy is blind.

The nurse tells Reuven that he is in a kosher hospital, so he can eat. Reuven talks to Tony and introduces himself as Robert (instead of Reuven). Reuven also describes his appearance to Billy, who tells Reuven that he will be having a new operation to hopefully restore his sight. Billy became blind in a car accident that also killed his mother. His father was driving the car.

Mr. Malter comes in, looking unusually disheveled. Mr. Malter tells his son that he had an operation, has been asleep for a full day, and that there is a possibility that the scar tissue from his injury could grow over his eye and leave him partially blind. Mr. Malter also says that Reb Saunders called him to ask how Reuven was, and that Danny is very sorry for what happened.

Mr. Malter begins to cough and Reuven tells him he should take better care of himself, and adds that it’s Danny’s fault that Mr. Malter is sick. Reuven tells his father that Danny hit him deliberately, but Mr. Malter responds that he should not make such a claim if he is not sure it is true.

Mr. Malter has brought Reuven a radio so that Reuven can keep up with the news of the war even though Reuven is not allowed to read as he recovers from his surgery. Mr. Malter tells Reuven that it will be a week or two before he can read again.

Mr. Malter has also brought his son his tefillin and prayer book and tells him to pray. Mr. Malter leaves and Reuven sits in his bed and thinks about how he has taken his eyes and his health for granted. A nurse comes in and gives him a pill to go to sleep. Reuven falls asleep looking at Billy and thinking about what it would be like to be blind. He cannot even fully understand the possible reality of blindness.