d life. Mr. Malter helps him through the hard times, and shares his knowledge with his son. For example he said to his son “A man must fill his life with meaning, meaning is not automatically given to life. It is hard work to fill one’s life with meaning.” Mr. Malter also sees Danny Saunders as a gifted child and wants to help him to reach his potential. Since Reuven gets a lot of help from his father, and Danny gets nothing from his, and Mr. Malter wants to help Danny, he uses Reuven to help Danny. He talks through Reuven about Danny, and as their friendship is blooming, Reuven talks to Danny about what his father said. There is a parallel to education here as well. First of all, the ability to recognize talent in a person is vital in all teachers. For instance, when I was in high school, I played only a little guitar. The band director recognized a natural ability in me to play music, and so now today, I am going to make music my profession. If it were not for my band director, I may not have realized my own potential. Secondly, Mr. Malter is a very busy man but he finds time to teach his son, and Danny very important things. I think that this is important because, we all, not just teachers, must be willing to teach others what ever we can, that way we can all be benefiting at all times.As the novel develops we see Danny struggling with his plan to be a psychologist, and his fathers plan. He does not want to upset his father, nor does he want to go against his religion. However, his father finds out about his plans and decides to set him free, he did not want to “keep such a genius in a cage.”There are many universal theories in the novel, as well as many parallels to the field of education. It is important to understand that many factors play a role in the education of an individual. Take Reuven Malter for example. He is a young Jewish boy living in New York City during WWII. His mother is dead, and his ...
