David, orphaned and imprisoned in the concentration camp and then living as an escaped prisoner homeless in Europe, finds it difficult to trust those around him. David struggles to make genuine connections, feeling safer isolating himself physically and emotionally from others. One exception is David’s friend and mentor, Johannes, who supports and teaches David in the concentration camp, teaching him the importance of gratitude, self-reliance, and concepts that he will need to understand in the outside world, such as religion and beauty. When David is terrified and alone on his way to Salonica, he draws on the memory of Johannes: “He suddenly felt exactly as he had done when he was small and Johannes was with him. […] [A]fter that it was easy” (14). The strength of Johannes and David’s connection is clear; it outlives Johannes and sustains the young David on his terrifying journey.

The metaphorical and literal distance that David protectively creates around himself is exacerbated when his one friend and confidant, Johannes, dies: “It was not that he liked anyone to touch him. He hated it: it made him feel tense inside. […] [P]erhaps it was only when Johannes died that he became different” (91).