Nightbooks

The importance of friendship, and the acceptance and sense of belonging it creates, is demonstrated time and again by the characters. For Yasmin and Alex, friendship becomes their lifeline while in the apartment and helps to facilitate their successful escape with Lenore, while even Natacha longs for the power of companionship.

Both Yasmin and Alex realize the value of friendship, especially when life gets tough, such as when one becomes the captive of a hard-to-please witch. When Yasmin tells her story to Alex, she talks about the attachment she developed with Eli, Hwan, and Claire, and how, although they only knew one another for a short time, it didn’t matter. She says, “Living through such a horrible experience pushes you together a lot faster than regular life […] None of us were happy. But at least we had each other” (159). Having each other made their hardships easier to endure.

Likewise, Alex’s friendship with Yasmin—which develops despite her insistence that she doesn’t want friends anymore—operates similarly. He thinks that “there was […] a link between them, a shared experience that no one else could ever understand,” and his affection for her even prompts him to “scrap[e] together as much bravery as he could and ste[p] in front of Yasmin” (138) when Natacha threatens to kill her.