I Am David

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1963

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-4

Chapters 5-8

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Discussion Questions

Symbols & Motifs

The Act of Washing

David remembers that when people first arrived in the concentration camp, “they were quite white and clean all over with no smell about them” (21). This recollection illustrates how ubiquitously and dehumanizingly dirty the camp's inhabitants became. David thoroughly and carefully washes himself and his clothing when he arrives in Italy. After this symbolic act, David feels cleansed of the camp; he feels free. Throughout the story, David equates physical dirtiness with imprisonment and violence, whereas cleanness is associated with freedom.

This symbolism is evident when Carlo beats David. The violence perpetrated against David is reminiscent of the camp rather than his new life, which is characterized by freedom and autonomy; “the boy was just like the guards in the camp” (64). David finds a river to wash himself thoroughly. Only after “all contact with him [Carlo] had been washed away would David be able to feel free again” (64-65).

The Italian Coastline

David sees beauty for the first time and is moved to tears; he decides in this moment while considering “villages whose bright colors dazzled gleamingly” and the trees “with so many changing tints of green,” that life is worth living: “Now that he had learned about beauty he wanted to live” (20). The significance of the beautiful view to David illustrates to the reader how unpleasant David’s surroundings had been previously. The sun is characterized as harsh and unpleasant in the camp, whereas in Italy, imagery is used to depict it as pleasant and benevolent: “Over it all shone the warming sun - not white-hot and spiteful and scorching, as the sun had shone above the camp in summertime, but with a warm golden loveliness” (20). David had only heard of “beauty” as a metaphorical concept from Johannes—it was a concept that David understood must exist outside of the camp. However, nothing could have prepared him for the overwhelming emotional moment of experiencing it firsthand.

He brushes his tears away “angrily” “so that the mist before his eyes should not veil that beauty from him” (20). Previously, David survived instinctively and was motivated primarily by fear. After seeing beauty, David is actively motivated to live fully and evade capture so that he can continue to experience all of the beauty the world offers.

Smiling at Maria

When David and Maria smile at each other, it is David’s first moment of genuine human connection since Johannes’s death three years earlier. After Johannes dies, David intentionally isolates himself from all other human connection, fearing the pain of loss: “When Johannes died he thought he would die too. But when he had recovered and knew he was not going to die, he realized he must never, never care for anyone again. […] Only if you were indifferent could you go on living” (114).

The power of the connection between David and Maria is metaphorically likened to “music;” “David felt something happen inside him […] something wonderful” (71). David recognizes this as a moment of pure happiness and smiles genuinely for the first time ever;” “he could not bring himself to take his eyes off the little girl’s face, for he knew it was she who had made him smile” (71). This connection brings David immense joy but also sadness as he recognizes his loneliness and isolation once he leaves the family’s home. He realizes that “green pastures and still waters are not enough to live by, and nor is freedom. Not when you know there’s love and you haven’t anyone you belong to because you’re different” (114). Although this realization is painful to David, it motivates him to seek human connection and prompts him to realize the importance of love and friendship, foreshadowing David’s reunion with his mother.