What is david's character analysis in chapter 4

David is the novel's central character and protagonist. He is twelve years old as the story begins, living in a concentration camp with no idea of what his background is, where he belongs, or who his parents were. He does, however, have a strong sense of self, a sense of who he is and of his own identity, that manifests in a saying that he repeats over and over to himself, even closing his prayers with it. "I am David," he says, with the only information as to who that is coming from being his own inner sense of personal truth. That truth, narration reveals, is affirmed by the only friend David has ever known, the only parental figure he has ever consciously had - a fellow inmate named Johannes who, while he is still alive, instructs and guides David to a place of trust in his intuition, his values of honesty, integrity and selflessness, and his spirituality.

Meanwhile, as the narrative itself points out, David bears the same name as one of the most important and memorable figures in the Bible - the boy shepherd named David who eventually grew into one of the most respected and honored kings of the pre-Christianity Hebrews. In fact, the book's character David takes one of the Bible David's teachings in one of the Psalms as something of a mantra, or repeated phrase or image that serves as a source of spiritual strength - one of the lines of the 23rd Psalm (see "Objects / Places"). In other words, in the same way as the Biblical David transcends some very daunting obstacles by, in part, relying on his own sense of identity and integrity, so too does the David of this book. For further consideration of this aspect of the work, see "Topics for Discussion - Research and study the story ..."