In the novel ‘A Bottle in the Gaza Sea’, Tal and Naim are
seen as extremely similar characters in their views and beliefs of life and the
war as well as their personalities.
Both Tal and Naim have similar beliefs that the Palestinians
are persisting and wanting to kill every single Jew as Tal says, ’…people where
you live who dance in the streets when they hear that innocent people have been
killed here’. By saying this she shows her disgust that the Palestinians dance
at the deaths of others simply because they are Israeli.
Naim also knows that the Palestinians are keeping the war
going as he says about the Palestinians,’They dream of all Israelis dying,
drowning, not a single Jew left on Arab soil’. Although Naim doesn’t want the
war he knows that many Palestinians just want to kill all of the Israeli’s so
they can have the land to themselves and be their own country.
Another similarity between the two is that they are both
considerably caring and compassionate. At first Naim seems to be a mean heart
who acts like he doesn’t care and points slander at Tal. He thinks to himself
,’The problem is I can’t stop thinking about the girl. She deserves better than
my sarcasm’. By saying that ‘she deserves better than that’ the author shows
that Naim is not just a snobby Palestinian who hates the Israelis, it shows
that he has compassion and empathy which he was lacking in his emails.
Tal also shows care to others as she shows frustration that
Anne Frank was so close to escaping however she still died. ‘I read that
sentence again and again, and for a long time I wished I could reach out, take
Anne Frank’s hand, and say, “Hang on, this hell is nearly over’. This uses
emotive language to show the love for someone she only knows through reading
her diary and the frustration she has for not being able to go back in time and
tell Anne to be stronger.
Through their beliefs about the war and their kindness for
others, both Tal and Naim share and bond of similarities which is evident
through reading this book and their letters and thoughts.
