Forever Friends

Friendship is one of the most beautiful forms of union we can experience. It makes sense, then, that fiction is one of the best places to depict such a special bond.

Neapolitan Quartet - Elena Ferrante

Words by Jade Heath

To me, one of the best friendships in literature is the friendship between Lila and Elena from Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Quartet. The original texts are in Italian, and their friendship originally takes place in 1950s working-class Naples. My Brilliant Friend is the first book, which details the girls’ upbringings in both childhood and through their descent into adolescence. Despite the solidity of their friendship and the love they clearly hold for each other, the books depict an honest and unsentimental portrayal of femininity, which includes insecurity and bitterness. Perhaps this is what I love most about the novels; the women the story is centred around are flawed and imperfect. Naturally, a lot of tensions that arise in their friendship is external to them and a consequence of their growing up in a deeply misogynist culture. Despite Lila being the intellectual prodigy of the two when they are children, it is Elena, the narrator, who goes on to pursue further education. Lila’s parents refuse to pay for this option, and she instead has to help out at her father’s shoe shop, watching her best friend from the sidelines. This is a major plot point in the novel, demonstrating the struggles of both being a woman and being poor, wherein continuing one’s education is considered a futile and unimportant option. Jealousy is therefore an ever-present emotion within their friendship, and this is also seen in the second novel The Story of a New Name, through Elena’s attitude to Lila’s marriage. Despite it being one which is plagued with misery and even abuse, it was also accompanied with a level of wealth, which is originally the only thing that Elena sees. The emotions she feels during this period again serve to highlight the external class and gender struggles which torment their ever-prevailing friendship.

Winnie-the-Pooh - A. A. Milne

Words by Chahat Gandhi

My take on the best friendship in literature is a sentimental one, one that would immediately take us all down to the memory lane - it’s Winnie the Pooh & Piglet.

A new day calls for a new adventure in A. A. Milne’s classic tale Winnie-the-Pooh. We’ve all grown up reading and watching the adventures of Pooh and the gang in the Hundred Acre Woods, and there’s no denying that the characters are an iconic part of childhood.

I love that both characters truly complete each other. The series teaches so much about the fact that friendship is truly about being there for each other no matter what. Every time Piglet tries conquering one of his fears, Pooh is there, supporting him.

Doing the tiniest of things together gives them the most joy, and that is what I think true friendship is. The duo never needs a plan; they have the best of times together even if they only ‘sit out of the wind and do nothing’. They share a very genuine, casual, and thoughtful relationship. Isn’t that what we all crave in life? For me personally, I’ve learned so much about friendship from this silly bear and his little best friend. If I had to describe the bond between the two in just one word, I’d choose ‘wholesome’. Or, to quote Pooh, their friendship is like ‘a warm pot of honey on a cold chilly day’.

One quote that always leaves me teary eyed“If there ever comes a day when we can’t be together, keep me in your heart, I’ll stay there forever.”. It’s the perfect quote to sum up a book that encapsulates what friendship truly is.