Goodbye to Berlin

by

Christopher Isherwood

Friendship Theme Analysis

Themes and Colors
Friendship Theme Icon
Storytelling Theme Icon
Antisemitism in Germany Theme Icon
Money as Security Theme Icon
Decadence Theme Icon
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Goodbye to Berlin, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Friendship Theme Icon

The intensity of the friendship between Christopher Isherwood and Sally Bowles in Goodbye to Berlin illustrates the idea that friendships can be just as (if not more) complicated and impactful than romantic relationships. In fact, friendships are often the defining relationships in one’s life. As Christopher navigates Berlin, he searches for social connections. When he meets Sally Bowles, the two immediately like each other and begin to spend all their time together, often making plans for their illustrious futures as artists. In a sense, they fall in love with each other, though neither wants to be together romantically. Significantly, Christopher lacks any clear romantic or sexual connections in the novel. In the absence of these connections, Sally’s massive presence in the novel demonstrates the profound impact that she has on Christopher’s life and art. The intensity of their friendship causes Christopher to experience a wide range of emotions throughout: joy, love, anger, anxiety, and even jealousy. This jealousy ends up causing the end of their friendship: after Sally asks another writer friend to do a writing assignment for her instead of Christopher, Christopher’s jealousy causes the two of them to have a fight. Acknowledging that they have grown out of each other, Sally and Christopher consciously “break up,” cementing their friendship’s parallels with a romantic relationship. Still, Christopher dedicates the story to her as a “tribute” to their friendship, and he urges her to write him a postcard.

Related Themes from Other Texts
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Friendship ThemeTracker

The ThemeTracker below shows where, and to what degree, the theme of Friendship appears in each chapter of Goodbye to Berlin. Click or tap on any chapter to read its Summary & Analysis.
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Friendship Quotes in Goodbye to Berlin

Below you will find the important quotes in Goodbye to Berlin related to the theme of Friendship.
Chapter 1: A Berlin Diary, Autumn 1930 Quotes

But soon a call is sure to sound, so piercing, so insistent, so despairingly human, that at last I have to get up and peep through the slats of the Venetian blind to make quite sure that it is not—as I know very well it could not possibly be—for me.

Related Characters: Christopher Isherwood (speaker)
Page Number: 4
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 2: Sally Bowles Quotes

Sally’s German was not merely incorrect; it was all her own. She pronounced every word in a mincing, specifically “foreign” manner. You could tell that she was speaking a foreign language from her expression alone.

Related Characters: Christopher Isherwood (speaker), Sally Bowles
Page Number: 28
Explanation and Analysis:

“I’m awfully glad. I’ve wanted you to like me ever since we first met. But I’m glad you’re not in love with me, because, somehow, I couldn’t possibly be in love with you—so, if you had been, everything would have been spoilt.”

Related Characters: Sally Bowles (speaker), Christopher Isherwood
Page Number: 36
Explanation and Analysis:

We went to the little cinema in Bülowstrasse, where they were showing a film about a girl who sacrificed her stage career for the sake of a Great Love, Home, and Children. We laughed so much that we had to leave before the end.

Related Characters: Christopher Isherwood (speaker), Sally Bowles, Klaus Linke
Page Number: 44
Explanation and Analysis:

“I don’t know what it is… You seem to have changed, somehow…”

“How have I changed?”

“It’s difficult to explain… You don’t seem to have any energy or want to get anywhere. You’re so dilletante. It annoys me.”

Related Characters: Christopher Isherwood (speaker), Sally Bowles (speaker)
Page Number: 64
Explanation and Analysis:

Indeed, I was so absurdly upset that I began to wonder whether I hadn’t all this time, in my own particular way, been in love with Sally myself.

But no, it wasn’t love ether—it was worse. It was the cheapest, most childish kind of wounded vanity…. The awful sexual flair women have for taking the stuffing out of a man!

Related Characters: Christopher Isherwood (speaker), Sally Bowles
Page Number: 65
Explanation and Analysis:

When you read this, Sally—if you ever do—please accept it as a tribute, the sincerest I can pay, to yourself and to our friendship.

And send me another postcard.

Related Characters: Christopher Isherwood (speaker), Sally Bowles
Related Symbols: Postcards
Page Number: 76
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 4: The Nowaks Quotes

“You see, Christoph… Peter hurt me very much. I thought he was my friend. And then, suddenly, he left me—all alone…”

Related Characters: Otto Nowak (speaker), Christopher Isherwood , Peter Wilkinson
Page Number: 116
Explanation and Analysis:

My mouth pressed against Erna’s hot, dry lips. I had no particular sensation of contact: all this was part of the long, rather sinister symbolic dream which I seemed to have been dreaming throughout the day. “I’m so happy, this evening…” Erna whispered.

Related Characters: Christopher Isherwood (speaker), Erna (speaker), Otto Nowak, Frau Nowak
Page Number: 137
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 5: The Landauers Quotes

“You, Christopher, with your centuries of Anglo-Saxon freedom behind you, with your Magna Carta engraved upon your heart, cannot understand that we poor barbarians need the stiffness of a uniform to keep us upright.”

Related Characters: Bernhard Landauer (speaker), Christopher Isherwood , Natalia Landauer
Page Number: 159
Explanation and Analysis:

“I’m getting rather tired of what you call your experiments. Tonight wasn’t the first of them by any means. The experiments fail, and then you’re angry with me. I must say, I think that’s very unjust… But what I can’t stand is that you show your resentment by adopting this mock-humble attitude… Actually, you’re the least humble person I’ve ever met.”

Related Characters: Christopher Isherwood (speaker), Sally Bowles, Bernhard Landauer
Page Number: 171
Explanation and Analysis: