Importance of Friendship

Close friends often have a major impact on the choices that people make. A close friend can completely change a person’s outlook on life, change the way they live their life and even help them live their life to the fullest. Friends often have more impact on the life of an individual than family because friends are people who you choose to have in your life, and are not people who are just there. With the busy lives that people lead these days, people often feel neglected by their loved ones. This can lead people down negative paths when they feel they have no one there for them. In the novel, Shattered, by Eric Walters, it is proven that no matter how badly a relationship may begin, it can blossom into a great bond between two individuals that may even cause one or both the people in the relationship to develop as people. In Shattered, Ian and Jacques, Mac and the homeless and Mac and Ian all start out as acquaintances and grow into people who rely on one another for moral support and help. Ian and Jacques who met completely randomly became such good friends and helped each other so much to grow as people and to do what was best for each other and society. This bond between Ian and Jacques was a “best friend” relationship. This relationship can undoubtedly be referred to as the greatest bond in this novel. Ian’s first impression of Jacques was that he was a bum. “You got a smoke to spare?” were Jacques’ first words to Ian (4). This led Ian to believe that Jacques was someone who he should avoid at all costs. The fact that he was in an empty, dark park at the time added to the situation and Ian’s initial opinion of Jacques. Ian’s opinion of Jacques quickly changed, soon after, Jacques ended up being his hero by protecting him and his new shoes from the thugs in the empty park. This was the point where their friendship initially began and grew as they saw each other at “The Club.” Jacques was the one who showed Ian how much help the