Who is the character Nathan in The Bronze Bow?
Daniel's friend Nathan is a person of character. Like Daniel, he makes a mistake in thinking Rosh is the leader who can rid Palestine of the Romans, but unlike Rosh, Nathan's heart is in the right place.
Nathan is a fighter. When Daniel first meets him in the blacksmith's shop, where Nathan has come to get a scythe repaired, Nathan has a black eye. He stood up to and fought back against the boys who beat him because his father became a tax collector for the Romans. Nathan is angry—at his father and the Romans—and is a scrappy fighter, but he has a forthright, honest spirit. He wants to fight the Romans because he doesn't want live a life of abjection and shame under them.
Nathan is a person of principle who lives by his beliefs. For example, he won't let his father's ill-gotten gains finance his marriage, so he...
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opts for a very simple wedding that he can pay for from his own meagre resources.
One of Nathan's most important traits is his loyalty, especially to Daniel. He tells Daniel he will be beside him in a fight and trusts Daniel completely as a leader. He sees Daniel as fully human in a way Rosh does not. Nathan's death is a sad blow in the novel.
In The Bronze Bow, what is Nathan's personality like?
Nathan, the first boy Daniel recruits to join his band in the village, is a proud, feisty, loyal young man. The pride he displays is not arrogance, but rather an unwillingness to be subdued or to compromise his principles. When Daniel first meets him, he has come to the blacksmith shop sporting a black eye. His own friends beat him up because his father had recently become a tax collector. When Daniel volunteers to walk home with him, he refuses Daniel's help, saying he can take care of himself. Nathan also exhibits his pride, or self-sufficiency, at his wedding. Not wanting his friends to believe that his wedding has been funded on the backs of the Jewish citizens by his father's income as a tax-collector, Nathan instead settles for a simple feast that he can afford to pay for himself.
Nathan is feisty. One of the things that attracts Daniel to Nathan is that Daniel senses he is a fighter. Indeed, when Daniel leaves the shop with Nathan and six or seven boys attack, Daniel is impressed with his physical prowess in the altercation. Nathan is the one to boldly suggest that the boys in the band brand themselves to show they belong to the same cause. When Daniel fails to secure Rosh's help to free Joel from the Romans, Nathan tells Daniel, "I'll go down with you."
Finally, Nathan is loyal to Daniel. He tells Daniel that if Daniel wants, he can recruit ten boys from the village to join the band. When Daniel realizes Rosh won't help rescue Joel and suggests they vote for a leader, Nathan responds, "There's no need to vote," giving Daniel his utmost dedication. Daniel learns from Kemuel that Nathan died when he "leaned too far out to pull you down."
Nathan, a memorable character who adds emotion and depth to the novel, is depicted as appropriately proud, feisty, and loyal to Daniel.