Friendship is also a kind of medicine

“Friendship is also a kind of medicine” expresses how solidarity can restore strength under pressure: Abdullah gives Lin confidence in his hunted exile, while Lin recognizes that he offers Prabaker the same kind of support. The image of friendship as medicine is paired with a darker suggestion—that its markets can be black—because this bond takes shape among men whose lives are entangled with crime and danger.

Friendship as Strength

Lin recalls that with Abdullah he had been strong and able to cope. Prison had taught him how rare such loyalty is: a true friend will stand beside another even when violence makes that choice dangerous. In the hut, Lin pledges himself to Abdullah as brother and friend, whatever Abdullah has done or may be. Friendship here is not an abstract virtue; it is a source of steadiness for someone living with fear and the prospect of fighting or dying.

A Reciprocal Bond

Looking at Prabaker’s worried face, Lin realizes that he, in turn, gives Prabaker confidence. The symmetry changes the meaning of the reflection: Lin is not only receiving support from Abdullah but also becoming a source of it for someone else. The medicine passes between friends, with each able to steady the other.

The Black Market Image

Lin calls friendship a kind of medicine and adds that “the markets for it, too, are sometimes black.” The phrase makes the comfort of loyalty inseparable from the compromised world in which these friendships form. Abdullah is a tough criminal, and Lin’s pledge explicitly sets friendship beyond judgment of what Abdullah has done or what he is. The line’s force lies in that tension: a bond can be sustaining without being innocent, and its value is measured by the courage and care it makes possible.