Character Connection

I wanted to call attention to a passage that I found interesting in answer to the question of the character's connections. On page 63, Bernard says, "How strange to feel the line that is spun from us lengthening its fine filament across the misty spaces of the intervening world. He is gone; I stand here, holding his poem. Between us is this line." He is referring to Neville in this passage. I think you can read it one of two ways.

First, there is the simplest response that the poem Bernard is left with creates a line between the two characters. To elaborate, one could say a piece of Neville is in his work and that is what forms the connection between himself and Bernard. In essence, Neville leaves a part of himself with Bernard.

There's also the opportunity for readers to believe that this line just exists between the two characters. It's a thin but pliable line, strong despite its length. I think that this reading is what the novel suggests because the line is strung from "us" in Bernard's words. Thus it is strung between the two people and lengthens as they grow apart. If this is the case, why mention the poem in this section? Is it possible that both the poem and their humanity link these two characters? I wonder that because no where thus far have other characters mentioned a similar experience. What links Neville and Bernard so closely? It seems to mirror the close bond between Rhoda and Louis, although I would argue the relationship between Neville and Bernard is more antagonistic. I'm interested to see where this bond leads them!