Bridge to Terabithia – Study Notes
Themes
Friendship
Jess and Leslie's friendship is the central theme of Bridge to Terabithia. Their friendship is
delightful on a simple level, their childish exploits fraught with amusement and joy. However, we
cannot simply call Bridge to Terabithia a monument to the carefree pleasures of childhood,
because that would miss one of the main points of the story. The reason that Jess and Leslie's
friendship is so magical is because it allows them to rejoice in childhood and to escape the rest of
the pressures that bear down on them so heavily in the rest of their lives. Jess, in particular, leads
a life full of everyday hardship and dissatisfaction. We sense that before Leslie came along, he
was in danger of sinking under the weight of these combined pressures and reluctantly accepting
conformity.
This is the essential beauty of their friendship: it allows both Leslie and Jess, particularly Jess, to
find their true selves. This seems to be Paterson's central point about friendship—that it allows
friends to expand, to explore new dimensions of one's character as a result of the other person's
pushing one in new directions. For example, Jess's artistic abilities are strengthened by Leslie's
imagination, which provides perfect fodder for new and innovative artwork, and Leslie's strength
and courage are tested and developed when Jess encourages her to help Janice Avery. Jess
discovers in himself an aptitude for invention and creativity; Leslie uncovers a desire for spirituality
when Jess brings her to church. Rather counterintuitively, Paterson suggests that individuality is
difficult to find on one's own, because then one has no aid in combating societal and other external
pressures and forces which would attempt to destroy one's individuality. Rather, in a friendship,
one discovers new aspects of oneself and helps the other person to discover new aspects of
him/herself as well. This is particularly important in an adolescent friendship such as the one
described in Bridge to Terabithia, because those are the formative years, when much of one's
adult character is determined. A friendship such as Jess and Leslie share allows the two to
become comfortable with themselves, to discover who they really are without worries that what
they find will not fit into the "proper" mold. Ultimately, each member of such a friendship is
strengthened and developed by the friendship.
Childhood
Childhood is a corollary to the theme of friendship in the book. As mentioned before, some people
might have a tendency to breezily summarize childhood as a time of carefree bliss, when nothing
could go wrong. This might be reinforced by the idealized times that Leslie and Jess spend in
Terabithia, which seem to be the epitome of untroubled childhood joy. However, Paterson
recognizes that this is far from being true all the time—in fact, the main attraction of Terabithia is
that it allows the children to escape the "real world," which is apparently nearly as full of pain and
sorrow for children as for adults. Sometimes this is played down a bit, as when May Belle is
devastated when Janice Avery steals her Twinkies; however, the character of Janice herself is
perfect proof that childhood is not always perfect, given her father's violent abuse of her. Jess, too,
struggles with very pervasive problems of identity imposed by his family and classmates. Leslie
must contend with the disdain of her classmates and the wavering attention of her parents, whose
work often dominates their lives. Paterson clearly encourages us to take a look beyond the
stereotype of idealized childhood and to realize that children deal with problems just as pressing as
those that adults face. Our priorities shift as we grow older, so we have a tendency to downplay the
crises of childhood as unimportant, even though they are very real and important to the children
who suffer them.
Conformity and individuality
Jess's main struggle in the book is to discover his true identity when faced with the demands of his
family and society in general. The push is for him to conform—to discard his artistic talent and
concentrate instead on those pursuits that are either more "manly" or which will be more practically
useful to the family. His classmates expect him to come out of a certain mold as well, to watch the
Washington Redskins on television and hang with the guys and act tough. However, it's Jess
misfortune—or, to offer an alternate point of view, his good luck—not to fit this mold particularly
well, and he feels trapped, finding running to be the only safe outlet for his own talents and
inclinations. When Leslie comes along, she helps Jess to escape from the crushing pressures of
conformity. Her parents' background as free-spirited near- hippies has given her a great deal of
freedom and personal choice, and she opens Jess's eyes to the possibilities that exist for him as
well. When she dies, he is crushed, but he has gained enough strength and sense of self through
his friendship with her to carry on without her and not lose touch with all she has taught him.
Gender Roles
Gender role is a motif that plays off the idea of conformity. Jess is expected to fit into a certain
mold, but that mold is a distinctly masculine one. Jess's father is scornful of his artistic ability,
calling it a girl's pastime. Jess's classmates snigger if he shows a tendency to want to avoid
brawling when possible. Jess is expected to be responsible, stoic, and strong, and to be ready to
shoulder the burden of responsibility for the family that his father has carried all these years. Leslie
meets with the family's disapproval because she doesn't fit easily into a feminine category, with her
short hair and athletic ability. However, this is part of what draws Jess to her. She has a liberating
force that she exerts over all his cramped confinement. Leslie shows him that he does not need to
fulfill a peculiarly masculine role, and that he is free to be himself without reference to gender
stereotypes.
Education
Education is portrayed rather dubiously throughout Bridge to Terabithia. Certainly the area in which
Jess lives is not strong on education: the rural area is dirt-poor, with little money to fund a school
system, and most of the residents are uneducated as well, farmers by destiny and by trade. Jess
has very little exposure to intellectual thirst and curiosity until he meets the Burkes. They are all
extremely intelligent and highly educated, a fact that sets Jess reeling at first. Certainly their
education forms a crucial difference between them and the rest of the people in the area.
Yet the dichotomy is not absolute. As Jess gets to know Leslie, he hungrily devours her books and
eagerly immerses himself in the imaginary world of Terabithia. He doesn't assimilate her education
overnight, but the seeds of intelligence and desire to learn are firmly planted in him, and if he'll
never be the erudite that either of Leslie's parents is, the gap between them is not as wide as he
imagines. The reader is left wishing that Jess had the opportunity to have the education that
Leslie's had, but in the end it isn't really necessary: his cleverness and ambition will take him far in
their own right.
Terabithia
Terabithia is a symbol of idealized childhood, of a perfect world in which children can rule supreme
without the heavy responsibilities of adulthood. No bad thing can touch the rulers of Terabithia—no
matter what the obstacle, they will always emerge victorious. The place provides a much-needed
refuge for Leslie and Jess. However, Terabithia is not an absolute sanctuary, as is proven upon
Leslie's death. She drowns in the creek, the border between the perfect world of Terabithia and the
harder world of reality. The novel suggests that Leslie is frozen forever on the boundary between
childhood and adulthood, symbolized by the creek itself. By the end of the novel, Jess comes to
understand that the enchantment of Terabithia is meant to last for a season only, and—not that he
must move on, necessarily—but that he must not depend on Terabithia as an escape anymore, but
instead start tackling life's problems head-on. By the end of the novel, Jess is a man, though not
exactly in the sense that his father has hoped for all these years. Rather, he has managed to strike
a balance between retaining the best parts of childhood and attaining a new maturity.
The rope over the creek and the bridge to Terabithia
When they originated the idea of Terabithia, Leslie decreed that the rope swinging over the creek
would be a magic rope, the only entrance to the magical land. Jess accepted this decree
wholeheartedly, and always felt that Terabithia was not really Terabithia unless one entered by the
prescribed method. When the rope snaps, it seems to be a symbol stating that the magic is at an
end. The breaking of the rope seems to cement the fate of Terabithia, which really died with the
death of its queen.
However, Jess eventually comes to realize that the magic is in him as much as it was in Leslie, and
he has the power to resurrect Terabithia. It will be different, completely different, but its soul will
remain the same. Jess himself has broken some ties with Terabithia in his newfound maturity.
However, May Belle is still a child, and deserves the enchanted childhood only available to her in
Terabithia. In building the bridge to Terabithia, Jess affirms that the beauty, wonder, and magic
that were so much a part of Leslie did not disappear when she died. Instead, he perpetuates that
magic, and in a form more solid and lasting than the rope. Jess's days of absolute, carefree,
childish happiness in Terabithia are over, but he passes Leslie's legacy on by building the bridge to
Terabithia.