Dealing with Death: Experiencing Empathy with A Bridge to Terabithia

Simply put, The Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson is a story about a lonely boy and his new friend, Leslie, who moves next door.  This realistic fiction is well written where the characters become the reader's own friends.

SPOILER ALERT:  Because of the nature of this book, the rest of this post will be dealing with the main theme of this book.

If you do not want to know what happens at the end (and have never seen the movie) but have always wanted to read this book, stop reading now.

Base your decision on if you read the book on the back cover blurb rather than this post.  The rest of the post is dedicated specifically to concerned parents who have heard what happens in the book.







As many, of you know, this book is about a child experiencing death; in fact, his close friend Leslie dies from a tragic accident.

Several years ago, I saw the movie with my brother.  All of the previews that we saw emphasized that this was a movie about a fantasy world called Terabithia that the children create and are the rulers over the magical creatures.

That is really not what the movie or the book is about.  As I mentioned earlier, this book is realistic fiction; the children are merely being children imagining a new world (I did this throughout my childhood, and to an extent even into my adult years).

However, when Leslie dies unexpectedly, both my brother and I were completely shocked.  Indeed that is the nature of death; it appears unexpectedly and rips open our hearts.  It is the same in the book.

However, because I knew it was going to happen, I put off reading the book.  In fact, to ease the pain of it, I opted to listen to this book on audio.

(Just a brief tangental note about audio books: they are wonderful!  I enjoy doing two things at once, and often it is two of my favorite things: reading and scrapbooking.  Can that be any sweeter?)

Several years ago, my dad died tragically and unexpectedly.  It threw me into shock and confusion.  For a brief moment, I questioned my faith in God; almost immediately, though, I knew that God did exist and that He was with me at that very moment even as I questioned Him.

Several days before the tragedy had occurred while reading my Bible, I came across the verse Psalm 9:9 that says, "The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble."  Though I did not understand why this tragedy would happen, I clung to this verse and sought the comfort of God.

I did not tell you that particular detail of my life to make you feel sorry for me (believe me, even now it is a painful thing to relate.  I would prefer to remember the good memories of my dad) or to take away from reading the book; I told you that so you would understand why it was so difficult for me to read this book and how I have experienced what Jesse does.  Though losing a parent and losing a friend is much different, the grief and the loss are the same.

I believe that Katherine Paterson did an excellent job conveying Jesse as he first experiences this loss and even as he is in denial of the fact that his best friend is gone forever.

However, I felt that the book ends too neatly.  Jesse creates a bridge to Leslie's and his imaginary world over a creek and takes his sister over as the new queen.

Yes, it is a beautiful ending, but listening to it, I felt as if Jesse had recovered from the hurt of losing Leslie much too quickly and easily.

One of my family members told me that the wound of losing someone eventually scabs over but the wound never truly goes away and can be opened at a phrase or experience.

The time that elapses between the ending in the book and the death of Leslie does not seem very long, and yet Jesse seems as though he is perfectly fine with having experienced this tragic loss.  Perhaps this was because I was listening to it on audio and so not paying full attention to the book.

Dealing with death, the book naturally touches on theological issues.  As you have probably gathered, I am a Christian.

To me that does not mean that I dress up every Sunday and go to church; I dress up and go to church every Sunday because I have a relationship with Jesus, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

He showed His deep love for me by taking my death penalty for all the wrong things that I have done when He died on the cross almost two thousand years ago.  It was not just for me that Jesus died but for every person who has lived and will live.

But the greatest news of all is that Jesus came back from the dead--He's alive today!  He offers us the invitation to accept Him as the ultimate payment for all the wrong we have done so that we can have a relationship with God and not be forever separated from Him.

Having said all of that, I did not completely agree with the theology presented in the book.  The father, comforting Jesse, explains heaven and hell too simply.

I think the real answer lies in the things that Leslie herself says when she goes to church on Easter.  And just remember, the perspective is solely focused on Jesse, not at all on the thoughts and actions of Leslie.

With all of that being said, I did think it was a well-written book and brought to life a real situation that could happen.

A child can read this and come to understand what it means to lose someone close in his life.  I don't think that I can simply put a rating on this book.

I cannot in good conscience recommend it but at the same time, it is a Newberry Award winner and so a classic.

For this book rather than giving it a rating, I would say that reading this with your child might be good.  Discussing together what a child reads can further the meaning of the book as well as having a lively discussion about certain controversial issues.  And if you are the child reading this book, seek out an adult you trust that you can talk to and share opinions about what you read.  Discussion opens new meanings and understandings to any book.

Note:  To all my avid readers out there (I'm not sure how many of you there really are, but anyway) because I have now started grad school and it will soon be in full swing, I probably will not have time to post to this blog for at least several months.  I will be much more busy interacting with my fourth grade students that I will be student teaching.