Bridge To Terabithia :: essays research papers

There are many main themes in Bridge to Terabithia. One of the most important is Jesse and Leslie's magical kingdom in the woods called Terabithia. Terabithia is a small castle they built in the woods where they go to escape and have magical adventures. The "bridge" is a rope they use to swing over the dry creek. Another main theme is Jesse running every morning during the summer so he can be the fastest runner in fifth grade, only to be beat by Leslie, the new girl in town. One more theme is Jesse being the only boy in his house. He has two evil older sisters, who always get their way by whining. He has a younger sister who looks up to him and a baby sister, who of course, gets all the attention. Every time the baby cries his mother assumes it's because Jesse had something to do with it. A few main ideas are the differences between Jesse's family and Leslie's family. Jesse's family is quite poor and high strung. Jesse's mother is a housewife. She cooks; she cleans and raises the children. Jesse's father is usually angry. He works and tries to bring home some money. Until he gets laid off but even then he doesn't give up. He wakes up at the same time ever morning to go to the unemployment office. Jesse's two older sisters are Brenda and Ellie. All they do is whine to get off of doing their chores and criticize Jesse for anything. His younger sister May Belle, looks up to him but he tries to act like an older, tougher brother and doesn't give her much thought, even though he loves her. The youngest sister, Joyce Ann isn't really mentioned except when Jesse tries to push May Belle to her so she'll leave him alone and when Jesse's mother yells at him because of her. Jesse's hobbies are his art and running. Before Leslie moved in, his best friend seemed to be Miss Bessie, the cow. She would watch him run every morning. Leslie's family on the other hand is actually rich. Both her parents are writers and they decided to move because they felt they were getting too absorbed in their money and lifestyle. Leslie is an only child but even though she is it seems as if she doesn't spend much time with her father. When her father was fixing up the house and asked her to help she felt so needed and happy.