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Bridge Of Scarlet Leaves


A beautiful, timeless love story...McMorris' words reach right off the page and ...
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How did each major character fulfill the role of a bridge?

Created: 02/24/12

Replies: 3

Posted Feb. 24, 2012 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert

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How did each major character fulfill the role of a bridge?

"Bridge" conveys a variety of meanings in McMorris's novel, many of which relate to connecting hearts, people, and cultures. How did each major character fulfill the role of a bridge? Who or what do you view as the most significant bridge in the story?


Posted Feb. 28, 2012 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
Santa Fe Cowgirl's Gravatar
Santa Fe Cowgirl

Join Date: 04/14/11

Posts: 32

RE: How did each major character fulfill the role of a bridge?

i think Maddie built the most "bridges." She built a bridge to Kumiko, always considering her mother-in-law's feelings and when her father-in-law returned, she had to connect with him. From the very beginning of the book, Maddie was trying to build a bridge to her father by playing the violin for him. When her brother, TJ, returned, she had to reconnect with him. In the end. TJ had to build a bridge to Jo. The best bridges were the ones between Suzie and her grandfather, Maddie's father, and the Lane's father.


Posted Mar. 08, 2012 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
sarahd

Join Date: 10/16/10

Posts: 84

RE: How did each major character fulfill the role of a bridge?

I agree with Sante Fe, I think Maddie definitely built the most bridges. I also think that Lane made the most effort to build cultural bridges and bridges of understanding by enlisting in the army and holding fast to his belief that he was first an American citizen and Japanese second. Every time he met another soldier he provided a counter-argument to the notion at the time that all Japanese were "dangerous."


Posted Mar. 11, 2012 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
janen

Join Date: 06/01/11

Posts: 54

RE: How did each major character fulfill the role of a bridge?

I agree with both of them, Maddie and Lane built the most bridges, both socially and culturally. The book really defined how bias and prejudice lurk under the surface and how it is so ready to be unreleased when something catastrophic happens. In WWII it was unleashed against the Germans and the Japanese . After 911, it was unleashed against Muslims. Lately it has been against Mexican immigrants, thanks in no small part to the economy. We could all lean a lesson from the book about the importance of building bridges.


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