The Bridge Home

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2019

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-6

Chapters 7-12

Chapters 13-20

Chapters 21-33

Chapter 34-Author’s Note

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Symbols & Motifs

Water

Water figures prominently in the narrative, serving both as a life-giving necessity and a burdensome danger. Venkatraman figuratively uses water to imply a brooding, powerful presence that is beneficial or deadly, which is to say water is a metaphor for the divine. The ambivalent nature of water is captured in one of the earliest references to the river in Chapter 9: The children go to the river in the morning, swimming and bathing in joy as trash floats past them. Soon, Viji must dip her bottle in an untreated water source since they have no way to purify it before they drink. The paucity of clean water—a clear awareness of the lack of a divine presence—is commented on when Teashop Aunty tells the sisters that no additional water will be available until 4 am the next morning.

Monsoon season approaches as the story draws to its denouement, intensifying both the blessing and the curse of water. Viji collects rainwater knowing it is safe to drink while the early monsoon rains inundate the children’s shelter, making it virtually uninhabitable. This sets the stage for Muthu’s poignant comparison of drowned worms to dead human beings: God recognizes human plight, but cannot be more concerned with human suffering than humans are about drowned worms.

A tsunami was responsible for the deaths of Arul’s family, who drowned in the great wave. Fearful, Arul fled from the receding seawater and was spared. Despite this, he is even more diligent in prayer, believing that he will be reunited with his family if he stays faithful. The implication is that God, like the ocean—which Arul refers to as “Ocean Mother”—is untrustworthy. He says, “the ‘ocean mother’ took my real mother away” (Page 81). Ironically, Arul and Viji are having the conversation above the placid silver river flowing serenely below them. When the two return to the bridge after Rukku’s death, Viji calls out for her sister but only hears the gentle lapping of the river below. Venkatraman implies that Rukku is with God and can be heard in the gentle water.

The Bridge

There are two bridges across the river in the city. One bustles with activity and traffic. The other, which the children transform into their home, is deserted, decrepit, and no longer useful for traffic. Venkatraman does not mention the greater state of the nation, though these two bridges represent the India of the past and the rapidly developing India of the present. The greater implication is that the development taking place has abandoned what is no longer useful: a pitted bridge and countless indigent children. This is also reflected in the class divide between the children and the wealthy elite they encounter. The busy, operating bridge is used by the masses who aspire to the riches seen on Praba’s estate and at the upper-class wedding. The development in the country affords the wealthy to shed useless, material items, while those without money must scrape through city dumps to make a living. The bridge where the children make their home is falling apart, with holes making its foundation unstable. The bridge is ignored, no longer worthy of attention in its uselessness. It serves as another structure the society has thrown away, in a figurative sense, like those who inhabit the areas within and around it.

The bridge, as the word implies, is also a symbol for the children’s ongoing transition. One cannot remain on a bridge over the water forever. Just so, while the four children grow, learn, and enjoy their togetherness on the bridge, it is destined to be only a temporary dwelling. These growing pains are seen when Arul, Muthu, Viji and Rukku must find a new place to inhabit once their tents are ripped to pieces by dangerous men. Arul’s confidence that they will not be bothered illustrates his comfortability and numbness to his situation. Muthu’s optimism at finding a new place to shelter highlights his resistance to looking at reality, while Viji’s hope remains as she spots their money that remained hidden. Rukku’s silent strength maintains a sense of calm for Viji during the transition that shows how she’s willing to accept circumstances as they are. The ongoing transition is complete as they cross the bridge of their childhoods and confront the issues that they have run from. Arul and Muthu carve out identities for themselves and learn to trust Celina Aunty’s organization, while Viji confronts her guilt and anger over Rukku’s decline and death, leading her to a new opportunity at another school.

The Cemetery

As the bridge is a temporary residence for the children, the cemetery is meant to be a final dwelling for them in the life they are living. Venkatraman describes the cemetery as a place where they are bolstered by those who are buried there, but also one of constant disturbances. Change is on the horizon for the children, and they remain uncomfortable in their new shelter. They struggle to keep their tarps anchored and temporarily lose their makeshift door during a strong monsoon wind. Mosquitos constantly bite them in the humid and damp atmosphere, leaving their skin ravaged with bumps. At one point, Rukku scratches her own bites so hard she bleeds, foreshadowing the imminent changes to come. Once they enter Celina Aunty’s world, living without a home is banished for good.

Ironically, the cemetery is a great teacher. Though they come to the setting with innocent trepidation, they discover that the real danger is from within the graveyard. In their isolation as they try to avoid dangerous adults and other potential threats, the monsoon rains eventually cause the most damage. The floor of their shelter is constantly barraged by water, never drying. Viji describes standing in a floor of water, while Arul returns from an attempt at gathering trash. Though he faced a threat of another gang of children, they ultimately did not assault him. However, the graveyard’s continual moisture worsens Rukku’s cough and leaves her and Muthu ill. In Rukku’s decline and Muthu’s sickness, the cemetery is an expression from Venkatraman that the lifestyle the children are living is terminal.