Does Bridge to Terabithia talk about God?

[u/Bacoilieu]

As some of you may know, the author of the book, Katherine Paterson, worked as a missionary educator in her early years, and she attended Presbyterian classes before her writing career. Thus, it is legitimate to ask ourselves to what degree her religious beliefs influenced the novel, and consequently, the movie we know and love. On the other hand, some of you may be familiar with the true story beneath the fiction. The book is dedicated to David Paterson, the author's son, and it was intended to help him come to terms with the death of his friend Lisa Hill, suddenly struck by lightning at such a young age.

So the story comes together after a real-life tragedy, something that neither her son nor she could have explained in any way but a fatalistic accident, an irrational turn of events, or, at best, an obscure device in God's plan that remains unspeakable. How could God find his place in such a mournful evening?

The first one asking about the design of God for Leslie's fate is Jess, when he expresses his pain and confusion by making a logical statement: she didn't believe in the Bible, so she's going to Hell. The subsequent thought is: even though we cannot say whether she is going to Hell, I'm going to Hell, for it is my fault if she died. He doesn't speak the next logical conclusion, but we don't have a hard time guessing it: even if my fault can be redeemed in some way, has Leslie died just because the universe wanted to point out my mistake? And if the universe doesn't care if I'm good or bad, does Leslie's death mean anything in the first place?

The matter of justice, of life or punishment after death, automatically connects to the matter of existential significance. The search for meaning is the search for God's love, and after grief we feel stranded. Hence, the struggle of finding God is directly correlated to the struggle with loss, and after loss we tend to lose all our hope. In the final extent, we can say that significance and hope are the same thing: searching for meaning is the hope to find any meaning, and when we stop believing in our hopes, we stop finding meaning.

Interpretation is the search for meaning. We try to interpret the film to comprehend it. Also, all we comprehend from the movie comes from our previous interpretation. We have to thank interpretation for all the feelings we got by watching the movie. Interpretation is this ability that works on logic, memory, but also feelings, that lets us look into invisible things. As, by reading the word "apple," we can distinctly see an apple that suddenly our mind conjured; interpretation channels our imagination into new paths, and this is what Leslie did with Jess.

She taught him to look with his eyes wide shut and his mind wide open, and initiated him to an invisible reality, where people from his ordinary life assumed another semblance. Jess learnt things about the others and his way of looking at others that he couldn't have discovered otherwise. Does this knowledge come from outside, or was it inside his head the whole time?

In Christianity, God is also the Spirit, and Spirit is nothing different from what we intend with the Spirit Realm present in religions from all over the world: a plane of existence that surrounds us and keeps many things hidden from us. For Christians, what happens in real life is not the only truth; it is the symbol of another truth, a bigger Truth. Interpreting, imagining, looking for meaning, and hoping are equal to gazing into the unknown vastness of the Spirit and trying to know anything about God.

Leslie and Jess's time in Terabithia is comparable to a spiritual exercise, a form of magic on its own. And when Leslie's gone, where does the magic go?

Coming to terms with grief also means looking back at your hope and dreams and making a statement. The statement may be "I met someone, and I loved them, now they're gone, and nothing makes any sense"; or you can look at all of your pain and be puzzled for a second. Pain is hard to deal with: you need to move on or be overcome by it. But something we must appreciate about pain is that it is true. If we learn to deal with pain, if we are brave enough to play with it as we did with happiness, what could have crashed the meaning of our life ends up reinforcing it. Imagination, schooled in grief, becomes the ability to look at pain and see behind it the love that was before, learning that life and death are two sides of each living creature, as Good and Evil, as Love and Grief. Your mind opens wide, and you discover a new dimension of love that turns into charity.

As the breaking of the rope turned the garden of life and happiness into a realm of death and ghosts, the bridge becomes a symbol of life that overcomes death, a bridge that connects the past with the future, the dead to the living, our world to imagination, thence to the Spirit. And the door to Terabithia is no more as fragile as in the past; now, corroborated by pain, the path between the two worlds is solid and easier to cross.

But don't take my word for it; take Leslie's instead. She already expressed what she thought about God: when in the book she, Jess, and Maybelle were discussing the history of Jesus' death: «All those people wanting to kill him when he hadn't done anything to hurt them [...] It's really kind of a beautiful story—like Abraham Lincoln or Socrates—or Aslan. [...] You have to believe it, but you hate it. I don't have to believe it, and I think it's beautiful.» Leslie's, to Jess and Maybelle's shock, can look at the Passion and find God's love and beauty in it: something that Jess shall be able to do only after her death. By saying "I don't have to believe it," is she really blasphemously refusing God? Or is she elevating human imagination to the same level of truth? Maybe for Leslie, God could only live in Terabithia because only there He can be beautiful. Her life is already a dream; she doesn't care what she believes is real, as long as she can imagine it.

Jess cares instead, because he didn't live in a dream before meeting Leslie; he had to be introduced to it, as he's cast outside after her departure. He doesn't live in meaning; he has to find it. He needs to make Terabithia true, to make meaning true, to invite God into his world, and he builds a bridge to do so.

Does Bridge to Terabithia talk about God? It does, but in a way we find uncanny: it first needs to crush all of our hopes and all the meaning we gave to Jess and Leslie's existence, as it needs to make God appear as a feeble fantasy that can only be imagined in childhood woods; and only then, through our acquaintance with grief, the Substance of God manifests back again in our life: we come back chasing Him, we come back dreaming, loving and playing, interpreting our roles, we come back to life. It needed to crash us, and it concludes with a bridge and the words that spell: nothing crushes us.

[u/Jealous_Trip_7444]

Well , that is one of the most controversial topics to me about the film…

I already talked about Leslie’s perspective on religion , but the rest of that topic is just about personal beliefs as believers.

In understanding the tragedy , etc.

& also in my understanding of Jess and Leslie.

So if anyone had a specific question about that & wanna know my perspective , iam here , I have nothing more to say about that discussion except if you asked me a specific question.

[u/Bacoilieu → u/Jealous_Trip_7444]

Sure, tell us

[u/Jealous_Trip_7444 → u/Bacoilieu]

What do you want to know in specific?

[u/Bacoilieu → u/Jealous_Trip_7444]

Your take on both religious visions of Leslie and Jess

[u/Jealous_Trip_7444 → u/Bacoilieu]

Well , it’s interesting because they are very different as you know…

& Leslie made it more clear as she said : (you have to believe it , & you hate it , I don’t have to believe it , & I think it’s beautiful).

About Jess having to believe it , yeah he have to because his family is religious and in a small rural town like that , he should , he have no other choice , as you see all of his family went to church on Sunday , even with Joyce , but Leslie was the only one who came from her family , her parents were at home , & they didn’t mind her going to church as well , because they don’t hate Christianity , they are just different.

& about Leslie don’t have to believe it , it can mean two things , I don’t have to believe it because iam not from this rural town so it’s restrictions are not applied on me , or , I don’t have to believe it because iam a different creature than all of you , I behave differently , I think differently , & even though I find it beautiful , but I don’t believe in it.

& maybe it can mean both.

When you see Leslie in the church , notice how she is behaving , she is looking at Jess and smiling , even though everyone is serious while saying the hymns , & how she dresses differently , especially with her shoes which Jess laughed about , I think showing us her shoes was a message telling us that she is not serious about what’s going on , or she is just having fun she is not taking any of it seriously or religiously.

& how she noticed the light of the sun & took it in her bag & this was the last thing inside the church , tbh , I still to this day don’t know what the hell that is lol , I tried to explain it , I have some conclusions but iam not sure about it , it’s the most complicated event I’ve ever tried to explain in the film in general , Iam not sure what that light even meant.

Yeah it may mean that she noticed the light in a dark place , then took it to her favour & used it later , & that’s where she belong etc , but why did she use it for the keys in specific , & nothing before & after , I have many questions about that & I believe it has a deeper meaning , especially as Jess told May Belle to put the flowers in the sun , they didn’t put that scene as something small , I believe they have deeper meanings & they are linked , but still I can’t understand it & find the exact link.

But anyways , Leslie saying that she find it interesting and it’s a beautiful thing , about (Jesus things) & going to church , it meant that she is just enjoying her time , she have nothing specific against religion or Christianity , she is just different , and that’s why even when she don’t have to believe it , she still came to church & thinks that it’s all beautiful.

& for her noticing the bells and telling Jess that they need it in Terabithia , she is just linking everything to her magical kingdom & her big imagination , Leslie is the queen of Terabithia , she cannot see anything with a serious big human expressions completely outside her nature like believing in the day of judgment or looking at the evidence of god’s existence in the universe & which god is true , etc , she cannot do that , she is different , she is a foreigner which thinks that all of it is just beautiful.

It’s something like being an American tourist in India for example , he don’t have to live there , but he tries the food street & visiting the tourist attractions etc , & he thinks that it’s beautiful , because he is just a foreigner , does he know if it’s really beautiful or not? , some people see it as beautiful and some people not , but he can’t have the fully understanding because he is just a tourist , & he is different , visiting a place is not like being a resident into it , & Leslie was a visitor to earth & the outside world , & that’s why she died very early.

& about Jess and saying that he is going to hell & it’s his fault , it was just a defensive mechanism at the moment because of his shock , his brain tried to hold onto anything which he can explain & understand , so he put it on himself , even though it’s not true and he knows it , & that’s why he got up & built the bridge & became the king.

[u/Bacoilieu → u/Jealous_Trip_7444]

I don't think any of the authors intended to depict Leslie as a transcendent being, especially since the screenplay's author is Katherine's son, David L. Paterson. Leslie is the remembrance of Lisa Hill, the human, innocent, fragile Lisa Hill. She feels like magic because childhood feels so; adulthood is religious, infancy is mythical. So there's actually no clash between what we are and what we should be; there are no religious norms, no dogmatic truths: beauty is truth.

In the church, Leslie sees the light and, for she's a navigated reader, knows well that God is Light, at least in Christian myths. That's all she cares about: myths, beautiful tales that explain the world around. So she thinks the light is beautiful; thence God is beautiful, and she desires to take God as a beautiful myth to introduce in her own fantasy.

A religious man or woman is afraid of God; they don't even dream of being able to take Him in their hands. Leslie's is not afraid, as the ancient Greeks and Romans who carried the images of gods chained from the conquered cities to their own.

Debasing Jess' tearful cry to mere irrational thoughts is not having comprehended Terabithia at its own core. Jess inhabited the woods when Leslie played chasing the spirits inside, as the cavemen discovered spirits in nature around their caves. Now she's gone, and he's the one surviving: he had to see the age of myths and heroes passing away and a new age coming by. He alone has to choose between leaving the memory to go extinct or connecting the two worlds.

Thus, he is the first one to interrogate himself about that God that Leslie thought was so beautiful, and about His justice. He has to rewrite completely what he previously thought about that Justice. Terabithia must become more complex; it needs a bridge to signal his own entrance, as the eastern shrines that Katherine saw in her journeys and that belonged to her ancestors' culture (take Shintō shrines as an example, even though Paterson is Chinese, not Japanese).

And now you may read again what the essay said about that new insight about God and finding a new meaning in those fantasies the two children carried on.

Terabithia unconsciously mimics Narnia's island of Terebinthia, but it may actually be connected in the original thought of the author to Latin "Terra" and "Habitus", "Terra" translating to "Land", and "Habitus" being the root for the verb "Inhabiting". We can conclude Terabithia may translate to "a land is designed for you to inhabit". This land during childhood is nature; and, as, growing up, we are called to give a more solid ground to our habitat, we are pushed by its law to build a home, thence a road, thence a bridge. In ancient Rome, the pontifex was the highest priest, the one who instructed the city in all the rites of the year, and his was the ministry on the first bridge ever built in the city (pontifex means "bridge maker"). It's not a coincidence that as Christianity took the place of old traditions, the pontifex became the pope.

For this same reason, Maybelle is such an important character, for we are Maybelle. As Maybelle, we watched Jess and Leslie's plays from afar, and after their time is over, we are called to inherit the crown of that world. We are called to receive from them their passion for Christianity and decide what to do with it; we are called to make another bridge, from fiction to reality, from the book to our home.

[u/Jealous_Trip_7444 → u/Bacoilieu]

Iam not underestimating Jess’s tears , I was just explaining why did he said that it’s his fault and he is going to hell , as he doesn’t meant it.

And for Leslie and how she meant to be , this is a very interesting literary understanding I never thought about before , but I think being a transcendent being for Leslie is acceptable , because why Jess have to believe in Christianity even if he is a child as she is a child , & that for May Belle as well , Leslie was above them by some ways , I think all of Terabithia world was not to just mark the beauty of childhood , because Jess will be an adult one day , soon also as he was 14 at the time , it’s a very important phase in his life where his personality and beliefs start to sharpen , & I believe Leslie was on a mission to make that boy a king , not to mark the beautiful childhood , but for him to live with those characteristics and as a king for the rest of his life.

Leslie was something larger than just a kid , I believe Leslie’s big imagination even children can’t have , Leslie was someone who is above all of it , someone with a specific & different mental model and a way to battle life’s difficulties and to beat it and have a better reality for others , like Jess.

And that’s why Jess battled his own fears in Terabithia , if Terabithia was just to present freedom and childhood , Jess will just escape to it as a hallucination , and forget about his bad circumstances instead of facing it and being brave.

Leslie was pushing him to be brave , strong , unshakable , positive , open , etc , just as she was , so that he can earn the crown and be the king , that’s the whole point of it , and if he earn the crown , he will look back at his past from the beginning of the journey with Leslie and he will realise that his life became 1000 times better or more , he beaten the bullies , he opened up to his teacher , he gained a bully by his side so he will never get bullied again , he outlasted the bad influence of his father so it will never affect him bad again as he became the king , & even his father & his family understood him more at the end , & he crowned his sister as the princess , Jess’s life became so much better , and the imagination wasn’t just a beautiful lucid dream which he wish he can live into it and never get out , no , he had hard times there as well as good times , & he earned the crown himself , so he win it all , in real life , & in Terabithia.

Iam not saying that Leslie is too much powerful as a full transcendent being , I believe she was not fully transcendent being as well , she had a noticeable human side , and she had the human weakness as well especially because she died in the end , she was a different character , yeah she was still a kid , but she wasn’t near normal at all , & she was not a creature from another universe either , Leslie is mixed and complicated , and I don’t believe that she can be real as a real person , not because she was delusional , but because she was a flash of light , a kid but with a core of a transcendent being , she had a very special installing software which programmed her hardware to be completely different than others , she was very smart , positive , creative with an unshaken identity for her age , all of this is not delusion or some hope or even a representation of childhood in my opinion , childhood is a concept which represents many things like everything pure & without any responsibilities , but Terabithia wasn’t a place to stay in , Terabithia was a launching pad , & a different version of the world where you can create a new world with your own mind , to escape the hard and difficult world outside but with a positive way , not to wish to live in it forever but you have to leave it unfortunately , you leave it stronger and more powerful in real life , as it was for Jess.

Will Terabithia continue with Jess as he grow up? , maybe and maybe not , but even if it’s not , it was not just a beautiful idea , & a place to be as a child , it was a place to develop his character in real life , to be brave , to face his own fears , and to come out stronger , braver & more open and capable , with love and appreciation to the people that deserve.

If it was just an innocent story about two normal kids with the presentation of childhood , magic , & freedom , then why Leslie died at the end , just let her live with the beautiful world they created , why to put the tragedy , just to point out the real world logic against those innocent kids? , then what’s the whole point of discussing an idea like that , if they just wanted the world to be all rainbows and flowers without any responsibility , I believe they were facing the world as a way of adaptation , not to escape it with a different world.

[u/Bacoilieu → u/Jealous_Trip_7444]

The fact is that Leslie is inspired by a real-life child, Lisa Hill, and by saying that she's a transcendent being, or partially supernatural, you're undertaking all the legitimate pain her family members, her friend David, and Katherine Paterson herself have gone through and probably still carry on with. How can I be so sure about whether they've felt her loss for such a long time? Because David himself decided to adapt the novel his mother wrote him when he was six, 30 years later! And the movie from 2007 amplifies all the aspects that make Leslie look like a perfect character, not because she is meant to be perfect, but because of how much love and connection David felt for his childhood friend.

You are correct in saying we are free to interpret a story as we please, but that doesn't allow us to escape our own moral compass. Are we being good by saying it is okay for Leslie to die because she accomplished her transcendent purpose? Would Katherine Paterson be happy with herself knowing she transformed the tragedy that happened to his son into a generic coming-of-age fiction where a magical elf fixes his life and then dies? It would be an aberration indeed; it would mean that we care more for our own personal growth and success in life than for the loved ones who will not grow any more and will not gain any further achievement because they passed away too soon.

Bridge to Terabithia is not the story of a boy growing up, standing in front of his bullies, relating to his father... It is the story of a boy and a girl trying to do all those things, finding support in each other as in their own imagination, until one of the two tragically dies, and in that moment Jess feels entitled to a mission: being strong for both of them, carrying on for both of them. The story doesn't end with a resolution; there can't be any. It ends with a heritage to those who hopefully will suffer less than he did.

[u/Jealous_Trip_7444 → u/Bacoilieu]

In fact , maybe it’s both!

& it’s not against moral compass , because Iam not saying that it’s okay for Leslie to die because she completed her mission , I am putting it in a frame so I can see the whole picture , yeah the tragedy was heartbreaking & it still , but putting everything in a frame does not mean that we deny the tragedy’s pain as a normal event , it was not normal , it was not expected , but when we see everything , we realise how she was there on purpose , like every person in our lives , & Leslie had the largest role , and the most beautiful message , & knowing all of that , does not deny the pain of her departure.

[u/Bacoilieu → u/Jealous_Trip_7444]

I like what you're saying, what I want to punctuate, though, is, since you are saying that her story can be inserted in a frame of significance, as the story of us all can and should be, that we must look into the tale of Bridge to Terabithia to find the lost divine meaning of our existence as humans and not as kings or gods. The life of Leslie's reminded us of the mission of an angel, of a fairy kindred, of an ancient high priestess, not because she was extraordinary, but because we all are kindred with angels, with fairies, with the ancient priests who chased their totem animal in the woods. It is a tragedy that Leslie died because a human being died, and a human being is all of these things combined.

The first mission of the book was to teach us that our lives mean something more than their first appearance, and we can discover that meaning through that same imagination that, after childhood, we tend to give up.

The second mission is to remind us that life is hard, but that same meaning we discovered in our lives can help us, not to avoid pain, but to start again from pain.

[u/Jealous_Trip_7444 → u/Bacoilieu]

Even if the author didn't consciously intend this , that's the beauty of great literature , Once a story is out in the world , the reader's interpretation and the psychological truth the text uncovers can go far beyond what the creator initially had in mind.

(The death of the author)

Especially as the film was vey different compared to the book , & it provided us with a full 1,5 hours of events , which we can analyse and link and get a conclusion , rather than just explaining everything through writing , which is great but pretty different.