Escape to Terabithia

Being ten years old can’t be too hard.  Most of your life revolves around play, chores, and school.  But being ten can still have it’s difficulties: bullies, annoying teachers, not fitting in, secret loves, secret hobbies, and fears you’re ashamed to admit.  You would need a Terabithia—an imaginary, or physical, place where you can be yourself, leaving the worries of the world behind. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson, not only explores the adventures and lives of two 10 year olds, but also shows how each of us has our own Terabithia.  Terabithia represents something different for each child; for Leslie it was a place of refuge, for Jess it was a place to grow.

It was Leslie’s idea to create a place where she and Jess could be themselves.  In fighting off giants, invaders, and paying respect to the spirits of Terabithia, Leslie finds refuge from the school kid’s teasing.  She was a dreamer and made fun of for it. She day dreamed in class (Paterson 44), she read books and recounted the stories to Jess, her hobby was scuba diving, not “watching game shows on TV” or “reading Good Books” like all the other girls (Paterson 33).  It was only in Terabithia that Leslie was truly able to let her imagination and freedom loose, allowing her true self to show.

For Jess, Terabithia was a place where he faced his fears.  As a boy, Jess thought he was supposed to be tough, not some wussy who was afraid of a swollen creek, getting beat in a race, or of the woods.  By facing his fears in Terabithia he grows and becomes a leader.  Perhaps the biggest fear that Jess faced was going to Terabithia without Leslie.  “Jess tried going to Terabithia alone, but it was no good.  It needed Leslie to make the magic.  He was afraid he would destroy everything by trying to force the magic on his own . . . (Paterson 65).  But in the end it is the very magic of Terabithia he feared wouldn’t come to him should he go to Terabithia alone, that ultimately destroyed his fear.  After Leslie’s death, Jess enters Terabithia alone.  At first he struggles to find the magic, telling the spirit of Leslie that he’s “just a dumb dodo” (Paterson 119), and in honor of, the deceased queen.  The spirits, he said, accepted his offering, and the words he spoke “had the ring of the sacred grove in them (Paterson 120). He alone produced the magic he feared he couldn’t create.

In a way Jess feared Terabithia.  He didn’t quite grasp the magic the way Leslie did.  He wasn’t the one to come up with the idea to make the pine forest sacred, or fight off the invaders of Terabithia.  Leslie was the one who always told stories to Jess.  Jess was a follower and listener.  When Leslie died Jess could have abandoned Terabithia, thinking that it wasn’t magical without Leslie.  Instead, Jess became the ruler.  He crowned his younger sister, May Belle, Queen of Terabithia, bringing his own magic into Terabithia (Paterson 128).

Each of us has a Terabithia where we can escape from the world to be our true selves, or a place where we go that allows us to conquer our fears.  It may not be a physical place, it may be a situation, an event, or it could take place inside our own heads.  Nevertheless, Terabithia will always make us grow, and will always be our safe haven.

~
“Between the two of them they owned the world and no enemy, Gary Fulcher, Wanda Kay Moore, Jancie Avery, Jess’s own fears and insufficiencies, nor any of the foes whom Leslie imagined attacking Terabithia, could ever really defeat them.” (Paterson 40).

Works Cited
Paterson, Katherine. Bridge to Terabithia. New York: HaperCollins, 1977. Print