Bridge of Clay

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2018

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Prologue and Part 1, Chapters 1-12

Part 2, Chapters 13-26

Part 3, Chapters 27-38

Part 4, Chapters 39-50

Part 5, Chapters 51-62

Part 6, Chapters 63-74

Part 7, Chapters 75-88

Part 8, Chapters 89-100 and Epilogue

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Discussion Questions

Themes

Love Is Omnipotent

Love is an undeniable force in Bridge of Clay, surpassing logic and reason at every opportunity. The characters find love in unexpected times and feel love even when harmed by others, showing how resilient people can be when they have love to sustain them. Every aspect of the novel’s plot is impacted by love, either familial or romantic. The fact that love exists in so many places despite grief, distance, and abandonment showcases that love is omnipotent.

Romantic love is repeatedly seen in the novel’s past and present sections. Michael Dunbar experiences two romantic loves that shape his future and enable the creation of the Dunbar family. Despite his earlier rejection by Abbey, Michael falls in love again with a woman who accepts him for who he is and welcomes the traumas that shape his perspective. Although it takes time, they bond over his history and are made stronger for it, empowering Michael’s healing from his past. Penelope is similarly empowered by love, driven by an attraction that blossoms into something more. Michael helps her find a sense of home again despite her years spent struggling in a new country. Their romance creates the foundation for their family, which although chaotic, is filled with love. The Dunbar boys also find romantic love over the course of the novel. Clay’s romance is slow growing, hindered by rules meant to protect him and Carey from the feelings they both want and fear. However, love overcomes their rules until they consummate their relationship, an act that Clay believes causes Carey to die. His love for her does not die with her and he becomes an exile from Archer Street, driven away from home by a love too intense to relinquish. Matthew’s romantic love is filled with much less strife; he and Claudia bond over Clay’s departure from school and Australia, building upon mutual attraction. Romantic love is seen as both capable of creating and destroying people, showing how little power humans have over the love they feel and the effects love has.

Familial love is a constant presence in the novel as the Dunbar boys grapple with the loss of their parents, their dependency on each other, and their confusion when faced with their father’s return. Matthew draws a clear line in the novel’s outset determining the restrictions he believes familial love has. His father’s abandonment, in his mind, is an act of such horror and violence that it strips Michael of his “father” title. Instead, he becomes the Murderer, named so for his crimes against the family unit. Clay disagrees with Matthew’s stance, rejecting his hate of their father. Clay still feels a strong sense of obligation to their dad, built upon the deep love he has for his family members. Clay’s continued love allows the other brothers to eventually face that love themselves, reconciling with Michael by the novel’s conclusion. They find strength in each other and use that strength to mend the harm done, reestablishing their love despite how much they have hurt and been hurt by each other.

Both romantic love and familial love are portrayed as something so influential and powerful that it overcomes even the direst of odds. Even as it is often romantic love that breaks people apart, it is familial love that brings them together again. Love is not something that the characters can control, but it is something that propels them to action. Love hurts and heals, providing the characters with what they need to flourish.

Grief Has Many Forms

Grief is a complex emotion that does not always make sense in its performance. The Dunbar family is faced with many different tragedies and each member of the family handles those tragedies in their own way. Their grief is displayed in a complex combination of their own mental state, their personality, and their past experiences that build up to the way they display their mourning. In these different displays, Zusak shows that grief has many forms, many of which are unpredictable or uncomfortable.

The most visceral form of grieving comes from Clay. Although Matthew is the narrator of the book, he takes time to explore and understand Clay’s grieving when the boys are orphaned. Clay turns to exercise to manage his mourning, a practice that quickly evolves into a form of self-punishment akin to masochism. When he exceeds expectations at running, he turns to fighting, as Rory engages with him in races and fights that inspire Clay in a way Matthew cannot fathom. This appreciation for pain becomes the foundation of his physical achievements that he later applies to the bridge; Clay works to the point that his hands become wounded, pouring himself into an act that is as much a reconciliation with his father as it is a testament to his mother’s memory. Clay’s mourning for Penelope is tightly wrapped in his guilt for his role in her death, a secret he keeps that adds to his grief because so few people know the truth. He turns his emotional pain into a physical one because it is easier to manage and understand. This same type of grief resurfaces following Carey’s death, when Clay works on the bridge for more than 100 days without pause or interruption. He devotes himself physically and punishes himself for the crimes he perceives himself to have committed, making his mourning physical.

The other, largest act of grieving in the novel is the departure of Michael Dunbar, which takes place six months after Penelope’s death. Although the book is never explicit about why Michael leaves, the implication is that he does so as a reaction to his own mourning. He becomes so overwhelmed with life without Penelope that he cannot see himself as deserving of his sons and trying to find happiness with them. He instead leaves the city and goes closer to his roots to live a life alone, only returning when he wraps his desire for reconciliation in a request for help. When Clay responds to his request, it becomes clear how similar their mourning is, as both characters punish themselves to handle their guilt and grief.

The other Dunbar boys cope with their grief in different ways. Rory becomes violent and enraged, his anger at his abandonment taking over other emotions. Henry devotes his time and attention to activities he once did with his mother and in some ways acts as a lore keeper for her history. He repeatedly reminds the other boys that daisies were Penelope’s favorite flower, and he orchestrates the cleaning of her grave. Tommy finds an outlet in animals, but as an adult his grief manifests in becoming a social worker, an endeavor that honors Penelope’s memory. The boys each experience their own breakdowns and rebuilding, emerging from their mourning stronger because of their ability to rely on each other.

Forgiveness Must Be Freely Given

Bridge of Clay’s central conflict is centered on forgiveness. The characters have experienced deep tragedies and abuses that have permanently altered their behaviors and feelings. Despite being wronged by each other, they are able to find a way to move on from their pain and find a place of better understanding. Zusak provides many examples of the fact that forgiveness must be freely given to show that the survivors must be the ones to consent to reconciliation, placing the power in the hands of the victim.

Michael’s abandonment is the core crime that is committed in the book, taking place six months after Penelope’s death. He leaves his sons alone and lives a life of solitude until, years later, he asks for their help to build a bridge on his property. The bridge itself is of little consequence to Michael. It becomes clear that he is capable of hiring machines and people to work on the bridge when Clay leaves for the city for a weekend and returns to see the tell-tale signs of machines. His request for his sons is thus revealed as a request for forgiveness, an extension of an apology that he cannot find the words for. Clay is the only one of the brothers to accept the apology at first, a decision rooted in his shared trauma with his father; as the two who were with Penelope the day of her death, there is a deeper understanding between them than the other boys possess. Clay is the instigator of reconciliation, making the bridge his. He is the person to build the bridge and bridge the gap between his brothers and Michael, making him foundational to the development of the family unit later in the book. He performs this act of forgiveness without coercion or pressure—in fact, it could easily be argued that he is pressured by his brothers not to forgive their father, making this act all the braver.

The need for freely given forgiveness is continued by the other Dunbar brothers, who gradually warm to their father the longer Clay remains with him. Henry is the first to show curiosity in their father. Following Carey’s death, the boys all reconcile with their father figure as they rally around Clay, hoping to support the fourth Dunbar brother as he grapples with the pain of having lost someone he loved. Matthew’s worry for Clay overpowers his rage and grudge, drawing him and his father together in a place of mutual love. It is powerful that Matthew becomes the one to initiate full-family forgiveness by calling his father to play football in the shadow of the completed bridge, a decision that his brothers all accept unhesitatingly. They give their father a second chance and are made stronger for it.

After Carey’s death, Clay feels blame for what happened to her and approaches the Novacs and McAndrew to describe his culpability. Both parties dismiss his sense of blame and comfort him in the ways they can, instead seeing their own role in Carey’s death. They forgive him immediately, granting him the strength he needs to finish the bridge.

All the Dunbar boys experienced trauma, but their ability to overcome that trauma comes from their own internal strength and their affection for each other. Their forgiveness shows their capacity for growth and healing, showing the reader the importance of forgiveness coming when a person is truly ready to give it.