Bridge To Terabithia Character Analysis

Picture an imaginary, magical country made out of a fort in the forest with your best friend. In the book Bridge to Terabithia, a fictional book written by Katherine Paterson, an eleven- year old boy named Jess, becomes friends with a girl named Leslie that just moved next door to him. They built a fantasyland in the woods, called Terabithia. Throughout Bridge to Terabithia, Jess’ character expresses frustration, imagination, and creativity, through his thoughts, actions, and words.

The first character trait that Jess expresses during the book is frustration. This is proven when the author writes, “He would like to show his drawings to his dad, but he didn’t dare. When he was in first grade, he had told his dad that he wanted to be an artist when he grew up. He’d thought his dad would be pleased. He wasn’t” (Paterson 14). Additionally, growing up, Jess didn’t get the support he needed from his dad. This demonstrates that he gets frustrated his dad doesn’t support his hobbies. Another example the author shows is, “It made Jess ache inside to watch his dad grab the little ones to his shoulder, or lean down and hug them. It seemed to him that he had been thought too big for that

This is shown when the author says, “They went into the castle stronghold. It was dark and damp, but there was no evidence there to suggest that the queen had died” (PDF Paterson 67). Jess continues to build Terabithia for his and Leslie’s legacy. Jess’ creativity is seen when he started to build a bridge with his sister May Belle. Another example the author shows is, “Jess tried going to Terabithia alone, but it was no good. It needed Leslie to make the magic” (PDF Paterson 38). Without Leslie’s magic, it was hard for Jess to go to Terabithia alone. Jess felt alone after Leslie had passed and it reminded him more and more that she was gone. Because of these examples, it is shown that Jess is very