Friendship - Terabithia

 “For the first time in his life, he got up every morning with something to look forward to. Leslie was more than his friend. She was his other, more exciting self—his way to Terabithia and all the worlds beyond.” — Bridge to Terabithia

Friendship
The value of friendship is one of the major themes in Bridge to Terabithia. It is through friendship that Jess and Leslie are able to accept themselves, feel a sense of belonging, and grow. Before Jess meets Leslie, he feels all alone in the world. His father works long hours and is too tired to pay much attention to him when he is home. He has his mother and four sisters, but “sometimes he felt so lonely among all those females.” At school, Jess has no real friends, except for Miss Edmunds, the music teacher. So when Leslie moves in, Jess is ripe for friendship. But initially Jess is not interested in being Leslie’s friend. First off, she’s a girl. And not only that, she’s a girl who “had no notion of what you did and didn’t do,” as she proves when she joins the boys for races at recess. Jess doesn’t appreciate Leslie for being herself, despite the fact that he is so often torn between being himself—a sensitive boy who loves to draw—and being what others expect him to be. It isn’t until music class that first week of school that Jess reveals his real self and smiles at Leslie in a way that tells her he wants to be friends. Leslie enriches Jess’s life in ways he could never have imagined. She encourages him to use his imagination in ways that go far beyond drawing. She tells Jess stories and lends him books. She believes in him. When Leslie tells Jess, “You should draw a picture of Terabithia for us to hang in the castle,” Jess responds, “I can’t. . . . I just can’t get the poetry of the trees.” Leslie reassures him, “Don’t worry. You will someday.”

In return, Jess gives Leslie the comfort of his friendship, which helps her survive in a world that is far different from the one she left behind. Jess also teaches Leslie about caring for others. When she finds Janice Avery crying in the girls’ room and doesn’t want to do anything to help her, Jess says, “You’re the one who’s always telling me I gotta care.”

Accepting differences
Bridge to Terabithia is also about being different and accepting your differences as well as those of others. Jess is different from the people around him. He likes to draw and wants to be an artist when he grows up. But many in Jess’s community do not respect art; even his father thinks being an artist is not very manly. In the beginning of the story, Jess tries to hide his differences. In one instance, when Mrs. Myers asks the class to write a paper about their favorite hobby, “Jess had written about football, which he really hated, but he had enough brains to know that if he said drawing, everyone would laugh at him.” But then Jess meets Leslie, who is also different, but is accepting of her differences as well as those of others. Leslie shows her comfort with who she is when she joins the boys for races during recess. Leslie loves to run and doesn’t care if only boys have run in the past. At first, Jess is annoyed by the way Leslie marches to the beat of her own drummer. “Lord,” he thinks, “the girl had no notion of what you did and didn’t do.” It is Miss Edmunds, Jess’s “fellow outlaw,” who helps Jess accept Leslie, and they both help Jess accept himself. When Miss Edmunds sings “Free to Be . . .You and Me” after meeting Leslie, Jess finds himself smiling at Leslie. Later, when the two are best friends, Jess must listen to the taunts of his sisters and his schoolmates about having a “girl friend.” Even his mother and father disapprove of him spending so much time with a girl. But Jess doesn’t care. He is learning to accept who he is.