Overcoming Hardships In Margaret Lawrence's The Other Side Of The Bridge
Overcoming Hardships
Many people experience hardships within their lives, while some struggle to adapt to the circumstances, others conquer the odds of the situation. In Margaret Lawrence’s The Other Side of the Bridge, Arthur Dunn overcomes his hardships by showcasing forgiveness and achieving self-worth. Ultimately these factors help Arthur to overcome certain hardships and to have a peaceful present and death with no regret of the past.
In The Other Side of the Bridge, Arthur showcases forgiveness in order to overcome the hardships that take place within his life. Firstly in the novel, Arthur forgives himself for not being able to fight in the war, which enables him to overcome his hardships. An example is seen, when Arthur is driven with …show more content…
With Arthur accepting his reality of being a farmer rather than a school driven man he is able to overcome the hardships of jealousy and envy that came with school. The envy and jealousy that disappeared allowed Arthur to accept who he was and to ultimately gain self-worth. Eventually this allows him to overcome certain hardships with the acceptance he had gained. Secondly, Arthur had to leave his mother who had never shown love to him in order for him to gain self-worth and overcome certain obstacles. An example of Arthur obtaining self-worth is by marrying Laura and leaving his mother, the novel states; “After a whole lifetime of trying to spare her pain, it hurt him to be the cause of more, but he would marry Laura no matter what the cost. He offered to build his mother a house of her own, closer to town, but she refused even to discuss it. She went to live with a cousin down in North Bay and though Arthur went to see her when he could she never forgave him” (320). Within this quote, Arthur gains independence when he leaves his mother. This new found independence helps him gain self-worth and accept the reality that the relationship Arthur has with his mother was ultimately unrequited love. The abandonment that Arthur displayed allowed him to overcome the envy and expectations that his mother had on him. Overall losing these traits Arthur was able to
Many people experience hardships within their lives, while some struggle to adapt to the circumstances, others conquer the odds of the situation. In Margaret Lawrence’s The Other Side of the Bridge, Arthur Dunn overcomes his hardships by showcasing forgiveness and achieving self-worth. Ultimately these factors help Arthur to overcome certain hardships and to have a peaceful present and death with no regret of the past.
In The Other Side of the Bridge, Arthur showcases forgiveness in order to overcome the hardships that take place within his life. Firstly in the novel, Arthur forgives himself for not being able to fight in the war, which enables him to overcome his hardships. An example is seen, when Arthur is driven with …show more content…
With Arthur accepting his reality of being a farmer rather than a school driven man he is able to overcome the hardships of jealousy and envy that came with school. The envy and jealousy that disappeared allowed Arthur to accept who he was and to ultimately gain self-worth. Eventually this allows him to overcome certain hardships with the acceptance he had gained. Secondly, Arthur had to leave his mother who had never shown love to him in order for him to gain self-worth and overcome certain obstacles. An example of Arthur obtaining self-worth is by marrying Laura and leaving his mother, the novel states; “After a whole lifetime of trying to spare her pain, it hurt him to be the cause of more, but he would marry Laura no matter what the cost. He offered to build his mother a house of her own, closer to town, but she refused even to discuss it. She went to live with a cousin down in North Bay and though Arthur went to see her when he could she never forgave him” (320). Within this quote, Arthur gains independence when he leaves his mother. This new found independence helps him gain self-worth and accept the reality that the relationship Arthur has with his mother was ultimately unrequited love. The abandonment that Arthur displayed allowed him to overcome the envy and expectations that his mother had on him. Overall losing these traits Arthur was able to