Bridge Of San Luis Rey Essay

In The Bridge of San Luis Rey, the characters learn that selfless love is the true form of love. The three middle sections of the novel describe the lives of the bridge collapse victims: “The Marquesa de Montemayor”, “Uncle Pio”, and “Esteban”. These characters each have their own hindrances with love, but before their deaths, they overcome their problems and learn selfless love. Literary critic M.C. Kuner writes that “every type of love is scrutinized in [The Bridge of San Luis Rey]. All are, in one way or another, impure. But all pass through a kind of filter that drains off the dross, and what is left is the Christian agape (Kuner 77). Selfless love is the final destination of each of the characters in the novel.
Wilder asserts that love must be courageously self-less. The Marquesa wrote flamboyant letters to her daughter is Spain. She desired to garner attention and admiration for her letters--it was deeply self-interested (Wilder 49). She centered her life around the work of writing beautiful letters because “letter-writing had to take the place of all the affection that could not be lived” (Wilder 16). After an experience with Pepita, an orphan girl from the convent, she realized the flaw in her love, so the Marquesa declares, “Tomorrow I begin a new life” and proceeds to write “her first stumbling
Scientific studies employed by Humanists are incapable of revealing God’s mysterious purpose which is best understood through faith. Unlike Puritanical views of stringent judgement, God grants grace generously. Hollow, insincere religious observance of Catholicism is futile without love. Moreover, selfless love presents the ultimate meaning in life. Through The Bridge of San Luis Rey, Wilder builds a bridge that connects people of various religious philosophies in order to form unity and