The Bridge Of San Luis Ray Essay -- essays research papers

Thornton Wilder (1897-1975) The Bridge of San Luis ReyThe Bridge of San Luis Rey, by Thornton Wilder, presents the ancient dilemma of whether tragedy is the result of chance or a manifestation of heaven-sent intervention. It explores the lives of five people and reveals their internal struggles for survival. The sadness that is created by the undying love of the Marquesa de Montemayor for her female child, Esteban for his twin brother, Manual and Uncle Pio for the vain actress, Camilla Perichole, is so overwhelming in its enormity, that when tragedy strikes, we sense of smell relief that their suffering is finally over. The scene is set in Lima, Peru, in 1714. One afternoon, an ancient bridge broke sending five people to their deaths. crony Juniper, a Franciscan monk, witnesses this catastrophe and believes he can prove the existence of divine intervention. The first someone is the Marquesa de Montemayor along with her servant and companion, Pepita. The Marquesas love for her d aughter is not returned which sends her into a state of borderline psychosis. She begins to drink heavily and neglects to dramatize care of the most important things in her invigoration. One night while Pepita repose sleeping, the Marquesa is struck with the realization that her love for her daughter is a selfish love and she decides to renounce this love and begin a new life. Esteban and Manuel are orphaned tally found on the steps of a convent and raised by female horse del Pilar. When Manuel dies of an infection, Esteban is in despair and is about to embark on a new life with Captain Alvarado when he crosses the bridge. Camilla Perichole did not die on the bridge but was a victim nonetheless. Uncle Pio, friend and confidant of the Perichole, takes her son to educate him in the humanistic discipline and literature. The two never make it across the bridge. The Perichole is a famous actress who plays an important role in the story. She is the axis, as it were, around which eve rything turns(Stresau 23). She weaves the threads of the story together with her passions and perversities(Fadiman 338). The Perichole is a very selfish woman who indirectly causes the death of Manuel, Estebans brother, by destroying his will to live. When Manuel falls in love with the Perichole, the love the brothers share becomes tainted and is perpetually destroyed. The only time that Manuel admits this is when he is in a state of such pain, he lashes out ... ... of tragedy and lets her be the diamond in the rough. She is the one person whose vision is unaltered from the very beginning of the book and to her the other survivors draw their own courage. Camilla Perichole was in such pain over the loss Uncle Pio and her son bust Jaime, that she could no longer live in solitude. She desperately wished to be able to tell them one last time of her love for them. She sought out Maria del Pilar who accepted her with open arms and without judgment. I fail everybody, she cried. They lov e me and I fail them(Wilder 143). The Marquesa de Montemayors daughter, Dona Clara, also came in search of redemption. Her guilt of not returning her mothers love was consuming her and she wished to be punished. Dona Clara and Camille Perichole began to find new import in their lives by helping Maria del Pilar take care of those less fortunate them themselves. The question still remains. Was it an accident or by design? It is best to leave the mystery in place, for to answer it dissolves the meaning of the book. Just knowing that some good came out of a catastrophic event brings pleasure to ones heart and leaves us believing that it rightfully does not matter.