1. I think that Mrs. Bridge’s trip to Europe was a turning point in terms of her perception of America. Throughout her life up until that point, she’d always heard the US exalted as the gold standard of the world, the best place to live. This sentiment is echoed by her friends: “I suppose they’re all dying to emigrate to this country”; her husband: “These people would sell their souls to get to the United States”; and herself: “Mrs. Bridge could not imagine anyone wanting to live outside the United States.” Eventually, she begins to agree, “half-jokingly,” with the Italian man who expressed his lack of desire to visit the US, expressing that “I really think he has a point.” At the same time, as she continues her travels through europe, she pines for the comfort and routine of kansas city, where she doesn’t have to challenge her preconceived notions of her country or even her husband: “there on the foreign street she felt lost and forsaken, and with great longing she began to think of Kansas City”(159). She leaves Europe abruptly, even more confused about her position in the world than when she arrived. 2. Financially, I think that the Bridges exemplify the American Dream. They came from presumably humble origins, then, through hard work, rose through the ranks of society. They now live comfortably, with hired staff, a garage, and a country club membership. However, we constantly see Mrs. Bridge struggling with the fact that this quantifiable success has not left her feeling fulfilled or content with her life. Despite a family with three children and a extended circle of friends, she feels an emptiness that is certainly not part of the american dream. So I suppose that this novel demonstrates the disappointment that underlies the lives of those who have it all, who have nothing left to work for and nothing to look forward to. 3. I think that Douglas, like Ruth, has always been more of a free spirit, so his disconnect from his mother was inevitable. Though he dresses and carries himself in a “conservative” manner now, he is also dating a girl who, in Mrs. Bridge’s dichotomous eyes, would definitely belong to the lower of the “two types of people.” Though Mrs. Bridge does not directly criticize Douglas’ choice of companion, her passive aggressive suggestions of other girls who are single probably irks Douglas, who must tire of his mother’s indirect criticism, more than simply addressing the issue would have. She repeats this pattern of inaction with the magazine issue, and, as a result, never has a conversation with Douglas that could have strengthened their relationship.
Mrs. Bridge's inexperience allowed her to think whatever she wanted about how great the US is, and how surely the rest of the world couldn't really compare. Mr. Bridge maintains this opinion throughout the voyage, especially with his comment about how Europeans want to come to America - but her views on this are challenged both by [the man] who moved to France and decided to stay (who would want to stay? Isn't the USA still home? Still better?) and by her own pleasant experiences on the continent. These people are happy here, and so is she - so, the US is not so monumentally preferable after all. When they return home and she has lunch with her friends, everything they criticize about Europe is true also of their own society - disparagement between the rich and the poor? Nonsense! the say as they drink tea, safe and isolated by their wealth and status. Similarly, Europe is not magical, or perfect - the paintings are expensive, there are spiders in the food, and statue of victory she so loved turns out to look just like someone back home - and with all the comparisons she's drawing, I think she's particularly struck by the invasion of Poland. Not only is the US not perfect, nor is Europe, but both could potentially be taken over. All this information is threatening - neither her world nor her worldview are so safe anymore.
The idea of the American Dream in this book is very messy and difficult to work with. Especially because of her status and Mr. Bridge's success, Mrs. Bridge is reasonably inclined to believe in the American Dream - didn't her own husband work hard for their wealth? - but she never applies it to anyone who isn't successful. I don't doubt she knows that Harriet works hard, but she never questions how that can be without the supposedly inevitable rise in status. The American Dream is only discussed in terms of those for whom hard work and perseverance HAVE worked - mostly the white husbands of the white women in the story - and in terms of warning Douglas that he must be willing to work hard. The times when hard work and perseverance have not payed off are never discussed as evidence against this Dream - they simply aren't discussed at all. The poor are simply poor, and the wealthy are so because they worked hard. Yet, counter to that, Mr. Bridge was discouraged by the thought that Douglas would only succeed by working, not by innate genius. So, they believe that hard work can get you anywhere, except when it doesn't - that if you have wealth and status, you've earned it, except when you haven't - and that work and perseverance are admirable, except for when your own son has to rely on it to succeed. It sounds about as solid as any other values of Mrs. Bridge and her society.
Mrs. Bridge is attempting to exert the same level of control over her children's lives as she always has (or perceived herself to have), except that they aren't really children anymore. They're growing up, but she doesn't want to let them. She nags and pushes and pulls, and is upset when Douglas doesn't let her - her desperate attempt to ruffle his hair (in my opinion, a patronizing action - a symbol of motherly power) is foiled when he moves to put obstacles between him. She "knows" that this girl is just a temporary problem, yet feels the need to attack him about it anyway, then wonders why he's growing away from her. Even as she constantly antagonizes her children, she simply cannot fathom that it are her own actions pushing her kids away from her. I'm becoming increasingly frustrated by Mrs. Bridge's absurd lack of self-awareness, growing need to control her children, and increasingly un-subtle racism. Some of her worst qualities are becoming exaggerated as the story progresses. I thought it was silly that she's less disturbed by the idea of Douglas having a nice (white) girlfriend than she is finding a magazine hidden in his drawer. She seems to think that, despite her knowledge of Ruth and Carolyn's relationships, and her own experience as a teenager, having a girlfriend is somehow more chaste than having a magazine - her understanding of the world is warped and strange; she's constructed her own reality to live in, and refuses to come out.
Mira: in all the years I've used a blog I've never seen anyone do what you did for the prompt. I have no idea how you did it, but it's wonderful! You technologically savvy youngsters. You need to show me how to do this. Now for your questions...
1. "'I suppose no matter how far you go there's no place like home.'" Yet she was "troubled and for a moment engulfed by a nameless panic" (171 in my book). I go back to Chapter 68 where Mr. Bridge tells her the news that they're going to Europe—finally—as a birthday present. This brings her back to the beginning of her marriage and she remembered she didn't care if it came true, but that she was "happy enough to be with him anywhere" (143). Now it's twenty years later and she's forty-eight (young for 2017 but in 1939 she's just another country-club matron, as the cop sees her in 85) and haunted by that malaise that's grown bigger and bigger over her life with Mr. Bridge. And he is more excited than she is over the prospect of going to Europe. So I don't think it's as much her doubts about the US—like her husband but much less so, she's a bit of an Ugly American in Europe, unable to understand the place as it counters her conservative, almost 19th century upbringing, as when she sees her husband staring at "the black lace brassiere with the tips cut off" (158). I think Europe just reinforces her sense of lostness in the world. She wants to get back to Kansas City and home, where things make sense, but when she gets back, they make less sense than ever. I think she doubts the idea "home" and all it represents and is supposed to do for her.
2. Ah, the American Dream question! There's no doubt I could use this book in my American Dream class; and as Moey said last week, and everyone agreed upon, this is a commentary on America, and for me a very specific part of America: upper middle class country club America, exemplified by Mr. Bridge and his frustration with Europeans for not speaking English—the Ugly American stereotype. The America here is one that is racist and class-conscious, not to mention ruled by the snobbery and ignorance of the country clubbers and Mr. and Mrs. Bridge themselves. At the same time, we see that Mr. Bridge has worked outrageously hard to secure the security and status of his family. Yet as Mrs. Bridge realizes, the security and privilege he has ensured for her in particular, has had a terrible cost: he's been an absent husband. As Stuart has brought up in class in connection with "The Bell Jar," we are seeing a "Mad Men," Don and Betty Draper situation: work as life. This American Dream sure isn't working well for Grace Barron, nor Mrs. Bridge.
3. I feel more and more sad for Mrs. Bridge than angry or frustrated with her when I think about her and Douglas (and Ruth). For many reasons, a number of which we've talked about in class, she cannot break from what she was taught: "Where, then, had she failed? She had let [Douglas] realize, without her having to say so, that there were two kinds of people in the world, and this was true she knew, for it was what she had been taught by her father and mother" (191). Unlike Erin above, I don't feel frustrated with her; I feel she has no guides as to how to raise her children. In all the conversations we have seen her have with all her friends, not once has there been any conversation about raising children. I get the sense this is not what these women talk about. The world is a mystery to Mrs. Bridge, a terrifying place, so I can see why she wishes Douglas were still a child and rumpling his hair would be one solution (though I'm not sure it worked with him even when he was a child). I think parenting has to be one of the most terrifying things a person can do—all the parenting books in the world may not make any difference—and Mrs. Bridge is flying in the dark here. Mrs. Bridge being who she is—what else would she do when she finds the nude magazine? "Never in her life had she been confronted with a situation like this and she did not know what to do" (191). I believe that to be true.
1. Mrs. Bridge is happy in Europe, genuinely happy. She sees other people who are happy, people who don't care about societal conventions as much as the people in Kansas City do. In Europe she can escape from the community she lives in where she is so tightly wound up about her appearance, she can be free. So maybe America isn't all that great if the people in Europe are genuinely happy instead of superficially happy. When she returns to America she agrees with Madge Arlen that all the Europeans must be dying to emigrate to America but she know it is not true. 2. The American Dream is owned by white people, white people who are born into relatively well-off families. Mr. Bridge works very hard and makes lots of money. The chauffeurs they hired also worked hard but didn't make lots of money. Harriet works hard and doesn't make lots of money. Mr. and Mrs. Bridge do well because they are white, because they have racial privilege. 3. Mrs. Bridge is incapable of seeing Douglas's perspective, of appreciating that he could love (or at least like/be attracted to) someone who is different from the societal norm. Paquita is different and so Mrs. Bridge immediately dismisses her as unworthy, as subpar. She and her husband try desperately to set him up with someone else, someone appropriate. They are so deeply ingrained in their values that there is no possibility they would even consider opening up to someone who is different. Mrs. Bridge behaves exactly as I would have expected when she finds the porn magazine in Douglas's shirt drawer. She is appalled, wonders what is wrong with herself, and then thinks obsessively about confronting him but doesn't actually confront him about it.
1. I think that Mrs. Bridge senses that her husband might be wrong – perhaps it’s true that these Europeans don’t want to go to the United States. The way I read it, Mr. Bridge’s statement made his wife think of all that she has at home – what her life exists as in the United States. There’s an element of dishonesty in that life. She lives a very certain lifestyle and is arguably unhappy with it, with all the social conventions she must keep up with, with the image she must maintain. I think a part of Mrs. Bridge realizes that she is unhappy with this, and her trip to Europe just reminds her of this. And when her husband says “these people would sell their souls to get to the United States” (165), Mrs. Bridge’s internal response is “well, why would they?”. I believe that this is the same reason why Mrs. Bridge is only “half-joking” (165) when she agrees with the man who said he had no desire to leave Rome, and the same reason she feels that crushing panic when she realizes that she doesn’t even believe herself when she says “there’s no place like home” (169). Mrs. Bridge knows that she isn’t completely happy with her life at home, but she doesn’t know how to handle her feelings, or how to deal with her situation. Being in Europe, comparing life there with life in America, just reminds her of her problem. 2. I agree with others when they’ve said that Mr. Bridge is an example of the typical, happy-ending American Dream story we generally hear of. And I think that Mr. Bridge certainly believes in the American Dream, but I think he is unaware of the fact that many people work hard, just as hard as Mr. Bridge, and are not able to achieve the type of lifestyle that the Bridges have: “This million dollars you referred to – if I had earned it I wouldn’t have earned it from being the judge’s favorite” (182). Mr. Bridge doesn’t recognize that some people have advantages, racial, socio-economic or others, that affect how much gain they get from the work they put in, that it does have to do with privilege, and what types of societies you’re born into. I think it’s interesting that Douglas shows more awareness around this issue than his father – he realizes that if he wasn’t the coach’s favorite, no matter how talented a basketball player he is, he wouldn’t have a chance of making the team.
3. Regarding Mrs. Bridge and Douglas’s relationship, I think Chapter 92 stands out to me the most – it was the most touching portrait of any of the relationships in the book. Throughout the reading, whenever Connell wrote about the dynamic between the two of them, I found myself feeling bad for Mrs. Bridge. She never meant to create this divide between herself and her son (or Ruth, for that matter), and it makes me sad to see her feeling so badly about it. I feel like Mrs. Bridge really needs meaningful human connection in her life in order to find more happiness, but she doesn’t know how to build strong relationships with her children or her husband, which contributes to her feeling lost a lot of the time. I was really struck by the cycle that Mrs. Bridge and Douglas pulled themselves into, after Mrs. Bridge burned the magazine she found. Mrs. Bridge wants to talk to her son, to get to know him, but has no idea how to start. Douglas, realizing this, pulls away from her, which makes Mrs. Bridge just cling all the more tightly…I think the phrase “smiling miserably” is so striking and I can really imagine this (188). I also think that how Mrs. Bridge dealt with the magazine is pretty telling of her usual methods of parenting: “With him, as with Ruth and Carolyn, she had adroitly steered around threatening subjects; in no way had she stimulated his curiosity – quite the contrary” (187). By not preparing her children to talk about subjects they’re bound to encounter, like sex, Mrs. Bridge forces her children to learn about them on their own, and consequently not tell her about their own experiences. She makes the subject taboo when it doesn’t have to be. And, of course, she didn’t even feel the need to be upfront with Douglas about how she felt about his possession of the magazine – she never mentioned the topic to him.
I believe that Mrs. Bridge and Grace Barron's encounter with the animatronic doll can help us understand why Mrs. Bridge feels so disillusioned with America. Mrs. Bridge feels so depressed when the doll sings its nursery rhyme then breaks, spilling a “thin, colorless liquid” (172), because she feels exactly like the doll: she is expected to automatically regurgitate everything she has learned and then, after her usefulness is exhausted, subside. Is this how Mrs. Bridge should live a fulfilling life? And Mr. Bridge's values, hard work and industry, similarly do little to fulfill her because they deprive her of his company, even while in Europe, where he still is “unable to lie in bed past seven o'clock” (161). Furthermore, her entire life, as well as Mr. Bridge's, is concerned with their respective duties and jobs, and little else, a remarkable contrast to Paris, where the businessmen put “pleasure before business” (156). How can she feel comfortable in a world where she cannot do anything but her monotonous and doll-like duties of being an overbearing mother? She has no opportunity to really be herself, it seems as though she is always playing a part. Maybe she is aptly named India, she does seem to fit perfectly in America. Mrs. Bridge, while in Monte Carlo, thinks about “how fortunate she was” to be able to enjoy relaxing late into the day in her bed on a trip to Europe (162). Arguably, she is living the definition of the female “American Dream.” She's rich, has an accomplished husband, a load of country club friends, and an accomplished daughter and a son who is on the road to becoming respectable. But despite all this, she often feels horribly depressed about her situation. Grace Barron is the same. The “American Dream” for these women, it seems, does little to nothing in order to fulfill their most innermost desires: contentment, connection, or a set of higher values to be measured by. How could Douglas act in any other way to Mrs. Bridge's silent suffocation? She allows no open dissent against her values in the house, and Douglas has enough brains to see the futility of many of them. She makes no attempt to communicate with him, instead choosing to stare at him intensely until he feels some sort of remorse for whatever he might have messed up, like when she expects him to fess up to having a pornographic magazine (188). And Mrs. Bridge's reaction to Douglas' magazine in which she not-so-subtly left a deteriorating pamphlet on the “marriage between the ovum and the sperm” just seemed pathetic. She seems unable to connect with her kids outside of Carolyn, and this shows here. She is just completely out of touch.
1. Reading of Mrs. Bridge’s strange panic made me think a lot of Grace in an early reading. “I’ve never been anywhere or done anything or seen anything. I don’t know how other people live, or think, even how they believe. Are we right? Do we believe the right things?” (35). This, to me, speaks greatly of Mrs. Bridge’s own odd panic only Grace is able to pin point the origins of her distress whereas Mrs. Bridge simply drowns in it. Something in her has been incredibly affected by this newfound awareness of something she already felt: doubt. The pleasantness of the European lifestyle is making her doubt her own, and while that doesn’t sound terribly significant, it is because the uncertainty was already there, already eating her alive, and while she still isn’t totally aware of what this feeling or dread is all about, she’s taken a giant leap in the direction of Grace’s understanding—whether that’s a good or bad thing, I really can’t say. Would it be too late for Mrs. Bridge to change her life if she were to suddenly come to the realization that she’s been doing it all wrong? Or would she just have to continue on her monotonous path knowing that she’s failed to properly live? Grace fell apart, much like Esther, but Esther was young and had so much of her life ahead of her, while Grace is heartily middle-aged with a husband and children and no escape route besides the obvious, suicide. 2. I suppose “the American dream” itself is a pretty controversial phrase because, or course, it doesn’t actually include everyone. It tends to lend itself to white males of modest means working their way up in the world, and by that reasoning, Mr. Bridge exemplifies the American dream. I think what the novel shows us, though, is that the dream come true isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, and that, in fact, it’s a pointless dream when that’s all it is you’re striving towards. Or that life in the conventional, American sense is pointless. I know that sounds extreme, but honestly, no American adult in the story seems happy, so maybe it’s that the American dream is wrong, maybe life shouldn’t be about striving for more—it should be about finding something and someone you love. 3. One thing about this book is that since so many of the sections feature Mrs. Bridge and her relationships, they often lack detail of the children’s relationships to one another, but here we finally got to see how Douglas and Ruth are actually quite close friends, and while Mrs. Bridge makes it seem as though true communication simply doesn’t exist in her world, it most definitely does—at least it does between Douglas and Ruth—so I’m finding it rather hard to empathize with her now. There’s so much more she could experience and feel if only she would just open her mouth and take a chance to perhaps say something of her own.
1. Mrs. Bridge and Mr. Bridge feel out of their element in Europe because they are used to living in a society where their social status is one of the things they value most, and in Europe, they have a much different social status than they do in America. I don’t think Mrs. Bridge wants to be viewed as an outsider by the Europeans because she keeps commenting on the fact that the Europeans notice that they are Americans from the moment they see them. Mr. Bridge assumes that the reason that they attract so much attention from the Europeans is because they are rich, and although this might be the case in some situations, they definitely stick out very clearly as Americans. In Europe, they see that people live different lifestyles and have different values and they feel a need to assure themselves that their lifestyles, their values, and their country are superior. They feel this need because they don’t want to question their lifestyles and values because they believe in the American dream and are supposed to be experiencing a success story. Assuming that the Europeans they meet desperately want to come to America makes them feel good about being Americans and living the way that they live, which is in a large part tied to being American. 2. The American dream seems like an impossible thing to achieve for many of the characters in the book because of racism and classism. We see very little evidence of social mobility, and all the non-white characters seem to work in low paying jobs. However, the book also challenges the whole idea of the American dream because by most definitions, the Bridges are living the American dream, yet for the most part they don’t seem to be particularly happy. Being wealthy actually leads to Mrs. Bridge feeling unhappy during the chapter where she feels embarrassed about all the very expensive gifts her husband gives her that she feels like she is forced to use/wear to express her gratitude. And “the country club district” as a whole is filled with depressed and unhappy people. Mr. Bridge works so hard yet the more wealth he brings in, the more unhappy Mrs. Bridge gets, because she increasingly has nothing to do as the family hires more and more people to help with tasks Mrs. Bridge did. The American dream could be a very real thing that is worth striving for, but achieving it in this society appears to lead to increased unhappiness although Mrs. Bridge might be less unhappy than members of society who have been not allowed to pursue the American dream. 3. I felt so bad for Mrs. Bridge and Douglas during these chapters and I feel like the situation between them is hopeless. Mrs. Bridge is so out of touch with Douglas’s reality and even if she could empathize with him, she would not let herself. How Mrs. Bridge reacted to finding Douglas’s magazine only confirmed what I think about her as a parent: someone who cannot possibly understand her kids.
1) I'm sure Mrs. Bridge’s trip to Europe gave her a glorified view of what'd its like to live there. As a tourist, you tend not to see much of the poverty of a country. Matter of fact, you tend to just be around other tourist, so you're not seeing much of the country at all. So instead of seeing any of the negatives that comes with living in Europe, all Mrs. Bridge saw were the cafes, famous art pieces, and nice hotels. Nobody those areas want to move to United States. As for the poor, like the ladies point out at the Luncheon the next day, “I supposed they're all dying to emigrate to this country,” in search of the American dream that Walter mentions. Unfortunately, Mrs. Bridge didn’t get to see much of that during her time in Europe. 2) Walter Bridge is almost the perfect example of the American Dream. The harder he worked, the more money he made. He put in insane hours at work, so as a result he was more successful. Im not sure how wealthy he was growing up, but if he was also poor to begin with, Mr. Bridge would be the complete American Dream, rags-to-riches story. This is essentially what Mr. Bridge tries to tell Douglass. The American Dream plays out differently for Harriet or any of the chauffeurs we see in the story. Most of it has to do with race. Being African-American, Hispanic, or Asian in the 1940’s was substantially harder then than it is now. But still, they're participating in their own American Dream. They have some kind of job, maybe more than their parents ever got to have. They could also be working in hopes of providing their children with a life better than theirs. It's not your conventional rags to riches story, but it's a part of the American Dream nonetheless. 3) For one, I didn't like the way she handled the magazine situation, for almost the same exact reasons I didn't like the she handled Douglass’ tower. I think that kind of the behind-the-back parenting is ineffective. Personally, I know I wouldn't learn much of a lesson if you don't confront me on the issue and I'm sure that holds true for a lot of people. It's even worse this time because Douglass is much older than when he built the tower. You could make the case before that Mrs. Bridge had to do it because Douglass was too young to understand, but Douglass is almost an adult. He understands things, and deserved to be treated and talked to like he does. He shouldn't be treated like a child, so Mrs. Bridge shouldn't punish him the same way she did when he was a child.
1. As this book is a commentary on America as a whole, it's important to see the world that America is a part of. On their trip to Europe, the Bridges' notions of what America is are challenged. While Mr. Bridge remains confident in his nationalism, Mrs. Bridge is more unsure of their place in the world. We see for the first time large groups of people with totally different values. Mrs. Bridge, who has grown profoundly uncomfortable about her own place in the world, for reasons she can't explain, is surprised to see people with no interest in going to America or being American. She no longer knows where she fits in America or where America fits in the world. This is, to say the least, disorienting. 2. Through Mr. and Mrs. Bridge, we see the extent of the "American Dream." Mr. Bridge worked hard, and through his determination, has achieved wealth, but not happiness. In America in the 1930s, you could have some degree of happiness through wealth and consumerism, assuming you were white and came from a reasonably well off background. Though we see a range of incomes, we don't see much in the way of social mobility. The examples of Grace and Mrs. Bridge also go against the idea of wealth as a positive goal. We see only an unhappy upper middle class, and the apparently stuck lower class people they employ. This book certainly questions the American dream. 3. Douglas, while in some ways conservative, has never been unquestioningly obedient to Mrs. Bridge. Her passive aggressive parenting worked when he was younger, but now he wants to live his own life, distinct from their circles. When Mrs. Bridge doesn't confront him, but just burns his magazines and not-so-subtly hints her disapproval, there's no opportunity for new growth. Their relationship rots and neither tries to understand the other.
1. I think she's having these doubts for a lot of reasons. For one, I feel like she notices how awkward she makes their friend feel and how he obviously doesn't want to be in their presence. I think she also notices a difference in social norms in general that makes her realize that there are realities outside of everything she's known before. She notices how she's not obligated to do certain things like she is in the US and how she's actually doing things that she likes for herself rather than because it's a responsibility. I think not having this pressure forces her to almost live a different life and to see things from a perspective she was not familiar with. I don't think she quite understands what's going on, but I think that she found herself drawn to the lifestyle the Europeans were living rather than the one she was living at home. 2. We see the American Dream in the position that Mrs. Bridge fills. As a stay at home mother she cares for the children and tends to the things within the household that need to be taken care of. She's living luxuriously with a hardworking husband who stays at the office late to provide for his family. She fits the stereotype drawn up for her with her luncheons and other social obligations. Their children, while not quite fitting in the stereotype once you really get to know them, are perceived to be nice, clean, and obedient. It's like a puzzle and each aspect of Mrs. Bridge's life fits securely in its place, playing its role. On paper, she's living a fulfilled life, and that's all that really matters. 3. I think that she's a good parent in relation to what she's been taught/exposed to. While I'm not trying to excuse her ignorance, I also feel like we can't expect something of her that she's not capable of. I feel like in this moment she's given an opportunity to really teach Douglas -- which can be a hard topic to teach for any parent -- but she does the bare minimum and barely acknowledges what happened. I think this example says to Douglas that suppression and ignoring situations is what to do in difficult situations and I think she's construing the wrong idea. But I'm not sure whether or not I blame her, because again it's a hard thing to teach, especially when she's never been taught otherwise.
1. I think Mrs. Bridge’s idea of America and its “greatness” is due to her lack of knowledge of any other place. She's never experienced anything else but the American lifestyle and the American culture. Like with almost everything in her life, Mrs. Bridge was used to taking everything as it was and never really questioned anything. Table manners are table manners, guest towels are not to be used and America was the greatest. She didn't know or anything other than the American experience. And everything she knows sort of fits together and makes sense in America but in Europe, it's odd and different. So everything Mrs. Bridge knew to be normal, socially acceptable and things to aspire towards suddenly had no place in Europe. She sees that life is so different in Europe and that the people there are not unhappy with their lives and are not yearning to go to the United States like everyone says. She realizes that maybe what Americans think is important is not what everyone thinks is important. Not everyone wants to be American, like an American or like Mrs. Bridge and her family. Perhaps what's most discerning to Mrs. Bridge is that happiness is attainable in many different ways, there isn't just one way to get it and there is no right way to live. 2. I think the American Dream is certainly working out for the Bridges. Walter Bridge no doubt works very hard to provide for his family and it works out for them. It may in fact work out too well because all he does is work harder and harder to give his family more and more money (which he thinks is making them happier). It fits the description of the American Dream to the dot: work hard, harder than your parents did and you'll get a better life just by sheer will and determination. This doesn’t work for everyone though, Mr. Bridge is the perfect example and I would assume that it worked out this way for many white middle class families during that time, but not for many minorities. For minorities, there was a lot more to the American Dream than just working hard. 3. The lack of communication and passive disapproval that Mrs. Bridge shows is proving time and again to drive her children further away. She doesn't approve of Paquita or the magazines but doesn't have a conversation about them. I don't know what she could've said to make Douglas see eye to eye with her regarding Paquita, but it would've been better than not talking to him at all.
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ReplyDelete1. I think that Mrs. Bridge’s trip to Europe was a turning point in terms of her perception of America. Throughout her life up until that point, she’d always heard the US exalted as the gold standard of the world, the best place to live. This sentiment is echoed by her friends: “I suppose they’re all dying to emigrate to this country”; her husband: “These people would sell their souls to get to the United States”; and herself: “Mrs. Bridge could not imagine anyone wanting to live outside the United States.” Eventually, she begins to agree, “half-jokingly,” with the Italian man who expressed his lack of desire to visit the US, expressing that “I really think he has a point.” At the same time, as she continues her travels through europe, she pines for the comfort and routine of kansas city, where she doesn’t have to challenge her preconceived notions of her country or even her husband: “there on the foreign street she felt lost and forsaken, and with great longing she began to think of Kansas City”(159). She leaves Europe abruptly, even more confused about her position in the world than when she arrived.
ReplyDelete2. Financially, I think that the Bridges exemplify the American Dream. They came from presumably humble origins, then, through hard work, rose through the ranks of society. They now live comfortably, with hired staff, a garage, and a country club membership. However, we constantly see Mrs. Bridge struggling with the fact that this quantifiable success has not left her feeling fulfilled or content with her life. Despite a family with three children and a extended circle of friends, she feels an emptiness that is certainly not part of the american dream. So I suppose that this novel demonstrates the disappointment that underlies the lives of those who have it all, who have nothing left to work for and nothing to look forward to.
3. I think that Douglas, like Ruth, has always been more of a free spirit, so his disconnect from his mother was inevitable. Though he dresses and carries himself in a “conservative” manner now, he is also dating a girl who, in Mrs. Bridge’s dichotomous eyes, would definitely belong to the lower of the “two types of people.” Though Mrs. Bridge does not directly criticize Douglas’ choice of companion, her passive aggressive suggestions of other girls who are single probably irks Douglas, who must tire of his mother’s indirect criticism, more than simply addressing the issue would have. She repeats this pattern of inaction with the magazine issue, and, as a result, never has a conversation with Douglas that could have strengthened their relationship.
Mrs. Bridge's inexperience allowed her to think whatever she wanted about how great the US is, and how surely the rest of the world couldn't really compare. Mr. Bridge maintains this opinion throughout the voyage, especially with his comment about how Europeans want to come to America - but her views on this are challenged both by [the man] who moved to France and decided to stay (who would want to stay? Isn't the USA still home? Still better?) and by her own pleasant experiences on the continent. These people are happy here, and so is she - so, the US is not so monumentally preferable after all. When they return home and she has lunch with her friends, everything they criticize about Europe is true also of their own society - disparagement between the rich and the poor? Nonsense! the say as they drink tea, safe and isolated by their wealth and status. Similarly, Europe is not magical, or perfect - the paintings are expensive, there are spiders in the food, and statue of victory she so loved turns out to look just like someone back home - and with all the comparisons she's drawing, I think she's particularly struck by the invasion of Poland. Not only is the US not perfect, nor is Europe, but both could potentially be taken over. All this information is threatening - neither her world nor her worldview are so safe anymore.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of the American Dream in this book is very messy and difficult to work with. Especially because of her status and Mr. Bridge's success, Mrs. Bridge is reasonably inclined to believe in the American Dream - didn't her own husband work hard for their wealth? - but she never applies it to anyone who isn't successful. I don't doubt she knows that Harriet works hard, but she never questions how that can be without the supposedly inevitable rise in status. The American Dream is only discussed in terms of those for whom hard work and perseverance HAVE worked - mostly the white husbands of the white women in the story - and in terms of warning Douglas that he must be willing to work hard. The times when hard work and perseverance have not payed off are never discussed as evidence against this Dream - they simply aren't discussed at all. The poor are simply poor, and the wealthy are so because they worked hard. Yet, counter to that, Mr. Bridge was discouraged by the thought that Douglas would only succeed by working, not by innate genius. So, they believe that hard work can get you anywhere, except when it doesn't - that if you have wealth and status, you've earned it, except when you haven't - and that work and perseverance are admirable, except for when your own son has to rely on it to succeed. It sounds about as solid as any other values of Mrs. Bridge and her society.
Mrs. Bridge is attempting to exert the same level of control over her children's lives as she always has (or perceived herself to have), except that they aren't really children anymore. They're growing up, but she doesn't want to let them. She nags and pushes and pulls, and is upset when Douglas doesn't let her - her desperate attempt to ruffle his hair (in my opinion, a patronizing action - a symbol of motherly power) is foiled when he moves to put obstacles between him. She "knows" that this girl is just a temporary problem, yet feels the need to attack him about it anyway, then wonders why he's growing away from her. Even as she constantly antagonizes her children, she simply cannot fathom that it are her own actions pushing her kids away from her. I'm becoming increasingly frustrated by Mrs. Bridge's absurd lack of self-awareness, growing need to control her children, and increasingly un-subtle racism. Some of her worst qualities are becoming exaggerated as the story progresses. I thought it was silly that she's less disturbed by the idea of Douglas having a nice (white) girlfriend than she is finding a magazine hidden in his drawer. She seems to think that, despite her knowledge of Ruth and Carolyn's relationships, and her own experience as a teenager, having a girlfriend is somehow more chaste than having a magazine - her understanding of the world is warped and strange; she's constructed her own reality to live in, and refuses to come out.
ReplyDeleteMira: in all the years I've used a blog I've never seen anyone do what you did for the prompt. I have no idea how you did it, but it's wonderful! You technologically savvy youngsters. You need to show me how to do this. Now for your questions...
ReplyDelete1. "'I suppose no matter how far you go there's no place like home.'" Yet she was "troubled and for a moment engulfed by a nameless panic" (171 in my book). I go back to Chapter 68 where Mr. Bridge tells her the news that they're going to Europe—finally—as a birthday present. This brings her back to the beginning of her marriage and she remembered she didn't care if it came true, but that she was "happy enough to be with him anywhere" (143). Now it's twenty years later and she's forty-eight (young for 2017 but in 1939 she's just another country-club matron, as the cop sees her in 85) and haunted by that malaise that's grown bigger and bigger over her life with Mr. Bridge. And he is more excited than she is over the prospect of going to Europe. So I don't think it's as much her doubts about the US—like her husband but much less so, she's a bit of an Ugly American in Europe, unable to understand the place as it counters her conservative, almost 19th century upbringing, as when she sees her husband staring at "the black lace brassiere with the tips cut off" (158). I think Europe just reinforces her sense of lostness in the world. She wants to get back to Kansas City and home, where things make sense, but when she gets back, they make less sense than ever. I think she doubts the idea "home" and all it represents and is supposed to do for her.
2. Ah, the American Dream question! There's no doubt I could use this book in my American Dream class; and as Moey said last week, and everyone agreed upon, this is a commentary on America, and for me a very specific part of America: upper middle class country club America, exemplified by Mr. Bridge and his frustration with Europeans for not speaking English—the Ugly American stereotype. The America here is one that is racist and class-conscious, not to mention ruled by the snobbery and ignorance of the country clubbers and Mr. and Mrs. Bridge themselves. At the same time, we see that Mr. Bridge has worked outrageously hard to secure the security and status of his family. Yet as Mrs. Bridge realizes, the security and privilege he has ensured for her in particular, has had a terrible cost: he's been an absent husband. As Stuart has brought up in class in connection with "The Bell Jar," we are seeing a "Mad Men," Don and Betty Draper situation: work as life. This American Dream sure isn't working well for Grace Barron, nor Mrs. Bridge.
3. I feel more and more sad for Mrs. Bridge than angry or frustrated with her when I think about her and Douglas (and Ruth). For many reasons, a number of which we've talked about in class, she cannot break from what she was taught: "Where, then, had she failed? She had let [Douglas] realize, without her having to say so, that there were two kinds of people in the world, and this was true she knew, for it was what she had been taught by her father and mother" (191). Unlike Erin above, I don't feel frustrated with her; I feel she has no guides as to how to raise her children. In all the conversations we have seen her have with all her friends, not once has there been any conversation about raising children. I get the sense this is not what these women talk about. The world is a mystery to Mrs. Bridge, a terrifying place, so I can see why she wishes Douglas were still a child and rumpling his hair would be one solution (though I'm not sure it worked with him even when he was a child). I think parenting has to be one of the most terrifying things a person can do—all the parenting books in the world may not make any difference—and Mrs. Bridge is flying in the dark here. Mrs. Bridge being who she is—what else would she do when she finds the nude magazine? "Never in her life had she been confronted with a situation like this and she did not know what to do" (191). I believe that to be true.
ReplyDelete1. Mrs. Bridge is happy in Europe, genuinely happy. She sees other people who are happy, people who don't care about societal conventions as much as the people in Kansas City do. In Europe she can escape from the community she lives in where she is so tightly wound up about her appearance, she can be free. So maybe America isn't all that great if the people in Europe are genuinely happy instead of superficially happy. When she returns to America she agrees with Madge Arlen that all the Europeans must be dying to emigrate to America but she know it is not true.
ReplyDelete2. The American Dream is owned by white people, white people who are born into relatively well-off families. Mr. Bridge works very hard and makes lots of money. The chauffeurs they hired also worked hard but didn't make lots of money. Harriet works hard and doesn't make lots of money. Mr. and Mrs. Bridge do well because they are white, because they have racial privilege.
3. Mrs. Bridge is incapable of seeing Douglas's perspective, of appreciating that he could love (or at least like/be attracted to) someone who is different from the societal norm. Paquita is different and so Mrs. Bridge immediately dismisses her as unworthy, as subpar. She and her husband try desperately to set him up with someone else, someone appropriate. They are so deeply ingrained in their values that there is no possibility they would even consider opening up to someone who is different. Mrs. Bridge behaves exactly as I would have expected when she finds the porn magazine in Douglas's shirt drawer. She is appalled, wonders what is wrong with herself, and then thinks obsessively about confronting him but doesn't actually confront him about it.
1. I think that Mrs. Bridge senses that her husband might be wrong – perhaps it’s true that these Europeans don’t want to go to the United States. The way I read it, Mr. Bridge’s statement made his wife think of all that she has at home – what her life exists as in the United States. There’s an element of dishonesty in that life. She lives a very certain lifestyle and is arguably unhappy with it, with all the social conventions she must keep up with, with the image she must maintain. I think a part of Mrs. Bridge realizes that she is unhappy with this, and her trip to Europe just reminds her of this. And when her husband says “these people would sell their souls to get to the United States” (165), Mrs. Bridge’s internal response is “well, why would they?”. I believe that this is the same reason why Mrs. Bridge is only “half-joking” (165) when she agrees with the man who said he had no desire to leave Rome, and the same reason she feels that crushing panic when she realizes that she doesn’t even believe herself when she says “there’s no place like home” (169). Mrs. Bridge knows that she isn’t completely happy with her life at home, but she doesn’t know how to handle her feelings, or how to deal with her situation. Being in Europe, comparing life there with life in America, just reminds her of her problem.
ReplyDelete2. I agree with others when they’ve said that Mr. Bridge is an example of the typical, happy-ending American Dream story we generally hear of. And I think that Mr. Bridge certainly believes in the American Dream, but I think he is unaware of the fact that many people work hard, just as hard as Mr. Bridge, and are not able to achieve the type of lifestyle that the Bridges have: “This million dollars you referred to – if I had earned it I wouldn’t have earned it from being the judge’s favorite” (182). Mr. Bridge doesn’t recognize that some people have advantages, racial, socio-economic or others, that affect how much gain they get from the work they put in, that it does have to do with privilege, and what types of societies you’re born into. I think it’s interesting that Douglas shows more awareness around this issue than his father – he realizes that if he wasn’t the coach’s favorite, no matter how talented a basketball player he is, he wouldn’t have a chance of making the team.
3. Regarding Mrs. Bridge and Douglas’s relationship, I think Chapter 92 stands out to me the most – it was the most touching portrait of any of the relationships in the book. Throughout the reading, whenever Connell wrote about the dynamic between the two of them, I found myself feeling bad for Mrs. Bridge. She never meant to create this divide between herself and her son (or Ruth, for that matter), and it makes me sad to see her feeling so badly about it. I feel like Mrs. Bridge really needs meaningful human connection in her life in order to find more happiness, but she doesn’t know how to build strong relationships with her children or her husband, which contributes to her feeling lost a lot of the time. I was really struck by the cycle that Mrs. Bridge and Douglas pulled themselves into, after Mrs. Bridge burned the magazine she found. Mrs. Bridge wants to talk to her son, to get to know him, but has no idea how to start. Douglas, realizing this, pulls away from her, which makes Mrs. Bridge just cling all the more tightly…I think the phrase “smiling miserably” is so striking and I can really imagine this (188). I also think that how Mrs. Bridge dealt with the magazine is pretty telling of her usual methods of parenting: “With him, as with Ruth and Carolyn, she had adroitly steered around threatening subjects; in no way had she stimulated his curiosity – quite the contrary” (187). By not preparing her children to talk about subjects they’re bound to encounter, like sex, Mrs. Bridge forces her children to learn about them on their own, and consequently not tell her about their own experiences. She makes the subject taboo when it doesn’t have to be. And, of course, she didn’t even feel the need to be upfront with Douglas about how she felt about his possession of the magazine – she never mentioned the topic to him.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Mrs. Bridge and Grace Barron's encounter with the animatronic doll can help us understand why Mrs. Bridge feels so disillusioned with America. Mrs. Bridge feels so depressed when the doll sings its nursery rhyme then breaks, spilling a “thin, colorless liquid” (172), because she feels exactly like the doll: she is expected to automatically regurgitate everything she has learned and then, after her usefulness is exhausted, subside. Is this how Mrs. Bridge should live a fulfilling life? And Mr. Bridge's values, hard work and industry, similarly do little to fulfill her because they deprive her of his company, even while in Europe, where he still is “unable to lie in bed past seven o'clock” (161). Furthermore, her entire life, as well as Mr. Bridge's, is concerned with their respective duties and jobs, and little else, a remarkable contrast to Paris, where the businessmen put “pleasure before business” (156). How can she feel comfortable in a world where she cannot do anything but her monotonous and doll-like duties of being an overbearing mother? She has no opportunity to really be herself, it seems as though she is always playing a part. Maybe she is aptly named India, she does seem to fit perfectly in America.
ReplyDeleteMrs. Bridge, while in Monte Carlo, thinks about “how fortunate she was” to be able to enjoy relaxing late into the day in her bed on a trip to Europe (162). Arguably, she is living the definition of the female “American Dream.” She's rich, has an accomplished husband, a load of country club friends, and an accomplished daughter and a son who is on the road to becoming respectable. But despite all this, she often feels horribly depressed about her situation. Grace Barron is the same. The “American Dream” for these women, it seems, does little to nothing in order to fulfill their most innermost desires: contentment, connection, or a set of higher values to be measured by.
How could Douglas act in any other way to Mrs. Bridge's silent suffocation? She allows no open dissent against her values in the house, and Douglas has enough brains to see the futility of many of them. She makes no attempt to communicate with him, instead choosing to stare at him intensely until he feels some sort of remorse for whatever he might have messed up, like when she expects him to fess up to having a pornographic magazine (188). And Mrs. Bridge's reaction to Douglas' magazine in which she not-so-subtly left a deteriorating pamphlet on the “marriage between the ovum and the sperm” just seemed pathetic. She seems unable to connect with her kids outside of Carolyn, and this shows here. She is just completely out of touch.
1. Reading of Mrs. Bridge’s strange panic made me think a lot of Grace in an early reading. “I’ve never been anywhere or done anything or seen anything. I don’t know how other people live, or think, even how they believe. Are we right? Do we believe the right things?” (35). This, to me, speaks greatly of Mrs. Bridge’s own odd panic only Grace is able to pin point the origins of her distress whereas Mrs. Bridge simply drowns in it. Something in her has been incredibly affected by this newfound awareness of something she already felt: doubt. The pleasantness of the European lifestyle is making her doubt her own, and while that doesn’t sound terribly significant, it is because the uncertainty was already there, already eating her alive, and while she still isn’t totally aware of what this feeling or dread is all about, she’s taken a giant leap in the direction of Grace’s understanding—whether that’s a good or bad thing, I really can’t say. Would it be too late for Mrs. Bridge to change her life if she were to suddenly come to the realization that she’s been doing it all wrong? Or would she just have to continue on her monotonous path knowing that she’s failed to properly live? Grace fell apart, much like Esther, but Esther was young and had so much of her life ahead of her, while Grace is heartily middle-aged with a husband and children and no escape route besides the obvious, suicide.
ReplyDelete2. I suppose “the American dream” itself is a pretty controversial phrase because, or course, it doesn’t actually include everyone. It tends to lend itself to white males of modest means working their way up in the world, and by that reasoning, Mr. Bridge exemplifies the American dream. I think what the novel shows us, though, is that the dream come true isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, and that, in fact, it’s a pointless dream when that’s all it is you’re striving towards. Or that life in the conventional, American sense is pointless. I know that sounds extreme, but honestly, no American adult in the story seems happy, so maybe it’s that the American dream is wrong, maybe life shouldn’t be about striving for more—it should be about finding something and someone you love.
3. One thing about this book is that since so many of the sections feature Mrs. Bridge and her relationships, they often lack detail of the children’s relationships to one another, but here we finally got to see how Douglas and Ruth are actually quite close friends, and while Mrs. Bridge makes it seem as though true communication simply doesn’t exist in her world, it most definitely does—at least it does between Douglas and Ruth—so I’m finding it rather hard to empathize with her now. There’s so much more she could experience and feel if only she would just open her mouth and take a chance to perhaps say something of her own.
1. Mrs. Bridge and Mr. Bridge feel out of their element in Europe because they are used to living in a society where their social status is one of the things they value most, and in Europe, they have a much different social status than they do in America. I don’t think Mrs. Bridge wants to be viewed as an outsider by the Europeans because she keeps commenting on the fact that the Europeans notice that they are Americans from the moment they see them. Mr. Bridge assumes that the reason that they attract so much attention from the Europeans is because they are rich, and although this might be the case in some situations, they definitely stick out very clearly as Americans. In Europe, they see that people live different lifestyles and have different values and they feel a need to assure themselves that their lifestyles, their values, and their country are superior. They feel this need because they don’t want to question their lifestyles and values because they believe in the American dream and are supposed to be experiencing a success story. Assuming that the Europeans they meet desperately want to come to America makes them feel good about being Americans and living the way that they live, which is in a large part tied to being American.
ReplyDelete2. The American dream seems like an impossible thing to achieve for many of the characters in the book because of racism and classism. We see very little evidence of social mobility, and all the non-white characters seem to work in low paying jobs. However, the book also challenges the whole idea of the American dream because by most definitions, the Bridges are living the American dream, yet for the most part they don’t seem to be particularly happy. Being wealthy actually leads to Mrs. Bridge feeling unhappy during the chapter where she feels embarrassed about all the very expensive gifts her husband gives her that she feels like she is forced to use/wear to express her gratitude. And “the country club district” as a whole is filled with depressed and unhappy people. Mr. Bridge works so hard yet the more wealth he brings in, the more unhappy Mrs. Bridge gets, because she increasingly has nothing to do as the family hires more and more people to help with tasks Mrs. Bridge did. The American dream could be a very real thing that is worth striving for, but achieving it in this society appears to lead to increased unhappiness although Mrs. Bridge might be less unhappy than members of society who have been not allowed to pursue the American dream.
3. I felt so bad for Mrs. Bridge and Douglas during these chapters and I feel like the situation between them is hopeless. Mrs. Bridge is so out of touch with Douglas’s reality and even if she could empathize with him, she would not let herself. How Mrs. Bridge reacted to finding Douglas’s magazine only confirmed what I think about her as a parent: someone who cannot possibly understand her kids.
1) I'm sure Mrs. Bridge’s trip to Europe gave her a glorified view of what'd its like to live there. As a tourist, you tend not to see much of the poverty of a country. Matter of fact, you tend to just be around other tourist, so you're not seeing much of the country at all. So instead of seeing any of the negatives that comes with living in Europe, all Mrs. Bridge saw were the cafes, famous art pieces, and nice hotels. Nobody those areas want to move to United States. As for the poor, like the ladies point out at the Luncheon the next day, “I supposed they're all dying to emigrate to this country,” in search of the American dream that Walter mentions. Unfortunately, Mrs. Bridge didn’t get to see much of that during her time in Europe.
ReplyDelete2) Walter Bridge is almost the perfect example of the American Dream. The harder he worked, the more money he made. He put in insane hours at work, so as a result he was more successful. Im not sure how wealthy he was growing up, but if he was also poor to begin with, Mr. Bridge would be the complete American Dream, rags-to-riches story. This is essentially what Mr. Bridge tries to tell Douglass. The American Dream plays out differently for Harriet or any of the chauffeurs we see in the story. Most of it has to do with race. Being African-American, Hispanic, or Asian in the 1940’s was substantially harder then than it is now. But still, they're participating in their own American Dream. They have some kind of job, maybe more than their parents ever got to have. They could also be working in hopes of providing their children with a life better than theirs. It's not your conventional rags to riches story, but it's a part of the American Dream nonetheless.
3) For one, I didn't like the way she handled the magazine situation, for almost the same exact reasons I didn't like the she handled Douglass’ tower. I think that kind of the behind-the-back parenting is ineffective. Personally, I know I wouldn't learn much of a lesson if you don't confront me on the issue and I'm sure that holds true for a lot of people. It's even worse this time because Douglass is much older than when he built the tower. You could make the case before that Mrs. Bridge had to do it because Douglass was too young to understand, but Douglass is almost an adult. He understands things, and deserved to be treated and talked to like he does. He shouldn't be treated like a child, so Mrs. Bridge shouldn't punish him the same way she did when he was a child.
1. As this book is a commentary on America as a whole, it's important to see the world that America is a part of. On their trip to Europe, the Bridges' notions of what America is are challenged. While Mr. Bridge remains confident in his nationalism, Mrs. Bridge is more unsure of their place in the world. We see for the first time large groups of people with totally different values. Mrs. Bridge, who has grown profoundly uncomfortable about her own place in the world, for reasons she can't explain, is surprised to see people with no interest in going to America or being American. She no longer knows where she fits in America or where America fits in the world. This is, to say the least, disorienting.
ReplyDelete2. Through Mr. and Mrs. Bridge, we see the extent of the "American Dream." Mr. Bridge worked hard, and through his determination, has achieved wealth, but not happiness. In America in the 1930s, you could have some degree of happiness through wealth and consumerism, assuming you were white and came from a reasonably well off background. Though we see a range of incomes, we don't see much in the way of social mobility. The examples of Grace and Mrs. Bridge also go against the idea of wealth as a positive goal. We see only an unhappy upper middle class, and the apparently stuck lower class people they employ. This book certainly questions the American dream.
3. Douglas, while in some ways conservative, has never been unquestioningly obedient to Mrs. Bridge. Her passive aggressive parenting worked when he was younger, but now he wants to live his own life, distinct from their circles. When Mrs. Bridge doesn't confront him, but just burns his magazines and not-so-subtly hints her disapproval, there's no opportunity for new growth. Their relationship rots and neither tries to understand the other.
1. I think she's having these doubts for a lot of reasons. For one, I feel like she notices how awkward she makes their friend feel and how he obviously doesn't want to be in their presence. I think she also notices a difference in social norms in general that makes her realize that there are realities outside of everything she's known before. She notices how she's not obligated to do certain things like she is in the US and how she's actually doing things that she likes for herself rather than because it's a responsibility. I think not having this pressure forces her to almost live a different life and to see things from a perspective she was not familiar with. I don't think she quite understands what's going on, but I think that she found herself drawn to the lifestyle the Europeans were living rather than the one she was living at home.
ReplyDelete2. We see the American Dream in the position that Mrs. Bridge fills. As a stay at home mother she cares for the children and tends to the things within the household that need to be taken care of. She's living luxuriously with a hardworking husband who stays at the office late to provide for his family. She fits the stereotype drawn up for her with her luncheons and other social obligations. Their children, while not quite fitting in the stereotype once you really get to know them, are perceived to be nice, clean, and obedient. It's like a puzzle and each aspect of Mrs. Bridge's life fits securely in its place, playing its role. On paper, she's living a fulfilled life, and that's all that really matters.
3. I think that she's a good parent in relation to what she's been taught/exposed to. While I'm not trying to excuse her ignorance, I also feel like we can't expect something of her that she's not capable of. I feel like in this moment she's given an opportunity to really teach Douglas -- which can be a hard topic to teach for any parent -- but she does the bare minimum and barely acknowledges what happened. I think this example says to Douglas that suppression and ignoring situations is what to do in difficult situations and I think she's construing the wrong idea. But I'm not sure whether or not I blame her, because again it's a hard thing to teach, especially when she's never been taught otherwise.
1. I think Mrs. Bridge’s idea of America and its “greatness” is due to her lack of knowledge of any other place. She's never experienced anything else but the American lifestyle and the American culture. Like with almost everything in her life, Mrs. Bridge was used to taking everything as it was and never really questioned anything. Table manners are table manners, guest towels are not to be used and America was the greatest. She didn't know or anything other than the American experience. And everything she knows sort of fits together and makes sense in America but in Europe, it's odd and different. So everything Mrs. Bridge knew to be normal, socially acceptable and things to aspire towards suddenly had no place in Europe. She sees that life is so different in Europe and that the people there are not unhappy with their lives and are not yearning to go to the United States like everyone says. She realizes that maybe what Americans think is important is not what everyone thinks is important. Not everyone wants to be American, like an American or like Mrs. Bridge and her family. Perhaps what's most discerning to Mrs. Bridge is that happiness is attainable in many different ways, there isn't just one way to get it and there is no right way to live.
ReplyDelete2. I think the American Dream is certainly working out for the Bridges. Walter Bridge no doubt works very hard to provide for his family and it works out for them. It may in fact work out too well because all he does is work harder and harder to give his family more and more money (which he thinks is making them happier). It fits the description of the American Dream to the dot: work hard, harder than your parents did and you'll get a better life just by sheer will and determination. This doesn’t work for everyone though, Mr. Bridge is the perfect example and I would assume that it worked out this way for many white middle class families during that time, but not for many minorities. For minorities, there was a lot more to the American Dream than just working hard.
3. The lack of communication and passive disapproval that Mrs. Bridge shows is proving time and again to drive her children further away. She doesn't approve of Paquita or the magazines but doesn't have a conversation about them. I don't know what she could've said to make Douglas see eye to eye with her regarding Paquita, but it would've been better than not talking to him at all.