The Bridge of San Luis Rey Symbol Analysis

Lurking behind each character’s narrative is the ancient bridge which, as the first sentence of the novel proclaims, will eventually plunge them to their deaths. Before the collapse, the bridge is a cultural landmark, integral to social lore—people take pride in the fact that it’s very old, and that it’s consecrated to a specific French saint. To the citizens of Lima, Peru, “the bridge seemed to be among the things that last forever”; it has a grounding and stabilizing influence on the city. However, in a single moment, the bridge transforms from a symbol of a constancy to one of tragedy; after the collapse, people cross themselves when they think about the bridge and imagine “themselves falling into a gulf.” After the collapse, the bridge represents the constant potential for calamity that undergirds daily life, and the meaninglessness that life seems to acquire if senseless death is only ever a second away. The attempts of various characters to overcome this sense of meaninglessness and build satisfactory lives through art, altruism, and love, is the defining triumph of the novel.