Discussing “Under the Bridge”

Love is the central character in this short story. The love of a father for his son, a son's love for his father, the love of older man for the woman of his dreams, the love of a younger woman for a man who has openly shared his world with the woman he loves, a love between two people who know their love will destroy someone they both love. Hurston also shows the different love languages people have and how they are and are not effective.

Hurston paints a wonderful picture of how people can find themselves in situations where there desire and love for one person conflicts with their love for another person. In this story no one is bad or evil, everyone has the right intentions. However, someone must sacrifice their desires and someone must take that pain on.

This story is a love story that puts love as the central character. Love is a complicated character that has its own timeline. Everyone in the story has it and shares it in their own way and everyone walks a delicate tightrope to avoid hurting a person they love while trying to keep the love they desire so much. But in the end, love requires a sacrifice.

I liked this story, Hurston holds the reader in suspense all the way up to the last paragraph.

More discussions of Hurston's short stories.