“Them natty
braids you call dread locks look like the fright do of a zombie,” says Mama Lil.
Through the short story, Building bridges, by Andrea Davis Pinkney, the
author teaches us that family relationships are complicated. In the short
story, Bebe qualifies to work on the bridge building project. This would be a
great opportunity for Bebe because it will help her get into college and help
her pursue her dream in engineering. The problem is, Mama Lil (her guardian)
will not sign the permission slip. Throughout the story, as Mama Lil and Bebe
fight and argue, it becomes more and more obvious how Pinkney portrays the complicated
relationship between these two individuals.
One-way that Pinkney teaches us that family relationships are
complicated is by showing us that families are made up of individuals with
different needs. In the story, she compares the wants and needs of Bebe
and Mama Lil. Mama Lil wants Bebe to stay at home and not work on the bridge so
she won’t be alone. On the other hand, Bebe wants to work on the bridge so she
can get a good education in engineering. As Mama Lil sits on her couch she reveals
her motives for not wanting Bebe to leave. “ Your dreams are the kind that will
take me away from you’” says Mama Lil. This
demonstrates why Mama Lil doesn’t want Bebe to work on the bridge project. She fears Bebe’s dream of becoming an
engineer will separate her from Bebe. In
contrast, Bebe wants to work on the bridge. “ The project would last the
summer, pay good money and help me get in to college, where I wanted to study
engineering,” says Bebe. This validates
how the needs of Bebe contradict the needs of Mama Lil. Both needs are equally
important, which is what precipitates the argument in the first place. This is
another way we learn that family relationships are complicated through the
short story building bridges.
Another way Pinkney teaches us that family relationships are complicated
is by showing us that although family members argue, they still love each
other. In the story, Bebe explains the
relationship between her and Mama Lil, and how they have been “ butting heads
for as long as she could remember”. Momentarily, she recalls some of their
constant disagreements as she sits in her kitchen chair. “ Mama Lil hated six
studs I wear on my left ear, I hated the tacky red wig she pulled down close to
her eyebrows when her hair wasn’t done”.
However, she also thinks to herself; “ Yeah,
over the years me and Mama Lil thrown a lot of dissing words back and
fourth. But then to, I had a sister-sister connection to Mama Lil
that not many kids had with their grandmas.” This demonstrates the inherent differences yet
their strong love for each other. Bebe
realizes quickly the special bond she had with her grandmother notwithstanding
the fact that they continuously argue. This further emphasizes that Bebe is
cognizant of the role that the Mama Lil plays as both sister and parent, which
creates both confusion and disagreement as well as a closer loving bond. This sisterly bond appears to be the cause of
their ongoing arguments yet also the basis for their love and devotion to each
other. In summary, Building Bridges teaches us, the complexities of the
family relationships.
A third way Pinkney teaches us that family relationships are complicated
through the short story, Building Bridges, is by displaying that
sometimes family members are not always honest about what they are feeling.
Mama Lil keeps her real motivations for not wanting Bebe to participate in the
bridge project masked, instead of acknowledging her true
emotions. As Mama Lil smokes her Carlton cigarette, she says to
Bebe; “Aint no black woman doing no engineering… trying to cross a white
mans line is only asking for trouble.” Here she says she doesn't want Bebe to
work on the bridge because it is white mans work. We know this isn’t the real
reason Mama Lil doesn’t want Bebe to work on the bridge. We know this because it is later evidenced in
the story that Mama Lil is afraid that her and Bebe will be separated. As
Mama Lil puts out her cigarette, she says; “ You got big hopes child, but they
gonna leave me alone, by myself." This shows why Mama Lil didn’t want Bebe
to work on the bridge project. It was
not because she believed that that women didn’t belong in engineering. It was because she was afraid of being left
alone. Her failure to confess her true
motivation caused them to fight. Thus,
showing us that family relationships are complicated because family members
don’t always say what they feel.
In conclusion, through the short story, building bridges, we
learn that family relationships can be complex. We learn this from a variety of
emotions through two family members. We can apply this theme to the real world
by realizing that no family is perfect, and all families argue. Also, we learn
that arguments through family members can always sort itself out.
