Manning Up
A recurrent motif in the novel is the idea that men and boys should not express their feelings. Jess’s father is a firm believer in this idea and he doesn’t exhibit any emotion towards his son probably thinking that it will make him too sensible. Jess’s passion for drawing and art is seen as something ill-fitting for a young boy because it implies expressing one’s feelings and thus a sign of weakness.
Television Set
The area where Jess lives is a relatively poor area and thus, when Leslie and her family came, they stood out from the others because of their wealth. But not only their wealth differentiated them from the other, but also the way in which they chose to spend their money and the way in which they choose to entertain themselves. Television was a common way of entertaining, probably because it didn’t involve too much effort and the viewer just stayed passively in front of a TV set and watched what happened on the screen. Leslie’s parents don’t own a television and when Leslie’s classmates find about this, they start to ridicule her. The reason why they ridicule her is not because the lack of TV makes her poorer than them, but because it symbolizes her education, superior status and intelligence they do not possess. This makes Leslie dangerous, because she is different from them and thus she is rejected by them.
The River
The river is what separates the real world from the land of Terabithia, and because of this geography the river is also symbolic. Just like a country is separated by another country by a border, the river is the border between the real world where the children never feel happy and an ideal world, where everything is possible and they feel safe. In many ways, the river is a wall that protects Terabithia from the outside world and from its negative influences.
Toy Car
On Christmas, Jess’s father gave him a toy car as a present. Jess’s father wrongly believed that an expensive present will please his son but this only proves that he didn’t really knew Jess. His present however is symbolic because it represents Jess’s father desire to get to know his son and also proves that he loved Jess in his own way.
The Creek
Towards the middle of the novel, Jess and Leslie are faced with an unusual problem: they can’t reach Terabithia easily because it has been raining a lot and the creek rose drastically. For Jess, who is terrified by the idea of drowning, the thought that he has to swing over the creak terrifies him. But the creek is also symbolic because it represents Jess’s fears and insecurities and the fact that the creek is growing constantly also symbolizes Jess’s growing fears.
