Today’s Big Thought came inspired from—where else?—David McCullough’s The Great Bridge. In
opening chapter he lays out the dimensions and functions of the completed
bridge before going into the history of its making. Summing up John Roebling’s
design, he concisely reaches the crux of the bridge: “The way he designed it,
the enormous structure was to be a grand harmony of opposite forces—the steel
of the cables in tension, the granite of the towers in compression.”
I had read this phrase a few times before in my (re)reading
of the book, but today I was at a place in considering the development of my characters
where it seemed particularly applicable. I knew this was potentially a fantastic
metaphor. But even more so, it could structure the nature of the relationship
between Aedan (the protagonist) and Charlotte (the love interest). Aedan’s life
possesses the tension: being pulled between past and future, duties and
desires, the comfortable and unfamiliar. Charlotte faces pressures and
conditions that I would classify as compression. (This is still in early
stages, and I’m just making things fit the scheme—it could all change.) So, I
believe their relationship can be built around the “grand harmony” they achieve
together—and only together. Despite their own issues, they discover a sense of balance
together: they can escape from the pressures they face and enjoy a freedom to
be themselves. Kinda sweet and touching, right? But, me being me, I can’t just
sit down and execute this idea. Oh no, I have to think just a little more.
What is the point of the balance between Aedan’s tension and
Charlotte’s compression? This entails a pressure on both of them, but together
there is harmony—but unlike the bridge, this is fleeting, and thus not properly
balanced. Is there some meaningful message about life to be had? Besides Aedan’s
personal development—be the change you wish to see in the world—can there be a
positive message about relationships even if they don’t have a good ending? If
it fits in the story, then why shouldn’t it be there? (But what are the roles
of the other characters? Why are they in the story at all?*)
What unbalances them? Any of the pressures on their lives, I
would assume. My choice. No, wait. . It can’t be pressure, because that is what
holds a bridge together: the towers hold up the cable suspended to hold up a
road, and anchorages keep that cable suspended in a balanced way. So it will have to be a looseness or unwinding
… like a suspension bridge that doesn’t have a rigid enough road deck e.g., “Galloping
Gertie.”
So, leaping farther ahead (keep in mind, there’s only a fraction
written and just about as much still in my head), what might undo this harmony?
To them (and the reader) there is an impression of a bond. But is this
a lie? Or is there another? Something they believe to be true, together,
something they would rather not really think about, something they ignore
because of that which they do have together. Being together can’t work, but
they feel it can. Yes, that’s it. Or, at least something like that. It looks
like a solid bridge, but the overall impression is founded on a weakness
somewhere—a debilitating flaw hidden in plain view. And it would only take a
gust of wind to disrupt the supposed “harmony” of the whole system.
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