Alexis Hernandez
November 23, 2010
Why I’m Me
On the Bridge by Todd Strasser is a story about how you can’t always trust people; what may seem cool might not be cool at all. No one is born cool or perfect people lie and most of them can be very fake. Don’t be a follower be a leader. Seth one of the main characters in the story who needs to realise that not everyone can have his back and that he shouldn’t try t fit in with the crowed, for Seth doesn’t know whats coming his way.
In the story there are two main characters Adam and Seth two high school students. Adam is the cool type the one everyone wants to be around he’s tough and dangerous. “‘I beat the crap out of this guy at the mall yesterday’” says Adam on the bridge smoking a cigarette. “‘...I don’t let anyone push me around’” “‘I got out with older girls all the time’” These are the things that Adam says, the things that make him seem cool. Seth on the other hand is the opposite he is not cool, has never gotten into a fight, hasn’t really had any girl friends, and he looks up to Adam. He thought that everything Adam did was cool and he wanted to also do the same thing. Seth would be the follower int his case and his leader is Adam.
The rising action in the story is when Adam flicked his cigarette over the side if the bridge and down into the traffic. With a burst of red sparks it hit the windshield of a black car passing below. The black car then got out the exit ramp and came up behind them on the bridge. Three big men came out of the car asking who flicked the butt on his car. Which carries into the turning point when Adam points at Seth telling the men that he did it. On of the men picked Seth up by his collar and slammed his body against the fender of the car making him lick off the ashes and then slamming his face into the fender making him bleed. Afterwards the men got into the car and drove off. After the men had left Adam said “i tired to help you.....but on of them held a knife on me” witch was a lie and Seth knew he was liying. “Why’d you point at me?’ Seth asked “ I figured I could jump them if they made a move on you” What a lie.
On The Bridge shows that people don’t really like the way they are or they want to be better so they show off and tell lies they also follow other people who they believe are cool. I enjoyed this story because it expresses and very strong lesson, In the beginning of the story Seth talked about his leather jacket and how he washed it hundred of times to make it look cool and worn. But it didn’t turn out the same, in the end he had blood all over his jacket “...It look pretty cool. Like a jacket that had been worn in tons of fights. Seth smirked. He took it off and threw it in the garbage can.” This shows that Seth had grown from the beginning of the story to the end. From this story i have taken that trying to be cool isn’t always a good thing. Also not to try to fit in, being a follower isn’t a good thing; be a leader.
