"Building Bridges" Essay

It can be hard for some guardians to let go of the children they watched grow up. “Building Bridges” by Andrea Pinkney is about a teenage girl named Bebe who fights with her grandma, Mama Lil, about following her dream of being an engineer. Through Bebe and Mama Lil’s relationship, Pinkney shows that family relationships are complex. Mama Lil and Bebe’s relationship changes throughout the story. In the beginning Bebe and Mama Lil fight a lot. In the middle they can’t agree on Bebe’s future. Finally, in the end, Mama Lil realizes that she can’t ignore Bebe’s dreams and she is truly afraid to let go.

When we first meet Mama Lil and Bebe you can clearly see that they don’t get along. Bebe says to the reader “Yeah, over the years Mama Lil and I had thrown a lot of dissing words back and forth.” Page 19. Bebe and Mama Lil fight a lot with each other. They are both very opinionated and have very different personalities that don’t always fit well together. Another example of this is “she thought I weighed too much and dressed badly; I thought she smoked too much and overdid it with her fake gold chains.” Page 18. Both of them have opinions about each other that aren’t nice. They have different ideas of what Bebe should be and what she should not be. They don’t agree on what’s right and what’s wrong. Even though they love each other they don’t always show it or make it clear.

            As we get to know Bebe and Mama Lil better we realize that Bebe believes that Mama Lil doesn’t want to see Bebe’s version of herself.  The night before the bridge project is supposed to start Bebe tells the reader “Mama Lil did something that got me real mad. She brought home a summer job application from Rimley’s Beauty Parlor, where she and her gossipy friends spent their days.” Page 27. Mama Lil knows that Bebe wants to work on the bridge and not in the beauty parlor, but she brought it home anyway. This upsets Bebe and gets her annoyed at Mama

Lil about this decision because she feels so strongly about working on the bridge. This makes Bebe want to fight Mama Lil about this decision because she feels so strongly about working on the bridge. Also, this leads Bebe into thinking that Mama Lil is ignoring her and doesn’t care about her dream. Bebe tells Mama Lil this when she thinks she is being ignored. “Mama Lil, your eyes are always closed. Closed to seeing me.” Page 28.  Bebe thinks that Mama Lil doesn’t see her for who she is, she only sees what she wants to see. Bebe thought Mama Lil wanted her to be a different version of herself and not do what she wanted. Mama Lil wants Bebe to follow her dreams, but she is too afraid of being by herself.

            Later in the story Mama Lil realizes that Bebe’s dream is too important to keep ignoring but the thing is she is reluctant to let Bebe go. Finally Mama Lil admits to Bebe “Your dreams are the kind that’ll take you away from here, Bebe – away from your Mama Lil. You got big hopes, child, but they gonna leave me alone, by myself.” Page 29. Mama Lil wants to have Bebe go and follow her dreams, but she also doesn’t want to loose the one family member she has left. She wants what’s best for Bebe, but she is afraid to be alone without her. Bebe also doesn’t want to leave Mama Lil or disagree with her, but she will follow her dream no matter what. Bebe says to Mama Lil when she is determined to go after her dream “I don’t want to cross you, Mama Lil… but I will if I have to – to do what makes my soul feel right. To dream my dreams.” Page 30. Bebe really wants Mama Lil’s approval to work on the bridge but she will do whatever it takes to reach her goals. Even if it means that she has to disobey Mama Lil and follow her dreams without her approval. This puts Mama Lil in a difficult position because she wants what’s best for Bebe but she is also afraid of being alone without anyone.

            Overall in the short story “Building Bridges” Andrea Pinkney has made it clear that family relationships are more complex than you would think. This short story relates to teenagers in the real world because lots of teens have trouble agreeing with everything their guardians say to them. It is normal for them to not also think the same ways and act the ways they are told. Also, a lot of guardians/parents have issues letting go when their children grow up. From this short story you can learn that your parents/guardians always want what’s best for you, even when they seem like they are holding you back from doing what you want to do.