Why do you think Anya goes to the bridge? What is she so frightened of?
At the time I first met Anya I sensed she was in great distress but confused by her unwillingness to accept help from Effie. However as the story moves I understood her terror better.
I think Anya was terrified of the world outside of the bush. She was completely brainwashed not to trust anyone.
I think Effie’s friend Blair hit the nail on the head when she talked about kids who’ve experienced similar upbringings. Everything is suddenly new and overwhelming, and the instinct is to retreat to a place they understand.
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Yes, and her instincts of fight or flight would be a normal reaction. Terror was paralyzing.
At that point in the story Anya was unable to cross the metaphorical bridge that would bring her into the world that Effie and others were trying to bring her to. The bridge, the curtains of rain, her disappearance over the edge all signaled her high anxiety and extreme fearfulness in the presence of the unknown. Adults no less that children distrust the unknown, how little experience Anya had to temper the tremendous changes she faced.
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I think Anya is terrified on the world outside of the bush. She doesn’t know who to trust given all that has happened in her short life.
Anya had been taught not to trust anyone outside of the bush. She is terrified and doesn’t know what to expect.
Anya knows nothing but the bush and nature. This bridge represents two things - for Anya it is one step back to nature and distancing her from a new world that is very strange to her. And for the reader it is the transition ( or bridge) that Anya must make to enter that new world.