Community Treads The Bridge of San Luis Rey at All-College Seminar

Every semester at Thomas Aquinas College, students and faculty gather for one-off All-College Seminars that combine students from every class to discuss a great book, often fiction, that is not part of the ordinary curriculum. At California’s Seminar last Friday, the campus was abuzz with conversation about Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer-winning novella, The Bridge of San Luis Rey.

Wilder ponders the intersecting lives of five characters who die in the collapse of the eponymous bridge, a fate that forces a Franciscan friar to reflect on how Providence can account for such tragedies. Sections spent an hour and a half probing the story with such questions as, “Did these people die in states of virtue or vice?” and “What passion occupied each character’s life?” Underclassmen brought great energy to the conversations, with upperclassmen moderating and directing the enthusiasm, making for vigorous discussions.

Conversations continued afterward, albeit less formally, in St. Joseph Commons, where students and faculty mingled over pizza and refreshments. “I enjoyed it more the second time,” said one tutor who had read Wilder’s novella before. “We had a really good conversation!” Many students agreed. Said one, “That was a great book!”