A Calamity of Souls

Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses racism, racist violence, and ableist discrimination.

Penny Bridge represents the divide that exists between Black and white people in the novel. The bridge is a physical connection between the Black and white side of town, but also represents the divide that exists due to Racial Injustice and the Legal System and the failure of people to overcome personal bias. Because of systemic racism, societies were physically and socially divided.

Jack and DuBose have lunch on Penny Bridge. They stop halfway across to set up their picnic lunch. For the first time, they truly discuss each other’s pasts, learning about their childhoods and families. As they physically cross the divide between white and Black, they symbolically do so as well: They get to know each other, looking past the color of their skin. Unlike the rest of society at that time, the two were able to overcome their bias. The novel suggests that with their success at the trial, there is hope for society as well.

The novel emphasizes the importance of fighting back against bullies. The term “bully” is first used when Jack remembers being a child and how bullies picked on him due to his sister’s developmental disabilities.