Bridge of Hesitation

We’ve all have heard the expression: the fork in the road; two different paths resembling different choices, places, and experiences.  When coming to the apex of the fork, we find ourselves looking at our options, reviewing what is now and what might be if we take the right course.  Some might easily be able to choose their path with no hesitation, but for others, we find ourselves puzzled.  We find ourselves stumped. We find ourselves somewhat lost and not knowing what we want.  We find ourselves asking questions and sometimes re-tracking the path that we have chosen if we felt that we made the wrong decision. Much like the “fork in the road”, Ishiguro brings a different metaphor for decision making: the bridge of hesitation. 

In the beginning of his novel, An Artist of the Floating World, he takes his reader to “the bridge” which separates his home from the city. There he talks about “the steep path leading up to a little wooden bridge”( 7) that they have to take in order to get to his house.  Once the reader is at the peak of the bridge, Ishiguro describes what is in front of his readers and what they have just left behind.  He talks about the challenges that the reader had to face in order to see the top of his roof and when they do, they still need to journey further in order to get to it.

I feel that many people can relate to this “bridge” in everyday life.  Just like “the fork in the road”, we find ourselves having to make certain decisions in order to get certain results.  Our journey towards our decision/goal can be either easy or somewhat of a struggle when we start.  Along the way, we might be faced with problems or thoughts of regret making us look back on what we left and seeing how far we still have to go.  It is the steep walk up the bridge that makes us want to quit and turn around; knowing that the walking back down the bridge is easier.  It is not until we reach the half way point where we find ourselves either happy with our progress or dismayed with our decision. Only at the middle of the bridge is the person able to see the struggling path that they have taken and the downhill journey that is still in front of them.     

Everyone deals with “the bridge of hesitation” sometime in their life; whether it be trying to accomplish a goal or coming to a turning point in their life.  At the bridge they are faced with what they have done and what they still have to accomplish.  By using the “bridge of hesitation, I feel that Ishiguro is trying to tell his readers that life is not easy and there will be many times where you will look back asking yourself if your journey was worth it.   It is only at the middle of bridge, however, that we find ourselves being able to answer that question; where we are able to reflect back on what we have left behind and at the same time, still be able to catch a glimpse of what is yet to come.