Line #45 Literature/BridgeOfClay


1	[[quoteright:318:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/7767276.jpg]]
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3	''Bridge of Clay'' is a 2018 family novel by Australian writer Creator/MarkusZusak.
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5	Five Dunbar brothers grow up alone in a racing district of an unnamed Australian city. Their mother Penny, a Polish immigrant, has died, and their father Michael has left them. One day, however, the father comes back to ask his sons to help him build a bridge. The second youngest, Clay, agrees, even though other brothers view it as betrayal.
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7	!!This work provides examples of:
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9	* AdultsAreUseless: Following Penny's death, Michael is becoming more and more absent, finally leaving them, and other adults, like school counselor, are pretty much clueless. And their elderly neighbour, Mrs Chilman, while she comes in from time to time to patch them up, basically believes teenagers are quite competent on their own, as in her times boys of similar age would be sent to fight in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII.
10	* ArcWords: A lot, especially connected with water, such as "in the tide of Dunbar past", "on the waters still to come" and "spoils of freedom".
11	* BigBrotherInstinct: [[{{Narrator}} Matthew]] towards his younger brothers, especially the two youngest, Clay and Tommy.
12	* BurnBabyBurn: Dunbar brothers finally burn their parents' mattress that's been left on an abandoned field behind their house -- and which is connected with Clay's tragic love.
13	* ChildrenDoTheHousework: The Dunbar brothers basically raise themselves, which also means that they need to do all the household chores themselves.
14	* {{Delinquents}}: Penny is offered a teaching job at Hyperno High, mostly because she was the only student-teacher who did not run away. And she gets individual remedial classes with the worst of them.
15	* DisappearedDad: Michael Dunbar to his sons. And Michael's father (he was a firefighter who was killed in a bush fire).
16	* DoubleMeaningTitle: As the author himself explains in the foreword, "clay" means material, as well as one of the brothers (Clay is short for Clayton).
17	* DustbinSchool: Hyperno High, the worst school in the city, where Penny gets her teaching job.
18	* DysfunctionalFamily: The Dunbars. Their mother has died, their father has left them and they are left to fend on their own, even if Matthew is barely 18 at that time.
19	* EnthusiasticNewbieTeacher: Claudia is a new literature teacher who was also assigned the role of the school counsellor. While we don't see her much in her lessons, she takes the role of the counsellor (which nobody else wanted) very earnestly and really wants to help Rory and Clay cope with their mother's death and their father's disappearance. With Rory she is helpless, as the only thing he wants is to drop out of school and get some serious job—but Clay appreciates her very much.
20	* FiveManBand: Five Dunbar brothers together. Growing up on their own, they solve their problems together. Matthew is the oldest, looking after the rest of his brothers. Henry is smart, sarcastic, and from a very young age was involved in money-making schemes. Rory ''loves'' brawling, is suspended several times and finally drops out of school at the earliest possible moment. Clay is intelligent, masters bridge-building just by reading several books, and loves stories. Finally, there's Tommy, the youngest of the brothers who loves animals (and later becomes a social worker).
21	* FourTemperamentEnsemble: Matthew is eclectic -- reasonable, responsible, not prone to any outbursts; Henry sanguine -- most cheerful of the family, talkative and very good at haggling; Rory choleric -- hard-working (that is, once he is expelled from school and gets "real" work), rude, loves drinking and brawling; Clay melancholic -- introverted, emotional, talks very little; and Tommy phlegmatic -- thoughtful, sympathetic and compassionate.
22	* GettingSuspendedIsAwesome: Rory hates school with all his heart and does things like throwing grapes at a teacher to get suspended. While suspended, he goes with Matthew to work, which he likes very much — and when Rory finally gets expelled, he promptly finds a job and is finally happy.
23	* HappilyMarried: Michael and Penny Dunbar. That is, until Penny dies. Later, Matthew and Claudia (even though they wait 11 years to actually get married).
24	* HighSchoolHustler: Henry. Smart, sarcastic, easy-going, always looking for a way to make some money. He uses Clay's training routine to collect bets from other teenagers.
25	* HowDadMetMom: An important part of Dunbars' BackStory, involving a piano, a shop owner with atrocious handwriting and three incompetent piano men.
26	* AnImmigrantsTale: Penelope Lesciuszko (later Penny Dunbar) emigrates to Australia from communist Poland.
27	* ImposedHandicapTraining: Clay's a sprinter and his training routine is running up the stairs of an apartment block. With his younger brother Tommy on his back. And with his older brother Henry shouting abuse at him.
28	* JerkJock: Juvenile boxer Jimmy Hartnell, who decides to bully Matthew Dunbar because of his piano lessons (to his mind, a boy who plays the piano, even forced by his mother, must be gay).
29	* LanguageBarrier: Penny at first mangles English and speaks with a very heavy Polish accent.
30	* MarriedTooYoung: Michael Dunbar gets married to his teenage love Abbey Hanley while they are still at university. She soon comes to regret it.
31	* MissingMom: Penelope's mother died in childbirth.
32	* MumLooksLikeASister: After getting a short haircut, Penny looks just like one of Dunbar boys.
33	* OminousHairLoss: Penny Dunbar is dying of cancer and undergoing chemo. She starts losing her beautiful blonde hair and in a very poignant scene asks her husband and five sons to cut it very short, because she can't stand losing whole strands of it.
34	* ParentalAbandonment: The Dunbar brothers have been abandoned by their father.
35	* ParentsAsPeople: Both Michael and Penny have their own lives before and besides their five sons. And while they try really hard to be good parents, they are often overwhelmed.
36	* PromotionToParent: When Penny dies and Michael leaves his sons, the oldes, Matthew, becomes the head of the family.
37	* SchoolIsForLosers: Rory's attitude. He does everything to get suspended, is finally expelled (much to his rejoicing) and immediately goes to work.
38	* SeriousBusiness: UsefulNotes/HorseRacing for Carey Novac, who is an apprentice jockey (and a daughter and sister of jockeys).
39	* ShoutOut:
40	** Names and phrases from ''Literature/TheIliad'' and ''Literature/TheOdyssey'' appear on almost every page. Justified, as Penny (short for Penelope) Dunbar used to read them to her sons.
41	** Several films, including ''Film/BachelorParty'', ''Film/{{Gallipoli}}'' and ''Film/ChariotsOfFire'' all play an important role in the plot.
42	** Several chapter titles are direct or indirect shout-outs: [[Literature/APortraitOfTheArtistAsAYoungMan Portrait of a killer as a middle-aged man]], Film/BirthdayGirl, [[Creator/ErnestHemingway Death in the afternoon]], Literature/TheBigSleep, [[Literature/LoveInTheTimeOfCholera Love in the time of chaos]], Film/TheBurningBed.
43	* SiblingRivalry: Rory and Henry (the second and the third son, respectively) always fight over everything.
44	* UnnamedParent: We nevel learn the names of Penny's mother and Michael's father.
45	* TeacherStudentRomance: Or rather teacher and a former student/student's brother.
46	* TheirFirstTime:
47	** Shown with Abby and Matthew. Basically, she was the driving force, invited him to her place and guided him. Which later comes up as one of her complaints when she decides to leave him.
48	** And then there is [[spoiler: Clay and Carey's]] first time, fully spontaneous after they've been together for a long time. Tragically, it is also their last time, as the girl dies on the very next morning as an indirect consequence of their love-making.
49	* TrainingFromHell: Clay's running practice is brutal - running up the stairs in a tower block, with his younger brother on his back.
50	* TraumaticHaircut: Penny gets one when she starts losing hair due to chemo. She asks her sons and husband to do it.
51	* UnusualPetsForUnusualPeople: Dunbars are not a typical family and their pets include: a cat, a dog, a goldfish, a pigeon and a mule. Named Hector, Rosy, Agamemnon, Telemachus and Achilles.

Context Literature / BridgeOfClay