Many people accept that it takes a village to raise a child, but it takes many people to raise a village as well. A town is one of the most complex systems that a person may imagine; however, it is just one unit, and all the people come together to work together in a similar manner. This obviously does not mean that people will always work towards the same goal, but that a town makes an intricate web in which the strands al relate to each other in a different way. Bridgeport: Tales from the Park City presents such an accomplished picture of a city that one can hear all the voices of its inhabitants buzzing at the same time, forming one large hum. Perhaps its greatest feat is giving all of these characters a different, singular vision, yet having it come out as one, very complex, yet colorful, portrait.
In general, Lehman tells the story of the town of Bridgeport, which could be taken to be its main character. Nevertheless, in order to do this, he invokes many other characters, including the founders and developers of this city. In order to do this, he presents many different characters, yet following the story of the town. Thus, in many cases he does not develop their characters greatly, but only gives vivid and smart details so as the reader can stay interested and warm up to the characters, yet while still continuing with the narration of the city’s colorful history.
For instance, it is astonishing to see how the author takes up the life of Elias Howe, gives a few characteristic and wonderful details in two paragraphs, and then continues with the story of the town’s development. He “invented the first truly functioning sewing machine and patented it in 1846” (Lehman 22). The ones that had been produced before him did not constantly work properly, yet he devised the way to have it make lock stitches in a nice way, reaching two hundred and fifty stitches per minute.
Nevertheless, it is important to note that, even though he is the inventor of what arguably makes the town great, the story does not dwell on him, but goes on to other people, as it did in real life. The author emphasizes this by saying “Others took it up” (Lehman 23), a short and simple sentence that continues the abandoned project discussed in the paragraph before. As one can see, the main character in the novel is the city, even though it is made up by the voices of its many inhabitants. The town itself keeps growing in spite of the people, as they can continue to relay each other’s voices.
In conclusion, Bridgeport: Tales from the Park City tells the story of a town through the polyphony of voices of the people that had to do with its foundation and development. In this sense, it does not dwell on one or two characters, but mingles through them, providing a bird’s-eye view that is both general and strikingly intimate. One instance of this is the presentation of Elias Howe, the person who invented the first functional sewing machine. Even though this was foundational for the town, Lehman does not stop there, but devotes only two paragraphs to this great thinker before moving on to other people that made up the populace. It is astonishing to see how a great author can have such command of characters so as to bring them all to life in vivid, yet small, pictures.
Works Cited
Lehman, Eric D. Bridgeport: Tales from the Park City. Charleston, South Carolina: The History Press, 2009. PDF.
