Friendship And Communication In The Ink Bridge By Neil Grant

The Ink Bridge by Neil Grant is a compelling novel written in third person about two boys from two different worlds on a journey of silence, Omed was de-tongued by the Taliban for his defiance while Hec experienced a traumatic family event that lead him to silence, fate played its part and the two boys met and were forever connected. We learn just how important it is to build bridges to the world rather than building walls around ourselves, and the significance that friendship and communication has to the bridge building process. If you build walls around yourself and don’t build any bridges to the world you are left to deal with situations that you shouldn’t be facing alone such as the struggles that Hec’s mother faced and danger.
Over 7 …show more content…
Snake was a devious character with little moral or sympathy and was not the type of person you would typically associate yourself with; however this devious individual was also very well connected, and was Omed’s only hope of salvation. Omed had found himself in a life and death situation after his run in with the Taliban when they killed his best friend in cold blood, Omed knew that if the Taliban found him he would be dead and he was left with no option but to run. But there was nowhere safe in his country and he knew he needed to get as far away as possible. This conundrum leads him in the direction of Snake. Snake uses his underworld connections to organise passports, planes and boats to put the plan into action to seek illegal entry into Australia. Due to Omed’s silence Snake became his voice but Snake did not do this out of the goodness of his heart, he used Omed’s money to escape his life too and during the course of the journey tried to ensure his own safety not that of Omed’s but he was vital in Omed’s plan as without him Omed was a silent boy being chased by the Taliban which was a very dangerous story. This relationship is a good example of the need to at times build a bridge to someone for reasons other than …show more content…
Initially their bridge was forced by Merrick Hope instigating Omed and Snake’s stay at Hec’s house, this bound Hec and Omed together and eventually they began communicating through pen and paper and would sometimes just show one another things and the other would understand. They each thought the other was strange but understood and respected each other’s journeys. Throughout the novel the boys bond only got stronger, this is shown when Hec tells Omed ‘I have waited for this day too. Our friendship meant so much to me at a time when I most needed it. We started a bridge between us when we met. Today we can lay the last stone.’ Page 251 But when the two boys discovered that there was illegal immigrant trafficking taking place at the candle factory their lives instantly changed, without the bridge of friendship and trust that Hec or Omed built, they would have had to of dealt with this issue alone, this would have been a very heavy and dangerous burden to carry not even considering the fact that if they were found they would be killed in an instance The dangers of keeping to yourself in a situation like this can be life threatening, and this is a clear indication of why it is critical to build bridges to the world, in this situation talking to an adult or notifying the police would be the best bridge instead of keeping this information and putting yourself in danger by