Community vs. Individualism Theme Analysis

At the beginning of her journey, Rachel Simon doesn’t just lack close personal relationships—she also lacks any sense of a broader community. But this is by design: while she views her writing and teaching work as an important public service, she also believes that achieving the “Big Life” will require her to avoid tying herself down to any particular place or group of people. And she emphasizes that her experience isn’t unique—rather, it’s part of a longstanding pattern of weakening communal ties in American life. In fact, Rachel’s sister Beth lives in a mid-sized, formerly industrial, gradually declining Pennsylvania city where buses are one of the only remaining public spaces for residents to have natural, spontaneous encounters. As a result, the buses become a key place for the city’s residents to connect—and Beth, more than most contemporary Americans, manages to find a robust sense of community through the bus system. Thus, Riding the Bus with My Sister offers a lesson in the value of community, or meaningful and sustained connections with a wide group of people who live in the same place or share the same interests. Specifically, Rachel shows that building community is often a more sustainable, rewarding pathway to living a meaningful life than the individualistic achievements (like success, power, and class status) that contemporary American culture often prioritizes.

Rachel’s lifestyle and her observations of Beth’s city show how local communities are gradually eroding across the U.S. First and foremost, Rachel’s own life exemplifies this: for four years before her research began, she did almost nothing but work. Even though her job was to tell other people’s stories, she had virtually no relationships of any sort outside of work and her immediate family. Moreover, because of her workaholic, car-centric suburban lifestyle, she almost never interacted with people outside her own social circle and class. Thus, Rachel’s life exemplifies how modern American culture encourages people to live disconnected individual lives, rather than participating in a broader community. Meanwhile, Beth’s city shows how socioeconomic forces have accelerated this trend. Rachel frequently overhears bus passengers talk about the stores that used to line the main street, the parks and theaters where people used to congregate, and the factories where they used to work. But after industry left the city, it began shrinking and growing poor. Now, it feels desolate, lacks strong social and economic institutions, and is full of desperately lonely, aimless people. This reflects the broader decline in American communal life over the last half-century.

By riding the buses with Beth and meeting new people, Rachel rediscovers the value of community. First, public transportation provides one of the few truly collective spaces still left over in cities like Beth’s. At home, Rachel never takes public transit and almost never shares space with unfamiliar people. In contrast, when she rides the bus with Beth, she’s often surrounded by a crowd, and people spontaneously strike up conversations with one another. For instance, a group of women on Estella’s bus gets into a long discussion about men and romance. This makes Rachel dread returning home to her lonely apartment, because it shows her that she’s missing out on the chance to participate in larger communities. Meanwhile, Beth uses the bus system to plug into a particular “traveling community” of her own: the drivers. She knows them all by name, and they turn to her for gossip about the bus company and one another, just as often as she turns to them for their wisdom. For instance, Beth chats with Melanie about cute celebrities, with Jacob about morality, and with virtually everyone about her crush on Cliff. The drivers all have their own opinions about Beth, but by committing to riding the buses, she claims a place within a community of people who care about her.

Rachel’s experience shows her how people can find a sense of purpose and meaning by consciously building communities. First, Beth and Rachel find a sense of company and camaraderie on the buses, which they lack in their largely solitary lives. For instance, Estella’s passengers love her primarily because she’s a kind and generous listener. Even if she can’t help them solve their problems, she’s always willing to listen and make people feel less alone. This shows that a trusted community is a valuable resource in itself. In addition, community can help people access the specific resources they need. For instance, the bus driver Jack explains has directed passengers to rehabilitation programs, and Rachel becomes a resource too—she helps Rodolpho learn acting skills and make a career change. This shows that there’s no contradiction between individual success and connection to the community—on the contrary, community support helps people succeed. Community also passes on collective wisdom, memory, and morality. The bus drivers and passengers do so in the form of advice and stories. For instance, Bert is full of stories about driving buses in New York, while Jacob talks about his own liver transplant to illustrate the Golden Rule (treat others as one wants to be treated). These stories create a sense of continuity within communities over time, and they pass down shared values. This shows that building sustained community relationships can help people lead richer, happier lives, especially in declining places like Beth’s city.

While the sense of community that Rachel finds on the buses doesn’t undermine the value she places on her work, it does help her see the folly in dedicating herself entirely to work. After all, work is fundamentally about contributing to society, or playing a meaningful part in a broader community. Without connection to that community, therefore, even the most fascinating and important work can start to feel like meaningless drudgery. By seeing how Beth has created such a connection, Rachel realizes how she can reinvigorate her own work with a sense of meaning. Just as Rachel contributes to her community through writing and teaching, Beth contributes to her own by riding the buses, offering friendship and companionship along the way.