A nationally revered novel frames its hero’s impaling as a crucifixion allegory

Evidence

The key event in The Bridge on the Drina is the impaling of a Serb rebel who tried to destroy the bridge by the Turks and their helpers, Bosnian Muslims and Gypsies. The scene contains a long, anatomically detailed account of the death of the heroic Serb, with explicit evocations of the crucifixion. The scene fits into that genre of Christian literature that details the sufferings and torments of Jesus. It is a scene that is constantly evoked by readers of Andric as one of the most memorable, if not the most memorable, passage in all of Andric’s writings. — Michael A. Sells, The Bridge Betrayed, 161