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The five people you meet in heaven

Authored in 2003 by Mitch Albom, The Five People You Meet in Heaven stands out as one of the preeminently presented novels. The book centers on a protagonist called Eddie who dies at the age of eighty-three while rescuing a little girl from a falling cart. The beginning of the book is makes much presentation about the end of Eddie’s life. It begins at a place called Ruby Pier which is presented as the center of Eddie’s life. Eddie is very close and attached to this place. This is because his father worked here and he also established his career as a maintenance man at the same place. Above all, Ruby Pier is the place where Eddie meets the love of his life, Marguerite. Needless to mention, Eddie dies in the same place on his birthday. The bulk of this novel is mostly based on Eddie’s time in heaven and what he learns there as he meets certain people on whose lives he had an impact while still on earth.

Thematically, Albom seeks to express the fact that life works in a web of connections. All occurrences are interdependent and interconnected, and there are no random incidences. In sum, all lives and actions alike are connected. For instance, despite the fact that Eddie did not know the Blue Man, he indirectly caused his death. Similarly, the loss of a key by a young man at an amusement park causes Eddie’s own death as it causes machinery problems. In the words of Albom, no story is lonely, many at times, they relate and interconnect.

The author connects the themes of sacrifice and love in a unique way to achieve interconnection in the story. On the overall, he presents the idea that any form of sacrifice attracts rewards. As such many individuals go out of their way to sacrifice for others. These include Eddie’s captain at war, whom Eddie met in heaven. He saved his life and that of other soldiers by preventing them from driving over a bomb. Eddie also made a sacrifice and ended up dying to save a young girl. As in the case of love, regardless of Marguerite’s death, she could still feel Eddie’s love for her. The author encourages us to exercise forgiveness and love in the pursuit of real peace. In essence, we sacrifice for those we love, and sacrifice attracts rewards. Additionally, Albom seeks to express the thematic concept that nothing is what it appears to be. Eddie goes through life mad at his father as he believes he died due to drinking. He discovers that his father died heroically, while calling out his name.

The act of saving a child right before his death is symbolic of Eddie’s life. Eddie realizes in the end that his purpose in life was actually to save and protect children. His life ends in the process of doing this as well. Perhaps, the author approaches this perspective intentionally because the child ends up living. Analytically, Eddie presents the character of a selfless individual. He gives out his life to save a girl he doesn’t even know. He also goes into war to serve his country. In the evident interconnection, Tala and the Blue Man are also forgiving as they hold no grudge against Eddie for causing their deaths. Notably, Albom writes this book in the third person narrator perspective. Much as he does not participate in the story, he enlightens us on Eddie’s feelings. There are conflicts in the story to signify the rising action. We see the conflict between Eddie and himself where he feels that he had led a wasteful life. There is also another conflict between Edie and his father. The novel’s climax comes towards the end on the meeting between Eddie and Tala, the last person he meets in heaven. The falling action occurs after the climax when Eddie questions himself after Tala tells him that he burned her during the war as she was hiding from the soldiers. The story gets to its resolution when Eddie is at peace and finds his own heaven with his wife, Marguerite.

In conclusion, this book tries to capture what happens when one dies and how everyone’s life has meaning and purpose whether one sees it or not. In the end, each person’s actions are caused by something, cause something, and count for something. They are all interconnected.