Eddie's journey in heaven is coming to a close. He is transferred from Marguerite's heaven to a place where children are playing in a river. Eddie wishes he could spend more time with her, even if it was just a few seconds. One child stands out from the rest, she calls him over. They communicate and Eddie learns that her name was Tala and she was the fifth person Eddie will meet in heaven. After Eddie escaped from the captors, he burns a hut down. Eddie saw a shadow, he tried to go in and save whoever was in there. The Captain shot him in the leg because it wasn't Eddie's turn to die. This gave him nightmares and feeling of guilt after coming home from the war. The war made him who he was even leading up to his death. We learn that there in fact was someone in there, it was Tala. Eddie learns that he did save Amy or Annie and Tala was the one who brought Eddie up to heaven. Tala teaches Eddie that it is important to move on from pain and also not to think that your life doesn't matter. Eddie thought that as a maintenance worker he didn't matter and if he died he would leave without making and impact on the world. In fact he saved many lives by fixing the rides without knowing it. After learning this Eddie accepts that he didn't waste his life. He washes the burn wounds from Tala in the river until she is the healthy little girl she was when he first laid eyes on her.
Everyone falls in love at some point, even the roughest looking people have some heart in them for other people. Eddie's soulmate was Marguerite. Admiring her since the moment he laid eyes on her. Eddie and Marguerite dated, got married, and were planning to have children but Eddie's stubbornness ruined the chances of that. One night Eddie and Marguerite fought, driving over to talk to him Marguerite got into a car accident which started the domino chain of events that led up to her death. Marguerite died at age 47, this left Eddie feeling empty and sad. The only person he really loved had just died. After going through a series of weddings and doors, Eddie meets his true love in heaven. Marguerite teaches Eddie the lesson of love. It seemed although Marguerite seemed to have gotten older and started to sag, Eddie's loved remained the same. This is true love. Marguerite was a loving wife who stood by Eddie even during his darkest hours, such as when he came back from the war. He was miserable and ignorant but Marguerite still loved him. Marguerite was that person that entered Eddie's life out of no where and then suddenly meant the world to him.
Ruby was the third person that Eddie met in Heaven. She was married to Emile, founder of Ruby Pier. Before Emile lived a simple life as a waitress at the Seahorse Grill. After marrying Emile he vowed to to build a Pier in honor of her. There was an accident involving a fire. This hurt Emile physically and mentally. After the tragic accident, Ruby wished that Emile never built the Pier. Ruby Pier had a significant impact on Eddie's life. It was the place he spent his childhood, grew up to be a young adult, worked there the rest of his life. Ruby Pier was the place were he died trying to save Amy (or Annie). Ruby shows Eddie how his father died and also gives him a different perspective on his mother and Mickey Shea. Emile was on the other side of the curtain in the Eddie's father's hospital room. She heard Eddie's father calling out his family members names proving to Eddie that his dad wasn't such a bad person after all. Ruby taught Eddie the importance of forgiveness. Eddie learns to forgive his father even though he hurt Eddie throughout his childhood and young adult years.
"War is no game. If there is a shot to be made, you make it." Mickey Shea tells this to Eddie while he is practicing shooting a toy gun at Ruby Pier. It means that you should shoot if it needs to be made, no hesitating. This is war and not play time at Ruby pier. I don't think this advice came in handy at the time, but when Eddie entered the war it helped him. It taught him to be violent and kill the enemy, no matter what was in his way. It toughened Eddie up changing him from the sweet Ruby Pier worker to the stern looking person he is now. "They grew thin and weak. Their ribs grew visible" The "crazies" barley fed their prisoners causing them to grow weak and hungry. It is just one of the physical attributes that represent what they had to go through. Life was hard for them. Their captors were described as gaunt and bony with little nubs of hair. One night, Eddie found a dead hornet in his food, this caused the others to stop eating. Lack of food caused them to look slim. "Men adapt to captivity, some better than others." Six soldiers were captured including Eddie and Captain. They were help captive in brutal conditions. Morton would mumble to himself every time he heard a noise outside. Smitty appeared to always be swallowing. This was because he was chewing on his tongue. Rabozzo would have nightmares in the middle of the night yelling "Not Me! Not Me!" Eddie was powered by anger, motivated to get out of this "prison" and see Margurite again. In the end, that was the reason Eddie fought hard. "Don't get killed okay" War takes sacrifice, in any shape or form. All soldiers have to leave their families behind and some even sacrifice their life (an example is Rabozzo). Sometimes soldiers don't die but a part of the is sacrificed; Eddie hurt his leg and for the rest of his life he lived in pain. Marguerite said this to Eddie on his birthday on the boardwalk of Ruby Pier. This was the day before Eddie left for war. "You would have died. And it wasn't your time" The Captain shot Eddie in the leg to keep him from entering the burning hut. He believed it wasn't Eddie's turn to die. This filled Eddie with rage because of his leg, he had to walk around on a cane with pain in his leg. Maybe if he never hurt his leg Eddie would have been able to get out of the way of the falling ride and live just a bit longer. Eddie died while trying to save Amy or Annie from being crushed by the falling ride, but did Eddie die a hero or someone who tried to save a little girls life?
After the Blue Man says goodbye to Eddie, he is whooshed to the jungle where he fought in the war. Eddie describes it as a place that haunted his dreams now although the was a while ago. The second person Eddie meets in heaven is Eddie's commanding officer Captain. They fought in the Philippines and after the war they had parted. The captain's face coal stained face had a look a fatigue. Eddie and him had gone through a lot together. When they were fighting they were captured, tortured, and watched their friend die. Eventually with Eddie's clever plan to distract the guards. Six men were kidnapped, five made it out alive. The Captain is described as a lanky man with a prominent chin making him look like a movie actor. He had quite an impact on Eddie's life teaching him that you never leave a man behind no matter how big the sacrafice. He built strung military discipline into Eddie making him the person he was. We don't want to know their names, and we don't wan't them knowing ours" In the Five People You Meet in Heaven Eddie meets one of the five people who have made a impact on his life. The first person that he meet is the Blue Man (whose real name is Joseph Corvelzchik), described with a sagging belly, cropped hair, stooped shoulders, and a graying blueberry colored skin. The Blue Man tells his story of how his skin came to be a blueberry shade and his rough childhood and relationship with his father. The Blue Man has a major significance on Eddie's life. According to him when Eddie went to chase after his ball, it caused the Blue Man to have a heart attack. Eddie caused his death, this takes him by shock. The Blue Man teaches Eddie an important life lesson; he teaches him that there are no random acts in life, that everyone is connected and intertwined in some way. We learn that in order for the Blue Man to live a peaceful life in heaven he needs to have a conversation with the person who killed him (Eddie). In the end his graying blueberry skin changes to a normal colored skin. He is at peace with himself.
"Eddie, it appeared was not getting a second chance" is an important line that is the start of the whole journey where Eddie meets five people in heaven. Eddie believes that some people get a second chance to somehow continue living life on Earth. I think that this is similar to reincarnation. As for everyone else they go to heaven where they start meeting five people that have made a significant impact on their lives. After his tragic death on Ruby Pier's amusement park ride "Freddy's Free Fall" he goes straight to heaven feeling like a kid again. Sometimes people think that heaven is horrible. They see it as a place where they can't see their family and are sitting and waiting for their next family member to die so that they have someone to talk to. It is especially hard if you die young and the rest of your family still has some growing up to do. But this recent chapter taught us that it is fun to wait if you feel like a great especially after being wounded. This quote is the beginning of an end where Eddie's amazing journey to meeting five special people in heaven.
Eddie dies on his 83rd birthday while saving a young girl's life at Ruby Pier . He was a veteran with a wounded knee from the war. He has dreamed of doing other things in his life rather than fixing the rides at but has just followed his father's footsteps in working as a maintenance worker at Ruby Pier. He has fallen in love once with a girl named Marguietre that he also met at Ruby Pier. He lends a $20 bill to his co worker Dominguez. This shows that he cares about Dominguez. It also seems that Eddie might be rough to teenagers because he hates them over children. Eddie sits on a chair and thinks over his life including a time where he sent two boys to a hospital for beating up his older brother Joe until he hears screaming. He lunges toward Amy in hopes of saving her from the falling cart but he loses his life.
"Life is a beautiful lie while death is just a painful truth" Who would be the five people you would want to meet in heaven?
-My Grandmother -Uncle Richard -Erik -Jessie -Martin Luther King JR What would you ask them? -My Grandmother: Did you enjoy your last few days on Earth even though you were sick? -Uncle Richard: If you were given the chance to re-do your life would you take it? -Erik: If you knew when you were going to die, what would you have done differently during your last few months on Earth? -Aunt Jessie: What is the one thing that you regret the most? -Martin Luther King JR: How did you find the courage to keep fighting for what you believed, even if people kept discriminating you? What do you think they should have known before they went to heaven? -My Grandmother: I really did love you, even if I didn't show it all the time -Uncle Richard: I wish I could have spent more time with you -Erik: I was making plans to visit you when I was older so that I could talk to you in person and not over the phone -Jessie: You treated me like a daughter, even if we were just family friends and I appreciated that -Martin Luther King JR: I always admired your speeches and how when you talked, your voice was filled with determination What would you tell them? -My Grandmother: Your death changed the my perspective on life, and how sometimes it ends too quickly -Uncle Richard: I really wanted you to see me grow up and how much I have changed since I was 6 -Erik: We all miss you a lot, but your death affected Uncle Dexter the most -Jessie: My dad misses that special chicken dish you made just for him -Martin Luther King JR: Your fight for freedom inspired many to not give up for what they believe in |
AuthorThe author of the Five People You Meet in Heaven is Mitch Albom ArchivesCategories |