Christen Brewster

Christen Brewster

Am. Lit. 2- 11:00 MWF

Close Reading Paper

The Five People You Meet in Heaven, is a work of Mitch Albom. Written in 2003, Albom seeks to tell a story; and it’s one that is much deeper than just the surface. It is a story about Eddie, an older man who works at a Ruby Pier (an amusement park). In a drastic turn of events one of the rides malfunction and Eddie is killed when trying to save a little girl from it falling upon her. When he goes to heaven he will meet five people, and they are all someone he has had an impact on and has had an impact on him. Through this, Albom portrays a series of connections within this one mans life, and evaluates the theory that “no story sits by itself.”

Author Background/Inspiration: Mitch Albom has his own website which contains his writings and reasoning’s behind them. When looking for The Five People You Meet in Heaven, it was very interesting to see how the idea evolved. Albom states that “The character [Eddie] was inspired by my real life uncle, Edward Beitchman, who was also a World War II veteran, who died at 83, and also lived a life like that of the fictional character, rarely leaving his home city, and often feeling that he didn’t accomplish what he should have” (Albom, The Real Uncle Eddie).This is much like Eddie because after he returned from war he did not leave his town and stayed nearby Ruby Pier up until he died.

As for the idea of writing about the afterlife, Albom states in his introduction/dedication (it does not say exactly what is is) of the book, that “Everyone has an idea of heaven, as do most religions, and they should all be respected.” (The Five People You Meet in Heaven). After a story that his uncle had told him he imagined a world where “a handful of people [were] waiting for you when you die” (Albom, The Real Uncle Eddie). Thus the idea of “The Five People You Meet in Heaven” was born.

Portraying the Puzzle of Life Through Time: At first the novel gives us a background on what has been happening; the first chapter is counting down the minutes to Eddie’s death. In between these moments we get glimpses of Eddie’s life from before. Albom is establishing character development so that we can see deeper into the impact that each person has on Eddie. The story goes in between time frames and even dimensions, showing us glimpses of heaven and Earth. As stated in an article, “time is a major theme, and sometimes almost a character in its own right” (Time in Literature, 1). Here it does serve as it’s own character because it is one of the most important components of the novel.

The novel follows many different time schemes, which is maybe why it is so appealing, for it makes you think deeper than the surface. The story partially follows chronological plot, which is “often the period covered in a person’s lifetime or segment thereof” (Time in Literature, 2). It does go in a timely chronological order, which is laid out, but it does so while starting at the end and providing flashbacks. The novel’s first chapter is called “The End” and it starts with Eddie’s death rather than his birth or somewhere as a starting point of his life. “[The] novel progresses both forwards and backwards in time” and this is known as “reverse chronology” (Time in Literature, 3). As we are going forward through Eddie’s life and his trip in heaven, we are also going backwards through his journey of life and death as the starting point of the novel.

Albom portrays this well through the usage of his fonts and time frames at the beginning of the paragraphs. Some have chapter headings and others have time headings while some have no headings at all. In the first chapter the subheadings include time counting down to Eddie’s final moments with headings such as “50 Minutes left on earth” (The Five People You Meet in Heaven, 2). Italics are used to show flashbacks in Eddie’s life, and to tell events that had happened in the past. This helps establish a clear view of the reader immersing themself in the two different worlds, making it easier to go in between the two.

The author’s use of the two worlds is partially what makes this book so appealing. The usage of the two dimensions and time makes the reader have to think deeply into what they are reading and find the connections between each story. Seeing everything tie together at the end is a key component of bringing excitement and entertainment to the reader because it gives you the “it was all worth it” satisfaction in reading the novel.

Connections Within Each Story

In the beginning, there is a story about a young man named Nicky. He was at Ruby Pier with his friends enjoying the rides. When they leave the carnival, Nicky realizes that his key is missing and it cannot be found. At first we do not know the significance of this, but at the end of the novel the connection is clear.

Eddie died from Freddie’s Free-fall because the ride malfunctioned. When the ride was further investigated they realized that the cause was something jammed up in the gears of the ride. Something had gotten stuck in between and caused the ride not to work. Freddie’s Free-fall was one of the rides that Nicky and his friends had rode that day, and the thing that stopped the gears: a key.

The first person Eddie comes into contact with in heaven is what they call “The Blue Man.” This is the first true introduction to connection as the theme. The novel speaks of how his body feels like a child when he first arrives in heaven, and it is because Eddie was a child when he knew the Blue Man. He is not sure why the Blue Man is one of his people, because he cannot fully recall their encounter.

As they begin to discuss more Eddie begins to remember their brief connection from when he was younger. Eddie had been playing ball when it rolled out into the road, so he ran out to get it. In doing so he ran out in front of a car. Who was driving the car? The Blue Man. He had just learned how to drive after finding a steady place to live. Eddie startled him so much that he had a heart attack, wrecked the car and died.

Skipping to Eddie’s third person, she is a complete stranger to him. He has no idea who this is, nor the significance of her being one of his people. She begins to tell Eddie a story of her and her husband visiting a carnival and how she wanted one of her own. Therefore they built the amusement park, Ruby Pier, and she was Ruby. Her purpose is to teach a lesson to Eddie about past and future. Her building that pier affected the rest of Eddie’s life because with no pier, there would not have been a carnival for Eddie or his father to work at. Eddie had been in a cold setting for this person, possibly representing the coldness between him and his father.

Eddie’s second person was his captain from when he was in the army. They had been deployed together to the Philippines, and during their time there they were captured. After many months it seemed like there was no escape; then Eddie noticed some large rocks. Eddie began to juggle to distract the captors, and because they could not speak English he pretended to sing while talking to his men. This created enough distraction for them to kill the captors and escape. However, Eddie would not know how to juggle had it not been for Ruby Pier.

Although, the captains effect in Eddie’s life does not end there. Once they had escaped, they found the camp nearby and it was empty. The crew decided to burn it to the ground. Eddie lit one of the huts on fire but he began to see a shadowy movement within it. He thought he had seen a little girl inside, but the captain thought he was crazy. In order to stop him the captain shot Eddie in the leg.

A series of connections can be made with that simple part. We find out with Eddie’s fifth person that there was a little girl in the hut, and her name was Tala. Eddie would have died trying to save her because he too would have caught on fire. The captain may have saved his life, while costing him his leg and giving up Tala’s.

Through the captain’s harsh action, it cost what Eddie thought was his life. Due to the fact that Eddie was forced to stay at Ruby Pier because getting a job anywhere else was too hard on his leg. He was forced to walk with a cane for the rest of his life and he was limited in the thing he could do and enjoy. However, if the captain had not shot Eddie’s leg then who would keep the kids safe, and would anyone have been there to save the little girl that day.

When they returned, the captain did not return with them. Eddie had always assumed he had been killed later with a separate convoy, but we soon learn this is not what happened. Eddie asks the captain, and he informs him that he died while he was still with Eddie. When they were driving to safety they came upon a gate, and the captain got out to break the lock. When he got to it he motioned for the men to come on, but when he looked down it was a trigger. He had stepped on a bomb and it killed him right there on the spot. Eddie did not remember because he had been in and out of consciousness with his shot wound. It was his life for three others spared.

Finally at the end of the novel we learn if Eddie saved the little girl. Tala, his fifth person, told him that he had succeeded in saving her; now he feels that his death did in fact have purpose. After he learns this, Eddie is suddenly engulfed in water and the books notes that it is like all of his worries, troubles, and pain is being washed away. This symbolizes the washing of our sins and the white rocks and clear water symbolize the pureness that is now within Eddie.

If Eddie had never been at the pier, then the little girls fate may have been very different that day. Each decision comes with a question, and each one built Eddie’s life puzzle. This novel makes us think about the impact our actions have and what has came out of them. It is connection in every aspect, and the strings pulling are closer than we may think. Albom portrayed the theme of “no story sits by itself” very well, and it definitely serves as an aspect of truth in the lives we live each day.

Purpose: The purpose behind the story is telling of an in between place of heaven and Earth where the two meet and intermingle in a way that answers all of life’s biggest questions. For some people that is an important factor of their life. We will all die with unanswered questions, but Albom portrayed a world where those questions have answers and the answers have meanings as to why. It shows a realization of why and how things happen the way they do and the impact that it has on other peoples lives along with our own.

In the introduction of the novel, the author lists his purpose of the book and why it is significant. Albom writes, “The version [of heaven] represented here is only a guess, a wish, in some ways, that my uncle, and others like him—people who felt unimportant here on earth—realize, finally, how much they mattered and how they were loved” (The Five People You Meet in Heaven). This adheres to people’s thoughts because it makes you think deeper about how your actions, even the questionable ones have an impact on people’s life. However, it also has a say in how others actions dictates things in your own life as well.

CONCLUSIONS:

All in all, the story has a magical yet fictional purpose that shows the interconnection of our lives and our worlds. Portrayed in a sensible manner of time, as well as through character development, the reader truly becomes engaged in the story itself and Eddie’s characters. The answering of life’s biggest questions and reasoning behind the world gives us this magical taste of the unknown and it could not have been represented any better than it was within this novel.

WORKS CITED

Albom, Mitch.The Five People you Meet in Heaven. New York: Hyperion, 2003. Print.

"The roads to Heaven and Hell."The Library of Congress.N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2017.

"Time in Literature."Exactly What Is Time?N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2017.

"The Five People You Meet in Heaven Inspiration » Mitch Albom."Mitch Albom. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2017.

Photos from Google:

"Mitch Albom the Five People You Meet in Heaven."Google Search. Google, n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2017.

"Puzzle of Life."Google Search. Google, n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2017.

"The Five People You Meet in Heaven."Google Search. Google, n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2017.