Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Novel Summary


Eddie is a war veteran who has a dim perspective on life as he worked in maintenance at an amusement park since he was a strapping young man to embittered old man. Eddie finds life to be meaningless and unworthy to live. As the years pass as well as his love ones, Eddie finds himself alone in the world following a regular schedule of forgotten dreams, bad memories and regret. On Eddie's eighty three birthday he dies in tragic accident attempting it save a little girl and begins a journey in the after life to see a different perspective on his life and learn the meaning of life.

Literary Devices

These literary devices are found in the five people you meet in heaven:
1. Foreshadowing
2. Flashback
3. Similes
4. Point of view
5. Setting
6. Imagery
Albom uses these devices to show the past of Eddie's life and how and why things came to be.

Characters

Eddie is the main character and the protagonist he is an eighty three year old war veteran who is lonely and finds his life meaningless.
The Blue man is a immigrant from a small Polish village and came to America is 1894.He was a nervous child leading in to his young adult life. He became a freak show performer when he took a bottle of sliver nitrate and his skin turned blue. Later he took a permanent job in Ruby Pier and lived there.
The captain was a former war captain and commanded over Eddie when he was a soldier.
Ruby was born before Eddie's time and the reason why the Ruby Pier amusement park was build.
Marguerite is Eddie's wife and true love.
Tala is the object Eddie saw in the fire during their escape from the four crazies. Tala is a pure little girl.

Favourite quotes

Favourite Quotes from the novel The five people you meet in heaven;

" There are no random acts. That we are all connected that you can no more separate one life another than you can separate a breeze from the wind."

"Fairness" he said "does not govern life or death. If it did, no good person would ever die young "

"Take one story. View it from two different angles."

"Strangers," the Blue Man said, "Are just family you have yet to come to know."

"Dying? not the end of everything. We think it is. But what happens on earth is only the beginning."

"Sacrifice is a part of life. It is supposed to be. It's not something to regret. It's something to aspire to. Little sacrifices. Big sacrifices..."


"Sometimes when you sacrifice something precious, you're not really losing it. You're just passing it on to someone else."


"Holding anger is poison. It eats you from the inside. We think that hating is a weapon that attacks the person who harmed us. But hatred is a curved blade. And the harm we do, we do to ourselves"

"Life has to end," she said. "Love doesn't."

" There are five people you meet in heaven," the Blue Man suddenly said. "Each of us was in your life for a reason. You many not have known the reason at the time, and that is what heaven is for. For understanding your life on earth."

"But all endings are also beginnings. We just don't know it at the time."

Questions

Q1. In the quote "All endings are also beginnings. We just don't know it at the time. " What do you think that means?

Q2. Do you believe that there are no random acts in life, that things happen because they are meant to? Why do you think so?

Q3. If you were Eddie and worked in an amusement park for most of your life in maintenance, how would you view your life?


Q4. Why do you think Mitch Albom decided to create a heaven where you meet five that you might have met or had an impacted your life to explain your life on earth?

Q5. what is your perception of heaven?

Mitch Albom

Other novels by Mitch Albom are:
Bo
For one more day
Live Albom
Live Albom 2
Live Albom 3
Live Albom 4
Tuesdays with Morrie
And his latest novel Have a little faith

If you want to learn more about Mitch Albom Visit his website at http://mitchalbom.com/home/

Trailers

Here is the movie trailer of the five people you meet in heaven

And the Book trailer