"All
endings are also beginnings. We just don’t know it at the time."
-Mitch Albom, The Five People You Meet in
Heaven-
The Five People
You Meet in Heaven is our 2nd entry in Literary Circle. It was written by Mitch
Albom in 2003, the book was about a maintenance man named Eddie following his
life and death. The novel remained for 95 weeks on the New York Times Best
Seller list.
Our group “BOOK
EARTHWORM” was assigned in different tasks to evaluate furthermore the book in
order to have an intensive comprehension of it. I was assigned to characterized each major character in the story, and here
are my other group mates’ tasks:
DISCUSSION
DIRECTOR : Jermaine Dela Cruz
1. Do you think
Eddie should be blamed for the death of the Blue Man?
All our lives are
connected with one another, but it doesn’t mean one should be blamed for the
death of another one if that person isn’t even aware of what he has done. The
issue here is whether he should be blamed or not. Our stand for that matter is
NO. He shouldn’t be blamed because what happened was an accident. Eddie was
very young then that he wasn’t even aware that Blue Man was passing along that
road that day. It was, unfortunately, the fate of the Blue Man to die that day.
2. If Eddie had
known earlier why Captain shot his leg, would his life be the same as the life
he had when he was alive?
Of course NO. But
let’s just day that he was never shot by Captain. Do you think he would still
be working in Ruby Pier? He would have worked other job. In that way, he
wouldn’t be able to secure the lives of the people, especially children
patronizing the rides of the carnival. We believe it was better that Captain
shot his leg. You know things happen for a reason.
3. If you could
change one person in the 5 people Eddie met in heaven, who would it be, who
would you replace and why?
The beauty of the
5-people framework is that not all of them know Eddie intimately, but have
certain connection with him. A special connection which shaped the entirety of
the novel. Each person, brought important lesson on Eddie’s life— The Blue Man
teaches Eddie his first lesson, which is that there are no random acts in life,
and that all incidents are intertwined in some way. Captain teaches Eddie that
when one loses something, they often gain something else. Ruby teaches Eddie to
let go of his anger and to forgive his father for the damage he caused in his
life. Marguerite teaches him the lesson that love is not lost with death. Tala
teaches Eddie that his life did have a purpose which was to keep children safe
at the pier.
4. Why do you
think Eddie has to meet 5 people in heaven before he could finally see his
heaven?
Ideally, the novel
tells us that each person in the world has to meet 5 people in heaven before
they could proceed to their own heaven to become one of another person’s 5
people. The main reason is to teach them important lessons in life so that they
would realize their existence in the world when they are still alive.
5. What do you
think would happen to Ruby Pier after Eddie’s death?
Eddie was regarded
as an important character in Ruby Pier. Children love him and his co-workers
look up to him. Perhaps, upon his death, Ruby Pier would still be operating but
with extreme care because his death brought lesson with regards to proper monitoring
of rides. Eddie has left a legacy at Ruby Pier and with respect to that, Willie
and other workers would take care of that legacy by working hard and know the
importance of their job as Maintenance of the carnival.
SUMMARIZER: Eliza
Tero
The story begins
with Eddie’s death at eighty-three years of age and then through flashbacks
reveals his entire life. He wears a badge that reads “Eddie Maintenance.” The
children call him that, as if Maintenance were his last name. He is in charge
of the rides at Ruby Pier along with his assistant, Dominguez. Eddie takes
pride in the accident-free safety record at the Pier. In the first chapter,
readers learn that a young man has lost his car keys, and eventually the keys
cause the most popular ride, Freddy’s Free Fall, to malfunction. Eddie directs
the rescue of riders whose cart has tilted. The ride starts again. Eddie sees
that the cable has been shredded, but he is unable to make himself heard in
time to prevent one of the carts from falling towards a little girl. He leaps
to save her, and that is the last thing he remembers on earth.
The remainder of
the novel is told in alternating present-tense encounters in Heaven and
flashbacks that are organized around Eddie’s birthdays. He is told that he will
meet five people in Heaven, and the purpose of those meetings is to help him
understand his life on earth. The first person he meets is the Blue Man from
the freak show on the Pier, who died when Eddie was eight years old. The Blue
Man reveals that eight-year-old Eddie was responsible for the Blue Man’s death
when he ran in front of the car the Blue Man was driving. In Heaven, the man
tells Eddie his life story, and the lesson Eddie is to learn from this first person
is that there are no random acts. All lives are interconnected, and fairness
does not govern life or death.
The second person
Eddie meets is his captain from the war. Four of his men, including Eddie, were
captured with him in the Philippines. The captain was killed by a landmine as
they were escaping after several months as captives of brutal enemy soldiers.
Eddie was sure that there was a child in a tent he had torched, and he was
going into the fire to rescue it. As he headed into the fire, Eddie’s leg was
shot, leaving him a resentful cripple for the rest of his life. His chief
resentment is an unproductive life spent maintaining rides in an amusement park
as the result of the war and the injury. He discovers in this second encounter
in Heaven that his captain shot him in order to save him from being burned in
the tent. He comes to accept the act of the captain, who was determined to
leave no one behind. The lesson he learns is that no one dies for nothing and
that when you sacrifice something precious, such as a leg, you always gain
something. Eddie just doesn’t know yet what he has gained.
The third person
Eddie meets is a woman named Ruby, for whom Ruby Pier was named long before
Eddie’s time. He meets her near a diner, where Eddie is shocked to find his
father. She takes him to a scene in his family’s kitchen where an old friend of
his father’s, Mickey Shea, attempts to assault his mother. His father comes
home and chases Mickey with a hammer but ends up rescuing him from an attempted
suicide-by-drowning off the pier. Ruby tells Eddie that his father is angry but
that he can’t let an old friend die without trying to save him. Mickey
befriended Eddie’s father in times of need. Besides, Mickey has just lost his
job because of his drinking and is drunk at the time. His father gets them both
out of the water, but he is unable to get himself up from the beach for several
hours. He dies of pneumonia a few weeks later, and Eddie ends up working on the
Pier to save his father’s job. Once his father dies, he stays on the job, and
he and Marguerite move into the same apartment house where he had grown up. The
lesson he learns from this encounter is taught by Ruby. She tells him that
anger is self-destructive and that he must forgive. Eddie goes back to the diner
and kneels beside his father, who is not able to hear him or speak to him
because he has already moved on in Heaven. Eddie tells him that he has forgiven
him and is letting his resentment go.
The fourth person
Eddie meets is his wife, Marguerite. Their relationship was a rewarding and
fulfilling one although it went through a bad period when Eddie lost money at a
racetrack. The money would have paid for the adoption of a child that
Marguerite wanted very much, since she was unable to bear children. He called
her from the racetrack to tell her that he was winning, and she was angry and
begged him to come home. In retaliation for her anger, he foolishly gambled
away all he had won. She was remorseful that she was angry when he called and
drove to the racetrack to tell him so. On the way, she had an accident and was
seriously injured. Eventually, they got past the damage that had been done, and
for the last three years before she died of a brain tumor, they were once again
close and supportive. Now they have a happy reunion in Heaven, organized
against the backdrop of several weddings from different countries. The lesson
that he learns from this fourth encounter is that lost love is still love. It
just takes a different form. Although life has to end, love doesn’t.
The fifth person
Eddie meets is a little girl, named Tala, whom he tried to rescue in the
burning tent in the Philippines in the war. She asks him to take a stone and
wash her as her mother had done. When he does, all the damage done by the fire
is washed away. She asks him why he was so unhappy on earth, and he tells her
it was because he never accomplished anything. She tells him that he was where
he was supposed to be, keeping children safe on the rides for her sake. She
also tells him that he did, in fact, save the little girl from the falling cart
and that as he died, the hands he felt in his were her own, Tala’s. She was
bringing him to Heaven to keep him safe, she tells him. At last, Eddie feels
peace. Eddie is then transported back to Marguerite to spend eternity with her
at home in Heaven.
- Mitch Albom used the paradoxical idea between life and death; "All endings are also beginnings" (introduction), to his novel "The Five People You Meet in Heaven". Eddie the main character died at the start of the book, where in his death he was destined to meet five people that could explain his existence to the world. It was a clever idea of Mitch Albom to use death as the beginning and existence as the ending of the story. Mitch, throughout the whole story successfully explain his contradicting and paradoxical introductory line.
PASSAGE PICKER:
Arjun Dango
“That there are no
random acts.
That we are all
connected.
That you cannot
separate one life from another than you can separate a breeze from the wind.”
-The Blue Man
In life, sometimes, we don’t notice
some acts that may affect other people; decisions that can lead to chains of
effect to the people that surrounds us. There are many circumstances that show
the chains and effects in our lives, such as the issues of our government these
days. Some governors take advantage of their positions to filch the money of
the people; in the long run, they get richer every month, and the poor people
gets poorer day by day. In the story of the book, the blue man died because of
Eddie because of the car accident that Eddie doesn’t even notice. The example
that I have given is far from the story, but as you analyzes it well, the
governors can be Eddie, they did things that they don’t notice but they’re
acquainted with, and the poor people can be the blue man who will be affected.
Thus, we should
think before we act, not by the usual things that we do, but by the things can
make us regret.
- Yes, indeed. Anyone could simply agree, that in every action there is a corresponding reaction. The Blue Man die, but Eddie was alive. Arjun simply, yet precisely explain his own pick of passage. And for most of us believe that there is no argument to his passage.
CONNECTOR: John Salvador
Demdam
100 Years by: Five
for Fighting
I’m fifteen for a
moment
Caught in between ten and twenty
And I’m just dreaming
Counting the ways
to where you are
I’m twenty two for a moment
She feels better than ever
And
we’re on fire
Making our way back from Mars
Chorus:
Fifteen there’s still time for you
Time to buy and time to lose
Fifteen, there’s never a wish better than this
When you only got hundred years to live
I’m thirty three for a moment
Still the
man, but you see
I’m of age A kid on the way
A family on my mind
I’m forty five
for a moment
The sea is high
And I’m heading into a crisis
Chasing the years of
my life
Refrain:
Fifteen there’s still time for you
Time to buy, time to lose yourself
Within a morning star
Fifteen I’m all right with you
Fifteen, there’s never a
wish better than this
When you only got hundred years to live
Half time goes by
Suddenly you’re wise
Another blink of an eye
Sixty seven is gone
The sun is
getting high
We’re moving on
I’m ninety nine for a moment
Dying for just
another moment
And I’m just dreaming
Counting the ways to where you are
Fifteen
there’s still time for you
Twenty two I feel her too
Thirty three you’re on
your way
Every day’s a new day
Chorus:
Fifteen there’s still time for you
Time to buy
and time to choose
Hey fifteen, there’s never a wish better than this
When you
only got hundred years to live
The song just
simply tells us that we should live our life according to what we want and
loved to. If we have just that 100 years assurance to live, that we can do all
of the things we want. But then, life is sudden, that we cannot assure on what
year in our life all of these things will end. As soon as we have already the
maturity in us, that we may weigh things, we may think a hundred times in
decision making and even show or express what we feel. By this, some points in
our life will just come along without any regret and frustrations for there
were no expectations. Let’s have some lines from the song. Fifteen there’s
still time for you Time to buy and time to lose Fifteen, there’s never a wish
better than this When you only got hundred years to live We may have all what
we want and do what we want to do at this point of time, at this point of being
in early age. But of course losing everything of what we have is present as
well. So as long as we are living, we should make use of our time wisely. As
long as we have the strength to exert all of our extra effort just to show to
all VIP’s in our life, let’s do it accordingly to what we want. Let us not wait
for the next time. Let us do it this time.
- YEY! one of my favorite song, at last. It became one of my favorite song, because it tells me that every second of my life counts. John as a connector, successfully connect the story on the song that he used. John explicitly explains that life should be enjoyed by doing the things you love to do, before it ends. I really appreciate his work, most especially when he explains that in every journey of our life, we should make it as it was our last day in Earth. Enjoy and live at your own free will!
I, Ryan Mark L. Catanio, the
character captain. J
Major Character’s Characterization:
Eddie
“The Maintenance”
-
The protagonist
and the main character that the novel centers. Eddie is 83 years old amusement
park maintenance and a war veteran. The novel introduced him first in his
death, but it was also said that his death is only the beginning. “All endings are also beginnings. We just
don't know it at the time.” (1). Eddie is children lover, a loyal husband
and a good brother. But he was changed because of war; he lost his leg and
became oblivious. Eddie is also a good man, sacrificing his life to save a
little girl named Amy. As the story
progresses, he will meet the five people in heaven that has a significance in
his life. Eddie will learn from this five people about fairness,
sacrifice,
realization,
forgiveness,
loyalty, love, peace. This five people will also change him from
being oblivious to someone who can appreciate life as it should be.
Ø Eddie is a “man twisted by war”. He
was an ambitious man, a man full of dreams before, the war changed him. “Eddie, before enlisting, had been working
to save money to study engineering. That was his goal—he wanted to build
things, even if his brother, Joe, kept saying, ‘C'mon, Eddie, you aren't smart
enough for that.’ ” (68). Because of war, Eddie lost his leg, and by that
Eddie lost hope in his life. His fiery passionate dreams died, as the beautiful
flower burned by fire.
Ø Eddie becomes an oblivious man. He is an
oblivious man, because he keeps himself from drowning deeper into his own
oblivion of regression. He did not do anything to raise himself up from the war
that has changed his life. Instead, he blamed himself, his father and all the
things that surround him that caused his the miserable life.
Ø Eddie is also a good man. Eddie
sacrificed and died in order to save Amy’s life, a girl who is standing on the "ride's
metal base" that one of Freddy's Free Fall's carts comes crashing down on.
Eddie doesn't know whether or not he saved her until the end of the book.
Joseph Corvelzshick
“The Blue Man” – Fairness
“…there are no random acts… we are all
connected… you can no more separate one life from another than you can separate
a breeze from the wind.”(50) The
First Lesson
-
Joseph Corvelzshick,
the first man in Eddie’s journey to his heaven. Joseph Corvelzshick a middle-aged
man who became blue, due to the side effect of repeated ingestion of silver
nitrate. He was called the Blue Man, because he worked at the freak show and
people like calling him that.
-
The Blue Man is the first to introduce and to
inform Eddie on the journey that he is facing. The Blue Man also explained the
true meaning of heaven and that everyone has its own heaven and everyone has
its own five people to meet.
-
“‘There are five people you meet in heaven,’
the Blue Man suddenly said. ‘Each of us was in your life for a reason. You may
not have known the reason at the time, and that is what heaven is for. For
understanding your life on earth.’ ‘People think of heaven as a paradise
garden, a place where they can float on clouds and laze in rivers and
mountains. But scenery without solace is meaningless.’ ‘This is the greatest
gift God can give you: to understand what happened in your life. To have it
explained. It is the peace you have been searching for.’ ” (42).
-
The Blue Man died
on an accident that Eddie had cause. But the Blue Man forgave Eddie and teaches
him about “fairness” of life.
-
“ ‘Fairness,’ he said, ‘does not govern life
and death. If it did, no good person would ever die young.’ ” (54). The Blue Man died has died but Eddie
has live to continue his life on earth. A good man died, another good man live.
Fairness.
"Strangers,"
the Blue Man said, "are just family you have yet to come to know."
-The Blue Man, The Five People You Meet in
Heaven-
The Captain –
Sacrifice
“Sometimes when you
sacrifice something precious, you’re not really losing it. You’re just
passing it on to someone else.”(98) The
Second Lesson
-
Eddie's
commanding officer at war and the second person on his journey towards his
heaven. The Captain is a man of his 30’s with a full head of dark hair. He was
raised to be a soldier for his father and ancestor was also a soldier. “ ‘Did you know,’ the Captain said, ‘that I come
from three generations of military?’ Eddie shrugged. ‘Yep. I knew how to fire a
pistol when I was six. In the mornings, my father would inspect my bed,
actually bounce a quarter on the sheets. At the dinner table it was always,
'Yes, sir,' and, 'No, sir.'”(100).
-
The Captain is the
one who shoot Eddie’s leg to save Eddie’s life. Eddie did not know about it,
till the captain told him so. “‘Because I
was the one,’ he said, ‘who shot you.’” (100). The Captain did so, because
the Captain always promised he would "leave no one behind," no matter
what happened, even though it means to sacrifice its own life.
-
“ ‘Sacrifice,’ THE CAPTAIN said. ‘You made one.
I made one. We all make them. But you were angry over yours. You kept thinking
about what you lost. ‘You didn't get it. Sacrifice is a part of life. It's
supposed to be. It's not something to regret. It's something to aspire to.
Little sacrifices. Big sacrifices. A mother works so her son can go to school.
A daughter moves home to take care of her sick father. ‘A man goes to war. . .
.’ ” (108).
-
Sacrifice is what Eddie learned from
the Captain. The Captain sacrificed his life to save Eddie, and Eddie
sacrificed his life to saved Amy.
Sacrifice
“It's not something to regret. It's something to aspire to.”
-The
Captain, The Five People You Meet in Heaven-
Ruby–Realization, Forgiveness
and
Loyalty
“Which was worse when left unexplained: a life,
or a death?” (148) The Third Lesson
-
Eddie’s third
person to meet in heaven. Eddie meets Ruby at a diner. She is described as
woman with a gaunt face, with sagging cheeks, rose-colored lipstick, and
tightly pulled-back white hair. Ruby was a poor working girl until she met
Emile, a sophisticated, self-earned, rich man. Emile builds Ruby a beautiful,
red and crème amusement park and names it Ruby Pier, after Ruby. The amusement
park later sets on fire and kills Emile, who tries to save it. He is
hospitalized in the same room as Eddie’s father. Ruby always taught that it was
all of her fault: her husband’s death, Eddie’s father’s death and pier worker’s
miserable life. She wished that the pier should have never been built. It was
her past, Ruby learned to forgive herself in heaven. And so, Ruby past it on to
Eddie.
-
Ruby helps Eddie to “realize” and to explain
his life and most importantly his father’s mistake.
-
“All parents damage their children. It cannot
be helped. Youth, like pristine glass, absorbs the prints of its handlers. Some
parents smudge, others crack, a few shatter childhoods completely into jagged
little pieces, beyond repair.”(110).
-
“Parents rarely let go of their children, so
children let go of them. They move on. They move away. The
moments that used to define them – a mother’s approval, a father’s nod –are
covered by moments of their own accomplishments. It is not until much
later, as the skin sags and the heart weakens, that children understand; their
stories, and all their accomplishments, sit atop the stories of their mothers
and fathers, stones upon stones, beneath the waters of their lives.”(133).
-
“Holding anger is
a poison. It eats you from 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.” (141).
-
And with his
realization, Eddie forgave himself and his father.
-
Ruby did not only teach Eddie about the
realization and forgiveness, but also about loyalty.
-
“ ‘Fifty-six,’ the old woman repeated. ‘His
body had weakened, the ocean had left him vulnerable, pneumonia took hold of
him, and in time, he died.’ ‘Because of Mickey?’ Eddie said. ‘Because of
loyalty,’ she said. ‘People don’t die because of loyalty.’ ‘They don’t?’ She
smiled. ‘Religion? Government? Are we not loyal to such things, sometimes to
the death?’ Eddie shrugged. ‘Better,’ she said, ‘to be loyal to one another.’
”(138).
-
Ruby turned Eddie
into a something new: a person who’s past is at deepest oblivion is now at end
and at peace. As beautiful flower burned by fire, yet revived to become more
glowing and more beautiful.
“You have peace when you make it with yourself.”
-Ruby,
The Five People You Meet in Heaven-
Marguerite “Eddie’s Wife”– Love
“Love like rain, can nourish from above,
drenching couples with a soaking joy. But sometimes, under the angry heat of
life, love dries on the surface and must nourish from below, tending to its
roots, keeping itself alive.”(164)
The Forth Lesson
-
Eddie’s forth
person to meet in heaven. Eddie’s wife, Marguerite, is introduced in the very
beginning as a “wound beneath an old bandage… a bandage he had become
accustomed to.”(11).
-
She is the love of Eddie’s life, but dies at
the young age of 47. Although both Eddie and Marguerite love children, Marguerite
is not able to conceive and they try to adopt. Marguerite, after a car accident
is hospitalized and due to the months spent in recovery they are never able to
adopt a child. Although this tests their marriage, they overcome even this and
slowly start to be happier. That is until Marguerite is suddenly diagnosed with
a brain tumor and leaves Eddie. Eddie meets Marguerite in heaven and learns
that she did not just leave Eddie and that Eddie’s love for her was never
weakened due to her death.
“I never
wanted anyone else,” he said quietly.
“I know,” she said.
“I was still in love with you.”
“I know.” She nodded. “I felt it.”
“Here in heaven?” he asked.
“Even here,” she said, smiling. “That’s how
strong lost love can be.”
“Lost love
is still love. It takes a different form, that’s all. You can’t see
their smile or bring them food or tousle their hair or move them around a dance
floor. But when those senses weaken, another heightens.
Memory. Memory becomes your partner. You nurture it. You hold
it. You dance with it.
Life
has to end. Love doesn’t.”
-
Marguerite, The Five People You Meet in Heaven-
Tala–
Peace
"Not her hands," she said. "My
hands. I bring you to heaven. Keep you safe."(213)
The Fifth Lesson
-
Eddie’s last of five, Tala. Tala is a young 6
years old Filipina girl, who Eddie accidentally burned inside the nipa hut in the Philippines.
-
“With a beautiful
cinnamon complexion, hair the color of a dark plum, a small flat nose, full
lips that spread joyfully over her gapped teeth, and the most arresting eyes,
as black as a seal's hide, with a pinhead of white serving as a pupil.”(214)
-
Tala is an
innocent girl who did not deserve to die at a young age. Tala forgave Eddie for
murdering her.
-
Tala’s purpose is
to tell Eddie that her death is only an accident and only intentional. And that
Eddie should not blame himself and have peace inside of him.
-
Tala is also the
one who told Eddie that he saved Amy.
"Children,"
she said. "You keep them safe. You make good for me."
-Tala, The Five People You Meet in Heaven-
ARTISTRY: Hara
Vessa Escabarte
- I was totally impressed and got nearly to cry, because Hara used our picture in Tamban, Governor Generoso, Davao Oriental, to represent his artistry towards the novel. I have recall our escapade in Davao Oriental, which is one of my greatest and memorable moment of my life. This picture perfectly connect all of my group mate's work, most especially on John Demdam's work, where we should enjoy every second of our life, and we partly done it while having our vacation in Davao Oriental. I give my great appreciation and gratitude to Hara Vessa for choosing our picture.
VOCABULARY
ENRICHER: Ronald E. Surilla
Protude (pg.2)
(V) extend beyond
or above a surface.
Squint (pg.112)
(V) look at
someone or something with one or both eyes partly closed in an attempt. to see
more clearly or as a reaction to strong light.
Feign (pg.176)
(V) pretend to be
affected by (a feeling, state, or injury).
Embankment
(pg.181)
(N) a raised bank
or wall that is built to carry a roadway or hold back water.
Shudder (pg.180)
(V) (of a person)
tremble convulsively, typically as a result of fear or revulsion.
Succulent (pg.100)
(Adj.) of plants :
having thick, heavy leaves or stems that store water.
Retaliate (pg.60)
(V) make an attack
or assault in return for a similar attack.
Scabies (pg.63)
(N) a contagious
skin disease marked by itching and small raised red spots, caused by the itch
mite.
Carbine (pg.62)
(N) a light
automatic rifle.
Bandolier (pg.62)
(N) a
shoulder-belt with loops or pockets for cartridges.
Phantom (pg.52)
(N) a figment of
the imagination.
Faltered (pg.157)
(V) start to lose
strength or momentum.
Squawk (pg.13)
(V) (of a bird)
make a loud, harsh noise.
Smolder (pg.95)
(V) burn slowly
with smoke but no flame.
Shortcoming
(pg.95)
(N) a fault or
failure to meet a certain standard, typically in a person’s character, a plan,
or a system.
Vouched (pg.137)
(V) assert or
confirm as a result of one’s own experience that something is true or
accurately so described.
Flail (pg.136)
(V) wave or swing
or cause to wave or swing wildly.
Pelt (pg.136)
(V) attack
(someone) by repeatedly hurling things at them.
-Mitch Albom used
some “heavy” words throughout the whole plot of the story. I think, Mitch use
those words above to have an additional impact to the readers upon reading the
story. CLAP! CLAP! for Ronny Surilla.
No comments:
Post a Comment