Story Review: The Five People You Meet in Heaven

What is heaven? It seems there are numberless tips today of what “heaven” is like. The reality of the matter is that no a single of us can say for particular. Some believe that heaven is where we appear back at our lives right here on Earth as a way of studying from our errors. Author Mitch Albom wrote a story entitled The 5 Individuals You Meet in Heaven that follows one particular man via such a journey. In the story, a man named Eddie is tragically killed in an accident. What follows is his journey to heaven exactly where he meets five men and women along the way. Every of the 5 individuals are there to teach Eddie a various lesson that he should understand ahead of he enters heaven. Every of the five men and women Eddie meets in heaven present ideas that serve as the themes of this novel.

To begin with, Eddie finally is in a position to uncover 1 of the fantastic mysteries of his life. The kid he went to rescue from the burning tent in the Philippines did exist. Her name was Tala and she is the fifth individual Eddie meets in Heaven. Tala appears mature, nearly serene beyond her years, but she retains her childlike innocence and untarnished sense of faith: this is the paradox of Heaven. Tala tells Eddie that simply because of him, she did die that day in the burning tent. She speaks in a matter-of-fact way, not betraying any anger, sadness, or accusation. She describes how her mother sent her to the tent to hide from the soldiers but their rage was so immense that no component of the village was safe. Eddie, overcome with horror and guilt, drops to his knees and wails.

Tala watches him until he stops crying. Then, she calmly hands him a stone and asks him to wash her scarred back. Eddie complies and as he runs the stone more than her scars and burns, they vanish. In addition, Tala asks Eddie why he was so sad on Earth. Eddie tells her it was due to the fact he achieved nothing at all, but this response confuses Tala. She tells Eddie that he achieved a wonderful deal, he kept youngsters protected on the rides and he produced them smile. Ruby Pier was “where he was supposed to be”, she says, addressing him as Eddie Upkeep (). Eddie asks Tala if saved that little girl in the amusement park from being crushed. Tala smiles and informs Eddie that he pushed her out of the way just in time. Eddie protests, asking yourself how he could have pushed her when he felt her hands in his proper just before he died. Tala giggles and reveals to Eddie that the hands he felt were her personal Tala was bringing him to Heaven.

Eddie feels a sudden rush of relief wash over him. The river water splashes around him, baptizing his body and his soul. Eddie can now feel the happiness he brought to so many families. The pain and burden he carried with him all his life finally disappears. His soul feels light, lifted higher above his earthly prisons and set cost-free by his metaphysical catharsis.

To sum up, in these final chapters, all of the mysteries of Eddie’s earthly life are revealed so that he can ultimately make his way into Heaven unencumbered. His journey has already forced him to re-examine one of the fantastic tragedies of his life: the injury he sustained in the Philippines even though he and his platoon were torching a village. Since learning that it was his personal Captain who shot him, Eddie has started to see the incident by means of a lens of sacrifice and loyalty, instead of violence and injustice. Now, his old wounds are ripped open once once more with the understanding that there was, indeed, a youngster inside the burning tent. Because Eddie lived, that small girl Tala died.