Claret School of Quezon City High School Department

Five People You Meet In Heaven A Book Report Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements in English IV

Submitted to Mrs. Perly G. Illustre

by Jason G. Purugganan IV-SFA

October 2010

List of Supporting Information Character: Eddie He is an 83 year-old maintenance man at Ruby Pier, an amusement park. He is the protagonist of the story where the story starts at the end of his life. The day of his death is also his 83rd birthday. He dies in a tragic accident in Ruby Pier where a cable from Freddy s Free Fall snapped and crushed him to death He tried to save a little girl but wasn t able to confirm it until he met the last person. As he travels towards his heaven, he reminisces his past and learns lessons from life that he had not known back when he was on earth. Eddie will meet five people that had some connections with him in his life and will teach him lessons about love, friendship and sacrifice. There are flashbacks of his birthdays that have connections with events in his life. The story suggests that every action he makes, there will be a consequence to it. He is a soldier in the World War II who was deployed in the Philippines to counter the invading Japanese. He had his love of his life and learned many things about her when they met again to teach him a lesson. Theme: All endings are also beginnings. We just don t know it at the time. (p. 1, lines 3-4) The start of the novel is the end of a person s life, but it is also a start of a new world and new lessons about life. The Blue Man, the Captain, Ruby, Marguerite and Tala all cited this in their actions, words, and lessons that they taught Eddie.

Book Report Outline

I.

Introduction A. Title: Five People You Meet In Heaven B. Author: Mitch Albom C. Summary Eddie is an 83 year old maintenance man at Ruby Pier. He was just doing his routine job on his 83rd birthday and he didn t know that he was on his last hour of his life. In the end, Eddie died because of a malfunction on Freddy s Free Fall, an old ride in Ruby Pier. He tried to save a girl that was struck by the currently happening accident but was not sure if he saved her. Eddie did not expect that that was the end at all. It started a new beginning a beginning of a new eternal life. He will meet 5 people whom he either had met or hadn t met, but surely made an impact and changed his life in some way or another. The Blue Man, the Captain, Ruby, Marguerite and Tala are the 5 people he met, respectively. In the end, Eddie was able to learn lessons in life that he tried to answer, but could not. Also, he was able to answer the question Was I able to save the girl? which was answered by Tala, the 5th person.

II.

First Element Character: Eddie A. Eddie dies in a tragic accident in Ruby Pier 1. His 83rd birthday was also his death day. He is unaware of what will happen to him in about an hour, as the story goes. As a result of his death, he moves on to a life where he will relive his past life 2. In those final moments, Eddie seemed to hear the whole world: distant screaming, waves, music, a rush of wind, a low, loud, ugly sound that he realized was his own voice blasting through his chest. The little girl raised her arms. Eddie lunged. His bad leg buckled. He half flew, half stumbled toward her, landing on the metal which ripped through his shirt and split

open his skin, just beneath the patch that read Eddie and Maintenance. He felt two hands in his own, two small hands. A stunning impact. A blinding flash of light. And then, nothing. Page 18, The End

B. Eddie goes on to meet the 5 people and learn lessons from each one of them 1. Eddie starts from his childhood memories going on towards the teen age, then to the war, then to his work for all of his life. This is to reminisce his past and to answer the questions that lie underneath him during those times like who people are, why people exist, how are we connected with others, and many more that are such big mysteries of life. 2. Eddie affected and was affected in some way or another by each of these 5 people he met in heaven. III. Second Element - Theme: All endings are also beginnings. We just don t know it at the time. A. The end of a person s life is also a start of a new world and new lessons about life 1. The novel set Eddie as an example for people who are doomed to die. Every one of us will die eventually and the novel just shows us a possibility of what to expect in heaven. Death is not just the application for this theme. It is applicable to our daily lives as we end things, new things start. IV. Conclusions A. The Five People You Meet in Heaven is a tale of a life on earth. It s a tale of life beyond it B. It s a fable about love, a warning about war, and a nod of the cap to the real people of this world, the ones who never get their name in lights. C. Every one of us has a purpose to this world. Although we do not know it, we will have it answered through time.

A Book Report on Mitch Albom s Five People You Meet in Heaven

The Five People You Meet in Heaven is a fictional-inspirational novel from Mitch Albom. It starts with an 83-year old man celebrating his birthday with doing his routines in his job as a maintenance man in an amusement park the Ruby Pier. His name is Eddie. He was doing his normal routine of maintaining the rides until one malfunctioned. Eddie died saving a little girl whom he has known by face. He pushed her out of the path of the falling cart and was crushed to death. He then goes on to heaven and surprises him on what was in store for him. He met with 5 people that had something to do with his past and his life. Each of them gave Eddie a lesson which he could not decipher when he was still alive. Eddie is a fictional character based on Mitch Albom s real life uncle, Edward Beitchman. Eddie is a man who feels that he has not contributed enough to the world, is not significant, and he hasn t done anything right. As Eddie dies and fades away from the world we know, he travels to a new world, most of us call heaven. This affects Eddie in a number of ways. First off, all his feelings and worries are purged as he journeys towards every location but, those are recreated as he meets every one of the five people he meets; according to the time frame he met them. Eddie starts from his childhood, meeting a familiar stranger. Then on towards a comrade in battle, who sacrificed his own life to save Eddie. Then, goes on to meet an old woman whom he has known barely and existed in a different time but made a huge difference in the outcome of Eddie s life. Then he goes to his love of his life. And then on to a child that had made such a big impact on his life, he carried the burden all of his life. All these encounters made a path for Eddie to realize and understand gradually the meaning to his life. All endings are also beginnings. We just don t know it at that time. said Mitch

Albom on the start of his novel. The end of a person s life is also a start of a new world and new lessons in life. The novel set Eddie as an example for people who are doomed to die. Every one of us will die eventually and the novel just shows us a possibility of what to expect in heaven. Death is not just the application for this theme. It is applicable to our daily lives as we end things, new things start.

The Five People You Meet in Heaven is a very, very, very good novel. It is a tale of a life on earth. It s a tale of life beyond it. It s a fable about love, a warning about war, and a nod of the cap to the real people of this world, the ones who never get their name in lights. Every one of us has a purpose to this world. Although we do not know it, we will have it answered through time. It is a novel worth reading. It just takes away some of your time, as it is a short novel consisting of only 196 short pages. I recommend this to anyone who is struggling with their life, those who are always feeling down because they feel that they are not worth anything. As the New York Times stated: A book with genuine power to stir and comfort its readers. ; Simply told, sentimental, and profoundly true, this is a contemporary American fable that will be cherished by a vast readership. an inspirational book anyone can understand and relate to. Publishers Weekly. It really is