The protagonist of this novel "The Five People you Meet in Heaven" by Mitch Albom, was Eddie. Throughout the whole reading, Eddie's last name was never revealed. Eddie was the head of the maintenance department at Ruby Pier and that was where he had passed away, while on duty. The antagonist of this novel is different in both the beginning and the end of the book.
The Five People You Meet in Heaven
For my book report, I read The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom. I didn't read any other books by this author. The reason I picked this book over many others was because a friend of mine told me it was a quick, yet fun, book to read. I also read it because they made a movie based on it and I like to compare the original novel to the newly made movie. This story takes place in the present time at Ruby Pier, an amusement park, and in heaven, or like some people like to call it, the afterlife. The emotional atmosphere of this book was very deep because Eddie, the main character, was being reminded of the meaning of life through a horrible tragedy.
The protagonist of this novel was Eddie. Throughout the whole reading, Eddie's last name was never revealed. Eddie was the head of the maintenance department at Ruby Pier and that was where he had passed away, while on duty. On the day he died, it just-so-happened to be Eddie's eighty-third birthday. The reason he had worked at Ruby Pier was because ever since he started junior high, "he mimicked his father's summer schedule, rising before the sun, working at the park until nightfall" (106 Albom).
The antagonist of this novel is different in both the beginning and the end of the book. I believe the antagonist in the beginning of the book was life itself. At the end of the book, I started to believe the antagonist was time. Life was the antagonist at one time because before Eddie had died he was just an old, feeble man who didn't believe there was a point to living. He was very unhappy and bitter. At the end of the book, once Eddie met all five people he was supposed to meet, he understood why people do certain things and why certain people live through great dangers: there is a time for everyone to die and while in these dangers someone else gave their life, only for that person to live because it wasn't their time.
The main conflict in this novel is between Eddie and himself. In other words, it's internal. One of the reasons it's internal is because Eddie was always arguing with himself about anything and everything. He also regretted doing so. For example, he had regretted going to war because he had many surgeries on his leg from a gunshot wound. He also regretted leaving Marguerite, his wife, to go to war and to fight. Another thing Eddie regretted was protecting himself from his father. What I meant by the previous sentence was this: Eddie's father was yelling at him after he had a surgery on his leg and yelled, "Get up and get a job!" Eddie's father had reeled back to throw a punch when Eddie stood up, but he'd moved on instinct and grabbed his father's arm in mid-swing. "This was the first time Eddie had ever defended himself, the first time he had ever done anything besides receive a beating as if he deserved it" (109 Albom).
The turning point in this novel is when Eddie meets the third person in heaven. That person was Ruby, the women who's husband built the first Ruby Pier. After it had burnt down, Ruby's husband sold it to someone remade the park and renamed it Ruby Pier. The reason this is the turning point is because he learned why his father caught pneumonia, which was the reason Eddie's father had died. The night he was exposed to this sickness, his father came home later and found his friend Mickey drunk and grabbing his wife. He had thrown him out of the house and they both fell into the ocean.
My expectations for this novel were met because my friend had told me she enjoyed this book. One of the many reasons that I thought this book was amazing and better than anything else I've read, was because the author wrote "60 minutes until his death" and counted down and up to things using minutes. I thought this was a very strange, but good method because it made me want to keep the book in my hand. I didn't like the fact that the first two people took longer to explain why Eddie was talking to them then the last three people. The last three people were equally important. The second person also didn't make as much sense to me as the last three. I would definitely recommend this book to a friend because I enjoyed it greatly. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would give this book a 8.7.
Biography
Albom, Mitch. The Five People You Meet in Heaven. New York: Hyperion books, 2003.
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