Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Five People You Meet in Heaven, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Redemption and Forgiveness
The Connection Between All Humans
The Cycle of Life and Death
The Value in Ordinary Life
Time
Gender Roles
Summary
Analysis
After a long time in heaven, Marguerite tells Eddie that she knows he was angry with her for dying. He eventually admits he was, because she was so young and he lost “the only woman [he] ever loved.” She tells him, “lost love is still love.” She tells him that his memories have kept their love alive, letting her feel his love even in heaven. Then Marguerite shows Eddie to the final wedding in heaven, where an accordion player is playing the song, “You Made Me Love You.” Eddie realizes this is their wedding. Forgetting his embarrassment over his leg, he dances with Marguerite. He asks her to change her appearance to how she looked before she died, and though she is embarrassed, she does anyway. He tells her that he doesn’t want their time to end. They dance a while, until she disappears from his arms.
Love forms so strong a connection that it transcends loss, continuing even through death. Memory doesn’t need to be a sad thing, as memory is another kind of continuation of life. The little details of Eddie and Marguerite’s humble wedding have enormous significance, as reliving these details brings back all their feelings of love for each other. It is as if hanging on to the details of little moments freezes them in time. Eddie’s choice to dance with Marguerite despite his bad leg reinforces the symbolic barrier his leg represented—he could have danced anyway, but his real barriers were emotional.
Themes
