Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in I Am the Messenger, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Circumstance vs. Choice
Heroism, Sainthood, and Ordinariness
Purpose, Success, and Meaning
Hope, Caring, and Beauty
Summary
Analysis
Ed drives his taxi around while thinking about ways to get people to come to church. An idea comes to him when one of his customers asks him to drop him off at a pub. Ed realizes that free beer is only thing guaranteed to bring in a crowd. When Ed tells Father O’Reilly about his idea to throw a big event with free beer and food at the church on Sunday, the Father says they could do that, but the church has no money. Ed offers his own savings.
Ed’s idea of free beer shows that helping others often involves unconventional, offbeat thinking. Ed offering to invest his own savings in order to help Father O’Reilly, without a second thought, shows how the continuous act of helping people transforms an individual into a more selfless person.
Themes
Ed’s friends decide to spray paint the news about the Sunday event around town. Marv also delights in other immature schemes, such as stealing barbecues from their friends. They gather a bouncy castle, a karaoke machine, kegs of beer, and hot dogs. All over town, they spray paint advertisements to come to the church on Sunday for free beer and the chance to meet a priest. Ed feels a newfound closeness with Marv as Marv helps him paint. They laugh and run around, and Ed feels confident and content for the first time in a long time.
Marv’s immaturity actually becomes a strength in helping the priest, showing that anyone can use their personal traits to help others. The closeness Ed feels with Marv also shows how working together for a greater good can bring individuals together.
Themes
Everyone in town, including the police, notices the graffiti. The police come to talk to Father O’Reilly about the vandalism, but he placates them with the promise of free beer. Ed knows that all kinds of people, from the alcoholics to the atheists to the Satanists, will be at the church on Sunday. On Saturday, the Father visits Ed at his house. The Father tells Ed that some people who are not involved with the church or God still do saintly acts. He says Ed is one of these people. Ed doesn’t deny this compliment, like he did when Sophie called him a saint.
The Father’s immense gratitude shows that one should help the individuals who spend all their time helping others, because this reversal has a greater impact upon those individuals’ lives. Additionally, the fact that Ed accepts the compliment of sainthood this time, when he denied a similar compliment earlier in the novel, shows how the act of helping others can help people like Ed improve their low opinions of themselves.
Themes
Also on Saturday, Ed travels around town. He invites Sophie and her family to church. He asks Milla if he can take her to church with him tomorrow. Finally, he stops at Tony O’Reilly’s house. He asks Tony if he has seen the graffiti. In response, Tony invites Ed into his home. Hesitantly, Tony explains that he and his brother are estranged. Ed says Tony does not need to talk about it if he doesn’t want to, and Tony seems relieved. One of Tony’s children comes in, whining about a fight with his brother before asking for some soda. Tony casually mentions to Ed that they might be at church tomorrow.
Here, Ed shows that it’s not necessary to know all the details about another person’s problems in order to feel empathy for that person. What’s more, Tony’s comment that he might come to the church the next day shows that healing between estranged individuals does not necessarily involve bold, dramatic actions, but can be as simple as being present for each other.
Themes
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Ed and his friends arrive at the church early Sunday morning. The Father is there, looking anxious. Soon, people begin to arrive with the kegs of beer, the bouncy castle, and the barbeques. Then many more guests arrive. Ed asks to borrow Marv’s car so he can pick up Milla, even though Marv teases him for always making fun of his car. When Ed returns to the church with Milla, he is shocked to see the place filled with people. Even his Ma is there. Ed stands in the back and waits for the Father to come out.
The successful attendance at the church shows that when one puts in great effort to help others, as Ed did for Father O’Reilly, they will receive incredible rewards. Meanwhile, Ed’s acceptance of Marv’s teasing over the car, when at the beginning of the novel they fought over this, shows how undertaking the mission to help others has allowed Ed to mature.
Themes
The Father greets the crowd, and everyone cheers for him. The Father begins to play a harmonica and is joined by a band. They play a song that he dedicates to God, and then he gives a short speech about the importance of the people of the town working together and helping each other. He invites the thugs from his neighborhood to read from the Bible.
During the final song of the church service, Ed spots Tony and his children. Father O’Reilly also sees Tony. He begins the final prayer by thanking God for all the people gathered there, for free beer, and for the fact that his brother is there. Lastly, he thanks a certain special person. Ed silently prays for Audrey, Marv, Ma, Ritchie, and his late father. He also prays for help in his missions.
Father O’Reilly’s gratefulness at seeing his brother further emphasizes the idea that caring people like Father O’Reilly still need healing within their own lives. Ed’s prayers highlight the idea that a higher power may be supporting individuals in their missions to help others, even though Ed still isn’t sure who or what is behind the cards.
Themes
After the service, the crowd gathers for food, drink, and karaoke. Ed dances with Audrey, Milla, and Sophie. After the party, Ed and his friends clean up. Before he leaves for the day, Ed sees Father O’Reilly and his brother Tony sitting together and smoking. Ed knows this moment will not completely heal the rift in their relationship, but that it is nonetheless meaningful in itself.
Ed’s thoughts on seeing Father O’Reilly and his brother together further emphasize the idea that helping others does not mean dramatically solving all their problems, but rather means encouraging people toward beginning to solve their own problems.
Themes
