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
Back on Earth in the present day, a crowd gathers, gaping, around the scene at Ruby Pier just moments after Eddie’s death by the falling cart. Nobody wants to get close to the scene, but nobody can look away. The “carnival tunes” play on in the background. Dominguez rushes out from the crowd, sees the fallen cart and Eddie beneath it, and he cannot believe what has happened. Soon police and emergency workers come, the crowd disappears, the rides are closed down, and Ruby Pier is empty.
Eddie’s gruesome death creates a jarring atmosphere at Ruby Pier: the amusement park music seems eerie and inappropriate as a backdrop to tragedy. Crowds of strangers are momentarily connected by the undeniable presence of death. This exemplifies the Blue Man’s regarding the attraction people have to funerals, because death is certain for everyone.
Themes
