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
Eddie feels like he is dreaming. The Blue Man explains that he is dead and in heaven, and that he feels like a child because he was a child when the Blue Man knew him. Eddie is disappointed that heaven looks like Ruby Pier, but the Blue Man explains that there are many steps to Heaven. He says that Eddie has no voice so that he can listen better. The Blue Man explains that in heaven, everyone first meets five people who help them to understand their experiences on earth. These will always be people who altered one’s life in some way, and who have some important connection to them, whether obvious or not. Eventually, everyone will wait for someone else’s arrival, and the cycle goes on. Eddie’s voice returns. He asks the Blue Man what killed him, and the Blue Man says, “You did.”
In the novel’s world, heaven isn’t just about peace—there is work to be done there too. Eddie doesn’t know that he was the one who killed the Blue Man, illustrating that one task in heaven is to learn about the harm done during one’s life, as well as to understand how one’s actions affected others. Eddie learns from the beginning that connections made on earth carry on into heaven, and in heaven there is greater perspective, so people can see connections that wouldn’t have been obvious on earth. There is no hierarchy after death — in heaven, everyone is first the student, and later the teacher.
Themes
