God is only mentioned in four instances in the book. The first is when the Blue Man tells Eddie that the Five People in heaven are a gift from God to understand one’s life on earth. The second is in reference to Eddie praying during the war, and ceasing to pray after Rabozzo is killed. The third when Eddie asks Marguerite if God knows he is in heaven, and Marguerite tells him, “of course.” Finally, at the end of the novel, when Eddie travels peacefully through the sky to a Ferris wheel where Marguerite awaits him, he hears God saying, “Home.” Though not directly mentioned through most of the novel, God’s existence is implied in the design of heaven’s colors and various rules. Tala’s lesson that Eddie was “supposed to be there” at Ruby Pier also implies that God takes an active role in giving people opportunities for redemption.
God Quotes in The Five People You Meet in Heaven
The The Five People You Meet in Heaven quotes below are all either spoken by God or refer to God. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Note: all page numbers and citation info for the quotes below refer to the Hachette Books edition of The Five People You Meet in Heaven published in 2006.
Chapter 6
Quotes
People think of heaven as a paradise garden, a place where they can float on clouds and laze in rivers and mountains. But scenery without solace is meaningless. This is the greatest gift God can give you: to understand what happened in your life.
Related Characters:
The Blue Man (speaker), Eddie, God
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 16
Quotes
Adam’s first night on earth? (…) He doesn’t know what sleep is. His eyes are closing and he thinks he’s leaving this world, right? Only he isn’t. He wakes up the next morning and he has a fresh new world to work with. But he has something else, too. He has his yesterday (…) That’s what heaven is. You get to make sense of your yesterdays.
Related Characters:
The Captain (speaker), Eddie, God
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 30
Quotes
…Eddie admitted that some of his life he’d spent hiding from God, and the rest of the time he thought he went unnoticed.
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Five People LitChart as a printable PDF.
God Character Timeline in The Five People You Meet in Heaven
The timeline below shows where the character God appears in The Five People You Meet in Heaven. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 30
...himself to talk about it. They lay together, not sleeping, and Eddie asks Marguerite if God knows he is there. She tells him he does, and Eddie realizes how much of...
(full context)
Chapter 35
...Ferris wheel, where Marguerite is sitting and waiting for him. Eddie hears the voice of God say: “Home.”
(full context)