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Nicky
A member of the human “freak show” at Ruby Pier during Eddie’s childhood, and one of the five people Eddie meets in heaven. He is an anxious, lonely, and forgiving man. Born Joseph Corvelzchik, his first memory is his mother lifting him over the ocean as they emigrated from Poland. As a small child, his parents forced him to work in a sweatshop out of economic desperation. He was then given silver nitrate for his nerves, which turned his skin the color blue. Shunned by society, he was invited to join a traveling circus. After years of traveling, he settled permanently at Ruby Pier, where he found community and a sense of home. He died from a heart attack, caused by the shock from a young Eddie running into the street after a lost ball on his birthday. The Blue Man teaches Eddie that all lives are connected, even strangers.
The Blue Man Quotes in The Five People You Meet in Heaven
The The Five People You Meet in Heaven quotes below are all either spoken by The Blue Man or refer to The Blue Man. 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:
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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.
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In this passage, Eddie has arrived in Heaven, but he's surprised to find that Heaven looks more or less like Ruby Pier, the place Eddie's just come from. Furthermore, Eddie finds himself talking to a figure he knew well when he (Eddie) was just a kid--the Blue Man, a carnival "freak." The Blue Man is the first person Eddie will meet in Heaven; as such, he gives Eddie some of the most basic lessons about Heaven. Here, he essentially explains what Heaven is "for."The Blue Man suggests that the purpose of Eddie's time in Heaven is at first to do Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Ac
Chapter 10 Quotes
You are here so I can teach you something (…) That you can no more separate one life from another than you can separate a breeze from the wind.
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In this scene, the Blue Man teaches Eddie one of the most basic lessons of the book--maybe the most basic one of all. All lives are connected, whether we like it or not. Those who try to live their lives separate from other lives are either foolish or in denial; they ignore a basic truth of the universe. As we've already seen, Eddie believed that his life was basically separate from the life of the Blue Man--and yet a little knowledge reveals that their two lives were closely and profoundly connected.Eddie has learned the Blue Man's lesson; yet he'll struggle Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusa
It is because the human spirit knows, deep down, that all lives intersect. That death doesn’t just take someone, it misses someone else, and in the small distance between being taken and being missed, lives are changed.
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The message here, as delivered by the Blue Man, is that human beings naturally understand that all human lives are connected, particularly when it comes to living and dying. For example, the Blue Man lost his life in trying to protect the life of Eddie the 8-year-old child--one man's death allowed for another person's life.All humans are naturally understand the importance of funerals and births--the Blue Man says this is because humans instinctively know that death and life are connected to each other. The passage is particularly interesting because it argues that we all know what the Blue Man is Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas
Strangers (…) are just family you have yet to come to know.”
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The Blue Man gives Eddie another version of the same lessons he's been teaching: all lives are connected in tiny yet crucial ways. A human being isn't just connected to his friends and family--he's also connected to strangers. The Blue Man's message helps us understand the structure of the novel, as Eddie is going to meet lots of people whom he barely knows, and yet the life of each person Eddie is about to meet has been forever altered by Eddie's own actions, good or bad.The Blue Man's message is both inspiring (if cliched) and intimidating. We tend to think Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas de
No life is a waste (…) The only time we waste is the time we spend thinking we are alone.
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At the end of Chapter 3, the Blue Man gives Eddie a final piece of useful advice about the nature of life. The Blue Man has been telling Eddie that our lives are not really our own: everything we do has an effect on the people around us, often in ways that we're only dimly aware of. (For example, an innocent episode from Eddie's childhood caused the death of the Blue Man, unbeknownst to Eddie himself.)What, then, should be the enlightened person's response to the Blue Man's lessons? How do we live our lives in a way that respects the Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi n
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The Blue Man Character Timeline in The Five People You Meet in Heaven
The timeline below shows where the character The Blue Man appears in The Five People You Meet in Heaven. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 5
...a pitifully ugly man, and Eddie walks through a dark hall until he encounters the Blue Man —the first person Eddie will meet in heaven. Eddie recognizes the sad, calm expression of...
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Chapter 6
Eddie feels like he is dreaming. The Blue Man explains that he is dead and in heaven, and that he feels like a child...
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Chapter 8
In heaven, Eddie denies killing the Blue Man . Calmly, the Blue Man tells his story. Born Joseph Corvelzchik, his first memory was...
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...his friends. The narrator now recounts the same story, only from the perspective of the Blue Man . The Blue Man is driving when suddenly he sees a boy run into the...
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Chapter 10
Eddie feels remorseful that the Blue Man died from his own foolish childhood mistake, and pleads with the Blue Man not to...
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The Blue Man transports Eddie to the memory of his funeral. Eddie realizes he was there as a...
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The Blue Man embraces Eddie, and Eddie suddenly feels all of the emotions the Blue Man felt during...
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Chapter 16
Eddie remembers from the Blue Man that people waiting in heaven can make it look as they wish. He asks the...
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