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Five People You Meet In Heaven

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There Is A Reason
The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom centers around the life of Eddie, a man who spends his time alive fixing rides at an amusement park. Over the course of the novel, Eddie’s past is told through birthdays and post-mortem teachings. The Five People You Meet in Heaven provides a philosophical look into the purpose of death, and what happens after it. The thesis of the book becomes clear with the first lesson taught: all life is connected, an idea that is prevalent in all cultures and religions.The Five People You Meet in Heaven teaches us that in order for society to move past hate and for us to live full and happy lives, we must rediscover our ability to forgive both ourselves and others. In Judaism there …show more content…

It eats you from the inside. We think that hating is a weapon that attacks the person who harmed us. But hatred is a curved blade. And the harm we do, we do to ourselves" (141). When we spend our lives hating someone else, whether it be an old friend, or a family member that hurt us, we end up miserable. We refuse to talk to the person we are mad at, we let our hatred convince us that they hate us too, and we make the rift between us even larger. We long for a better relationship with them, we wish it had turned out differently, but we hold onto our anger instead of letting it go and creating a better relationship with them. In Albom's novel when Eddie arrived in heaven he was filled with a sort of lightness, similar to the carefree spirit of a young child. It is later explained to him that it is "because no one is born with anger. And when we die, the soul is freed of it" (142). Eddie's fourth lesson is that love transcends death and that love is vital to life. Despite the overwhelming amount of hate in society, love and compassion always emerges right alongside …show more content…

She teaches him that there are many opportunities for redemption in life and that he had redeemed himself by working as a maintenance man at an amusement park, even though he hated it. Tala tells him "Children. You keep them safe. You make good for me" (191). Eddie was haunted by nightmares of the night he escaped, he never forgave himself, even though he was not even sure that anyone had been in the hut. Tala forgave him, and watched him protect the children at the park, making up for the damage he caused to her. Albom’s lesson, that the ability to forgive is one of the most important parts of our humanity, is

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