Previous
Queen of Diamonds
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in I Am the Messenger, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Circumstance vs. Choice
Heroism, Sainthood, and Ordinariness
Purpose, Success, and Meaning
Hope, Caring, and Beauty
Summary
Analysis
Feeling incredibly unlucky, Ed holds a gun with one bullet in it. He wishes he had never stopped the robbery. As he realizes the impossibility of someone as weak and inept as him killing someone with a single bullet, Ed grows angry. He wonders why he was chosen for this task and what will happen if he refuses. To calm down, Ed plays some music. The song “Five Hundred Miles” comes on and Ed feels even crazier. He laments that now his life has a purpose, and that purpose is to kill someone.
The fact that Ed receives the gun and immediately assumes he must use it to kill the man shows his belief in a brand of heroism defined by individual dramatic, violent acts. Ed continues to view fate as a series of misfortunes that turn people like him into victims. At this point, the idea that his life might have a purpose is a burden rather than an inspiration.
Themes
The next day, Ed drives his taxi completely exhausted. He thinks about the gun under his mattress and the card in his dresser drawer. As Ed returns his taxi to the company lot, he sees Audrey kissing one of their coworkers. He passes them as he goes inside the company office to see his boss, Jerry. He tells the boss he needs to take his taxi home to help his brother move. The boss initially refuses but then agrees when Ed reminds him that he’s a good employee. Marv calls Ed later to ask him why he is not at the card game. Ed tells him it’s because he has to kill someone, but Marv doesn’t take him seriously.
This scene reminds the reader that while Ed is grappling with larger issues of fate and heroism, he is still dealing with the ordinary concerns of his life, such as his crush on Audrey, his job, and his friendships. This suggests that individuals who must perform extraordinary acts of heroism are still normal people with ordinary lives rather than inherently special people.
Themes
Ed leaves his house with his taxi, the gun, and a flask full of vodka mixed with sleeping pills. He drives to the main street of his town and waits until he sees the abusive man leaving the pub. He then offers the man a free ride. Once the man gets in, Ed offers him the vodka. Filled with a blind determination, Ed drives out of town, while the man passes out in the passenger seat. Ed parks his taxi on a dirt road up a mountain called the Cathedral. Ed parks and hits the man with his gun until he wakes up. He orders the man out of the car and walks him down the deserted road.
Ed commits morally questionable acts by drugging and beating the man, which again emphasizes that helping others may involve acts that some might perceive as morally wrong. Ed exploits the man’s flaws, specifically his abuse of alcohol and his self-serving nature, in order to trap him, showing how one’s own selfishness and lack of concern for others can often lead to their own downfall.
Themes
The abusive man stumbles and falls. Ed threatens to shoot him. The man starts weeping, but Ed maintains his resolve to kill him. Ed marches him to the edge of the mountain and aims the gun at the back of his head. Suddenly, Ed begins to shake at the thought of killing someone. He asks the reader to imagine what they would do if they were in his place. Ed spends so much time wondering how he will ever live with himself after killing another person that eventually, the man falls asleep.
Ed begins the scene committed to the idea of a dramatic, decisive, but violent, act of heroism. However, Ed’s hesitation suggests that this brand of heroism, with its violence and its guilt, is not actually the best choice, and so he must consider other ways of being helpful.
Themes
Get the entire I Am the Messenger LitChart as a printable PDF.
As the sun rises, Ed wakes up the abusive man. Ed explains that he has been chosen to do what he’s doing, and he has been watching the man abuse his family. He tells the man that he is now going to die for that abuse. The man begins to beg for his life, saying he will never hurt his family again. Ed forces him to admit that he feels as scared right now as his wife does every night. Ed fires the gun.
Ed forces the man to have empathy for his wife by making him feel the same fear she does. This shows that empathy is a powerful tool for solving injustice. Thus, Ed represents an almost divine force of justice, acting upon the abuser’s life and forcing him to change his ways.
Themes
