The Five People You Meet in Heaven: Chapter 35 Summary & Analysis

In heaven, the little girl by the river introduces herself as Tala. She invites Eddie to sit with her on a mat. She tells him the Tagalog words for things around them, and explains that the children washing each other with stones in the river are imitating their mothers. Eddie is surprised by how direct and unafraid Tala is with him, unlike most children with adults they don’t know. Tala notices the pipe cleaners in Eddie’s jacket, and he makes her a little dog. She smiles, and then she tells him “You burn me.”

Eddie is in shock, but asks her questions to find out what happened. In broken, childlike English, Tala tells him she was hiding from soldiers in a hut, because her mother told her to. Then she tells Eddie, “You make me fire.” Shuddering, Eddie realizes Tala was the little shadow in the hut that he saw in the Philippines. All of his nightmares, the darkness he had felt for years—he realizes it came from this, the life he had taken from this beautiful child. He feels he deserves all of the sadness of his life. He begins to cry and scream a “howl from the very belly of his being.” He cries, shaking, and repeats, “I killed you,” and “What have I done.” While Eddie cries, Tala calmly plays with the dog Eddie made her.

Tala picks up a stone, and tells Eddie “You wash me.” Reluctant and unsure, he follows her into the river. She takes off her blouse, showing horrible burns and blisters all over her body, and now they appear on her face as well. Shaking, Eddie scrubs the burns and blisters off of Tala, who relaxes and almost falls asleep. With her skin healthy again, Tala tells him she is his fifth person. Eddie starts to cry, and Tala asks him why he is sad. Letting go of the fact that she is a child, Eddie tells her he is sad because he didn’t do anything with his life. Tala tells him he was “supposed to be there,” at Ruby Pier. She tells him that by keeping the children safe, “You make good for me.” Then she pokes him gently, and says “Eddie Main-ten-ance.”

Eddie knows now that he is coming to the end of this part of heaven, and he again remembers the little girl, “Amy or Annie,” at Ruby Pier. He asks Tala if was able to pull her out of the way. Tala explains that he didn’t pull, but pushed her out of the way, and saved her. Confused, Eddie says it isn’t possible that he pushed her out of the way, because he felt her two small hands. Tala puts her hands in Eddie’s, and then he realizes the truth. Tala tells Eddie that those were her hands he felt when he died, because she was the one who brought him to heaven.

The river now rises above Eddie, and all the children but Tala disappear. Eddie feels himself letting go of all the pain of his life. Guided by Tala’s hand, Eddie is carried along the current through endless colors. He understands now that all of the colors he has floated and swam through in heaven are the “emotions of his life.” Rising above the water, Eddie sees the beach at Ruby Pier full of thousands of families with children playing. He realizes that these are all the children, past, present and future, whom he had kept alive and safe by keeping Ruby Pier safe. He feels a sense of peace as he floats above the boardwalk. He then comes to the big Ferris wheel, where Marguerite is sitting and waiting for him. Eddie hears the voice of God say: “Home.”