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Chapter 4
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Five People You Meet in Heaven, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Redemption and Forgiveness
The Connection Between All Humans
The Cycle of Life and Death
The Value in Ordinary Life
Time
Gender Roles
Summary
Analysis
In the mysterious afterlife, Eddie wakes up alone in the Ruby Pier of his childhood. Surprised at how young and spry he feels, Eddie decides to run around the entire park, enjoying all the familiar old sites. Eddie realizes he has lost his voice. He comes across the “circus freak” show of his childhood, and decides to enter the tent. He hears the announcer describing 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 this “circus freak” from his childhood.
In heaven, the passage of time is simulated for Eddie as he relives his memories, especially through the landmark of birthdays. The first person Eddie meets is a human part of a dehumanizing exhibit, creating the sense that the curator of Eddie’s experience in heaven (God, presumably) is critical of how humans devalue each other. Rather than being an innocent place, the Ruby Pier of Eddie’s childhood is already a place of suffering.
Themes
