Sarah's Blog

In March, I read The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom. The Five People You Meet in Heaven is a 196 page novel about an eighty-three year old man, Eddie, who has worked at an amusement park, Ruby Pier, for many years after his father died. At the beginning of the story, Eddie died. Freddy’s Free Fall, a ride at Ruby Pier, malfunctioned. One of the carts fell loose, and a little girl happened to be under it. While Eddie was trying to save the young girl, the cart fell on him, and he passed away. Eddie was very old, and most of his family and friends were dead at this point. This story shows Eddie’s journey when he gets to heaven. As the title foreshadows, Eddie meets five people when he first shows up in heaven. The first person Eddie meets is the Blue Man, a man who died after Eddie ran in front of his car as a young boy trying to find his baseball. Then, he met his Army Captain. He then meets Ruby, the woman that Ruby Pier was named after. After that, he meets his wife, Marguerite. She died from brain cancer when she was in her forties. The last person he meets is Tala, a young girl around five or six. She died in the Philippines in a burning hut while Eddie was in the army. Eddie tried to save her, but he got dragged away at the last second by another soldier, and she lost her life. Every person has had something to do with Eddie’s life, even if he doesn’t know it.

Something I loved about The Five People You Meet in Heaven is how I can always picture what is happening and how everyone feels. A quote that shows this is found on page 185. It reads, “The little girl appeared to be asian, maybe five or six years old, with a beautiful cinnamon complexion, hair the color of a dark plum, a small flat nose, full lips that spread joyfully over her gapped teeth, and the most arresting eyes, as black as a seal’s hide, with a pinhead of white serving as a pupil. She smiled and flapped her hands excitedly until Eddie edged one step closer, whereupon she presented herself.” This quote is describing Tala, the fifth and final person Eddie met in heaven. The author described Tala’s looks in a perfect way. It helps us picture her skin color, dark hair, her teeth, her eyes, and everything else about her appearance. Another quote is found on page 143 to page 144. The author wrote, “He felt a choke in his chest. He dropped to his knees alongside the booth. His father was so close that Eddie could see the whiskers on his face and the frayed end of his cigar. He saw the baggy lines beneath his tired eyes, the bent nose, the bony knuckles and squared shoulders of a workingman. He looked at his own arms and realized, in his earthly body, he was now older than his father. He had outlived him in every way.” This small excerpt demonstrates how Eddie feels in the moment, while also describing how things look. In this part of the book, Eddie saw his father, who died many years before him, in a diner while Eddie was in heaven. It shows that Eddie was distraught by seeing his father. This also demonstrates that the pair didn’t have a good relationship. Mitch Albom also described exactly how Eddie’s father looked and shows that he was a very hard worker, which is presented on his face.

My favorite character in this book was Marguerite, Eddie’s wife. Marguerite was one of the only people Eddie loved and truly cared about. Marguerite is a very caring and loving person. A quote from Marguerite that shows her personality is found on page 173. She said, “Lost love is still love, Eddie. It takes a different form, that’s all. You can’t see their smile or bring them food or tousle their hair or move them around a dance floor. But when those senses weaken, another heightens. Memory. Memory becomes your partner. You nurture it. You hold it. You dance with it. Life has to end. Love doesn’t.” This proves her morals because she is telling Eddie that even though she died way before he did, they never stopped loving each other. They were seperated, but still connected in their hearts. Marguerite is helping Eddie look back on his life with a different and happier look, instead of regret or anger. She truly has a way with words, and it made me look back on many parts of the book with a different perspective. This shows how much she loves Eddie because when she left she didn’t forget about him or stop loving him, and neither did he. She knew that the memories they had together were powerful and lovely, and that let her continue loving him the same way she always did.

My favorite quote from The Five People You Meet in Heaven is written on the first page. It says, “It might seem strange to start a story with an ending. But all endings are also beginnings. We just don’t know it at the time.” This sentence is referring to how the book starts with Eddie’s death, an ending. Even so, Eddie’s death leads to heaven, which leads to him meeting and learning about the five people he met, a beginning. He got to continue doing new things, even after his life. This quote also means that even though many things end, they can lead to bigger and better things. For example, if you leave a toxic group, it may be hard at first because of the memories, even if they aren’t good ones. But, that can bring newer opportunities to meet new people and turn over a new leaf. Endings are almost always hard to go through, but being able to try new things can make you forget about the hardships of things ending. Sometimes endings are relieving, and a fresh start is refreshing. But, at the time of an ending, it may seem like the end of the world, and that is hard to get out of. Finding people or things that help you out of that slump is important in a new beginning.

In February, I read The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a 213 page book that is from the perspective of Charlie, a fifteen year old boy in his first year of high school. This book is set in the years 1991 to 1992. Charlie is quiet and introverted, but once he goes to high school, he finds a pair of step siblings, Patrick and Sam, who welcome them into their senior friend group. Previously, Charlie was struggling because of the loss of his best friend, Michael, who sadly killed himself a bit before. When Charlie was younger, his Aunt Helen, the only person in his family who understood him, passed away as well. So before highschool, Charlie was alone. Charlie loves music and the song “Asleep” by The Smiths. Patrick is a loud and extroverted boy who Charlie met in their first semester woodworking class. Sam is a kind and outspoken girl who Charlie met at a football game for their highschool. Charlie has a crush on Sam, but he is trying to overcome it because she is a senior and doesn’t like him that way. This book shows how Charlie goes through his freshman year, and how he figures out his loving, caring, and confused feelings.

Something that I loved about this book was how it was written. The Perks of Being a Wallflower was written in a letter format. The first letter was written on August 25th, 1991. The last was written on August 23rd,1992. Charlie always starts the letters with “Dear friend,” and ends with, “Love always, Charlie.” At the beginning of the book, Charlie writes that he isn’t going to use any real names in the letters. This is because he didn’t want the person he is writing letters for to find out who he really is. The person he is writing to was never revealed. To the reader, it seems like Charlie is writing to us, because he knows that we will listen if we keep picking up the book and turning the pages. This made my experience reading the book better because it felt more personal, and like Charlie was talking to me about how he was feeling. The letter format is a great part of this book because we get to see what Charlie truly thinks, and how he changes during his time with his new group. He is a bit of a rambler, which may seem annoying or confusing, but it really shows Charlie’s real character. Sometimes, rambling helps get the whole point across when it is hard to say things. Charlie talks to us directly, and explains some background when needed. As the story goes on, we get to know Charlie better and his writing gets more familiar. This means that the reader understands what Charlie is trying to say, even if he isn’t exactly saying it.

My favorite character in this book was the main character, Charlie. Charlie is my favorite character because he is very caring and sweet. I found two quotes that show this. The first quote is found on page 200. It reads, “Well, I thought a lot of things. But mostly, I thought that your being sad was much more important to me than Craig not being your boyfriend anymore. And if it meant that I would never get to think of you that way, as long as you were happy, it was okay. That’s when I realized I really loved you.” This quote demonstrates how much Charlie cares about his friends. He is saying this to Sam after she found out her now ex- boyfriend, Craig, cheated on her multiple times during their relationship. Even though Charlie has had a crush on Sam for a while, he didn’t let himself be happy about their breakup. Even though he may have thought that he could have a chance now, he focused on the fact that his closest friend isn’t happy. So, instead of having his feelings get ahead of him, he helped Sam during hard times. This shows that Charlie is a very caring boy, and he knows how to help people when they are down, probably because he knows what it is like to be struggling. My second quote is on page 206. It says, “I just don’t want you to worry about me, or think that you’ve met me, or waste your time anymore. I’m so sorry that I wasted your time because you really do mean a lot to me and I hope you have a very nice life because I really think you deserve it. I really do. I hope you do, too.” This excerpt also shows how much Charlie cares because it is showing how much Charlie thinks about other people’s feelings. He feels bad that he is ranting to someone he doesn’t even know. This person, whoever you think they are, is someone that Charlie feels fondly about because they listen to him. He wants them to be okay, because he is okay. He is okay because he got to write to them, and he got to tell someone the truth when nobody he knew would listen.

My favorite quote in The Perks of Being a Wallflower is written on page 24. It reads, “Charlie, we accept the love we think we deserve.” This quote is said by Charlie’s english teacher, Mr. Anderson, one of the few people who understand Charlie. This quote meant a lot to me because many people will accept being treated like trash when they don’t deserve it, because that is what they think of themselves. But surrounding yourself with people who don’t care about your mental health can lead to worse things than just disliking yourself. When you hate yourself, you don’t think you deserve to be cared about at all. This means that if someone is being blatantly rude to someone, they might not leave because they think that it is their fault. This also means that when those people who are in a dark place and are being treated kindly and with respect, they push those people away because they don’t think that they are worthy of thoughtfulness. This quote is also saying that some people who think too highly of themselves will be with someone who treats them amazingly. But, if this person’s ego gets too high, they may start to treat the person they once loved with hatred. Overall, your self esteem and worth really matter. People should believe in themselves and believe that they should be treated great, before they can find someone who will truly treat them that way.