John Steinbeck's The Five People You Meet In Heaven

During The Five People You Meet In Heaven, Eddie meets his five people and they each teach him a different lesson. Joseph Corvelszchikl, the Blue Man, is the first person Eddie meets in Heaven. By the time Eddie meets him, he still cannot talk allowing him to easily listen to the Blue Man and his lesson. Eddie wonders if his life was a waste and in response Joseph tells him “every life has a purpose, even if that purpose does not become clear until after death.” Leaving Eddie wanting to know more, he then finds himself with the Captain, his second person in Heaven, and his commanding officer in World War Ⅱ. Vowing to never leave a man behind, the Captain teaches Eddie about his lesson, Sacrifice, an essential part of life. He tells Eddie about his death, and how nobody ever dies for nothing. “Death is not the end… it is merely the beginning”, the captain tells Eddie while they sit in a tree on a World War Ⅱ battlefield.

Soon Eddie meets a strange woman, who turns out to be Ruby, his third person in Heaven, and wife of the founder of Ruby Pier, Emile. Ruby’s lesson is about forgiveness. She helps Eddie become aware of how he needs to forgive his father, for the ways he was treated throughout his life. Eddie learned about what had happened that had caused his father to ack the way he did, abusive towards his wife and children. At the diner Eddie’s father was there and Eddie tried to apologize for everything, but his father couldn’t see or hear