Many Forms of Sacrifice Sacrifice, as we know it, is something we give up for the sake of a better cause. When we care about something or someone, we willingly and sometimes unknowingly act on selflessness. In the book, The Five People You Meet in Heaven, written by Mitch Albom, the main character, Eddie, dies only to have five encounters that shine a spotlight on his life. In the process of learning why he meets these people, each character also teaches him valuable lessons that help him understand the significance of his life; among the many lessons, one of them is sacrifice. A sacrifice comes unknowingly.
Each had a different lesson that Eddie needs to understand before he can move on in heaven. The first person that Eddie meets was a member of the freak show his name was Joseph Corvelzchchik, and he was known as the "blue man" and I think that out of all the people Eddie meets he has the most thought provoking quotes. The blue man died when Eddie was a young boy. Eddie was playing catch with some friends and had run into the road in front of the car that the blue man was driving. The blue man managed to avoid hitting and killing Eddie, but subsequently had a heart attack and died from the anxiety of the close call.
The ball rolled into the street, and little Eddie ran to get the ball, almost being hit by a car. The Blue Man who was driving the car had to swerve instantaneously, nearly hitting another car, and then finally colliding into the rear of a parked truck. As a result of this terrifying experience, the Blue Man has a fatal heart attack and dies. Once Eddie hears this significant account, he becomes infuriated and implores to be reprimanded for this unknowing sin. The Blue Man teaches him that there are no random acts in life, and that as a result of the Blue Man dying, Eddie was able to become a war veteran and live to age eighty-three.
When Eddie died, he was sent on a journey where he met with five different people who were there to teach Eddie. These five lessons are also the five themes of this novel. These include: that every person is interconnected in some way, sacrifice, forgiveness, understanding, and that we do not need to be famous to make a difference in the lives of those around us. Albom effectively uses the storyline to make these points to the reader. The audience walks away from the story with the sense of what Albom was trying to do when he wrote the story.
He also tells Eddie that because of what he did in his life, he is the indirect cause for his death. This being so because when Eddie was kid; he and his friend Joe were playing a game with a ball that bounced into the street. As Eddie ran to the middle of the road to get the ball the Blue Man almost ran him over. He spun out of the way, trying to avoid hitting Eddie. The sad part was that Eddie was ok and safe but the Blue Man had a panic attack because he almost ran Eddie over.
The Blue Man used to work as a “freak” at Ruby Pier. The Blue Man tells Eddie that he was responsible for his death, and Eddie denies that he was. Then the Blue Man tells Eddie how what he was younger he ran in front of the Blue Man’s car causing the Blue Man to have a panic attack that later caused him wreck his car and eventually killing him. Eddie apologizes frantically but the Blue Man then teaches Eddie the first lesson that he will learn on his journey. The lesson the Blue Man taught Eddie was that there are no random acts in life, and that all incidents are intertwined in some way.
This is what I had been searching for as well, a piece of heavena moment to learn five lessons about life, love, relationships, sacrifice, and forgiveness. These five lessons taught me how to live. In explaining the circular nature of life, Albom begins his first lesson: "It is because the human spirit knows, deep down, that all lives intersect. That death doesn't just take someone, it misses someone else, and in the small distance between taken and being missed, lives are changed." I learned that all lives connect somehow and that our choices affect others whether we know it or not.
As a child, Eddie ran into the street to fetch his baseball when the Blue Man slammed on the brakes, swerved, and collided with a truck. This was all explained to Eddie to let him know that everyone is essentially connected and that he wil... ... middle of paper ... ...ife as he then proceeds to his next encounter, still oblivious to the condition of the girl. He finds himself in excruciating pain within his knee outside of a diner where his father is eating and cannot seem to notice him. Their relationship is explained further as he is described as a drunk who only approved of a hard day's work and even violence. Always being the abusive parent, his father raises a hand to him, but Eddie retaliates, thus diminishing their relationship.
As he patiently waits for the stoplight to change illumination he thinks about his wife and his two beautiful daughters. Suddenly the driver's side window is shattered and glass disperses throughout the interior of the car. William looks over to find a brick resting on the passenger seat next to him. A hooded man runs up to the side of his car and violently opens the door. The man points a gun and shouts at William to get out before he gets hurt.
He caught up with the Cougar and started hanging out the window trying to hit the car but he couldn't hold the steering wheel and do bash the car at the same time. So he got THE CLUB out from underneath his seat and put it on the steering wheel. So he got the Baseball bat and started hanging out the window hitting the car. The guy in the Cougar started swirved and Roger fell out of his car and flew underneath the wheel of the Cougar while he was yelling "I'll kick your ass" and crunched Roger leaving blood and guts all over the freeway. But Roger's skull stuck into the Cougar's hub cap.