It is
"The Arrival." Eddie wakes up in a teacup on one of the rides on Ruby Pier and finds that he can get out without his cane. He feels wonderful but alone and surprised to find that he is still at Ruby Pier.
Eddie awakes in some kind of amusement park. He is able to pull himself up and walk without his cane; he does not feel any pain. He then notices that he is at Ruby Pier. The colors and the attractions seem different and he realizes that he is at the Ruby Pier from his childhood, over 75 years ago.
Where does Eddie wake up? How is it different from what he remembered at the end of his life? Eddie wakes up in a large teacup, and he is at Ruby Pier, but the Ruby Pier is designed like it was when he was a child (he also couldn't feel pain and couldn't speak).
16. What is the last thing Eddie remembers physically feeling before he dies? The little girl's hands in his own. 17.
While setting the village on fire, Eddie thinks he sees a small shadow moving in one of the huts, and tries to save the person. He is then shot in the leg and knocked unconscious. He comes home permanently crippled and bitter.
What is different about Eddie when he wakes up? He can walk without his cane.
The people Eddie meets are- the Blue Man, the Captain, Ruby, his wife Marguerite, and Tala(read the book to know their stories). Surprisingly, out of all these five people, it is Tala- a young girl, who Eddie meets for the first time(in heaven, no less!), who had the most profound impact on him.
What is Eddie's last memory of being alive? His last memory is the tower cart falling, Amy/Annie crying and Eddie lunging and hitting pavement. Describe what Eddie sees when he dies.
The Captain confesses that he shot Eddie in the leg to prevent Eddie from chasing the shadow into the fire. This saved Eddie's life despite leaving him with a lifelong severe limp. Eddie then learns how the Captain died: he stepped on a land mine that would have killed all the men had he not set it off.
Eddie's father dies from pneumonia, which he caught while saving his friend Mickey Shea during an ocean storm. He represents extreme male aggression and toughness.
Eddie's former Captain during the war provides the second lesson of the book. The Captain shows that sacrifices are a part of life, whether they seem good or bad. He taught me that everyone makes sacrifices. Some people make big ones, while others may make smaller day-to-day sacrifices.
Eddie's First Person: The Blue Man
When Eddie first arrives in heaven, it looks like the Ruby Pier he knew as a boy. He gets up to look around and finds that his body and mind feel young again. He is able to run and he feels no pain or worry.
In heaven, Eddie waits at the Stardust Band Shell for a little girl, “Amy or Annie,” to live out her life and to one day come meet him and four other people. His lesson for her would be “that each affects the other, and the other affects the next, and the world is full of stories, but the stories are all one.”
He died from a heart attack, caused by the shock from a young Eddie running into the street after a lost ball on his birthday.
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.”
The fifth person Eddie meets in Heaven is a young girl name Tala. Eddie accidentally caused her death during the war. Tala, the fifth person Eddie meets in Heaven, helps him make peace with himself and his life.
Blue Man - The Blue Man is the first person Eddie meets in heaven. Eddie did not know the Blue Man when he was a child but his actions were responsible for the Blue Man's death.
The character of Eddie and the conceit of "The Five People You Meet In Heaven" was inspired by Albom's uncle who felt like he was a nobody. During a near-death experience he said he saw five of his relatives waiting on the edge of his bed. "I think that unfortunately a lot of people in America feel that way.
Eddie made his sacrifice when he took over his father's job at the Pier and moved into his parents' building to keep an eye on his mother after his father died.
Ruby saw all of this because her husband, Emile, was in the hospital bed right next to Eddie's father. Eddie's third lesson is to let go of anger and forgive his father. He finds himself back in the diner where he saw his father. He tells him that he forgives him by saying "it's fixed" (144).
The second person Eddie meets in heaven is his captain from World War II. They fought together in the Philippines where Eddie's troop, including the captain, was taken prisoner by four Filipino guards. Eddie, the captain, and three other soldiers were held in a bunker and forced to work in a coal mine all day.
The fourth person Eddie meets in Heaven is his wife, Marguerite. She is one of the few people he meets whom he knew in his life. The fourth person Eddie meets in Heaven helps him begin to see past his regret.