THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HEAVEN

'''The Five People You Meet in Heaven''' is a novel by Mitch Albom, published in 2003. A television movie of the same name was broadcast by ABC in 2004, starring Jon Voight as the main character, Eddie.

Contents

Plot

Ruby Pier

External links

Plot

The story begins with an elderly man named Edward who works as a maintenance man in an amusement park called ''Ruby Pier''. When one of the park's rides suddenly malfunctions one day, Eddie tries to save a young girl from being crushed beneath it, and loses his life in the process. As though awakening from a dream, he finds himself alone in the deserted theme park and decides to explore. Eventually, he encounters a blue-skinned man deemed a 'freak show attraction'. He explains that Eddie has arrived in Heaven and is meeting him for a reason. He tells him that he will meet five people in Heaven (the blue man being the first) who each appeared during his life on Earth and must now explain something significant about his life. Not being able to remember his last moment on Earth, Eddie asks each person if he had managed to save the young girl at the park, receiving no answer from any of them. The other four people he visits are his commanding officer during his service in WWII; Ruby, the woman that the pier was named after; his wife; and a young Filipino girl he accidentally killed and tried to save during the war...
The book is brought full circle in the epilogue where it is revealed that the boy (whose key got stuck in the cable of the free-fall ride) is a descendant of Ruby (the woman for whom the park is named after).

Ruby Pier

Eddie grows up at Ruby pier due to his father's working there as a maintenance man. When he grows up, he tries to leave the pier behind him and takes up jobs such as driving taxis instead of following in his father's footsteps. When his father dies, he is forced to take up his old job in an effort to support his wife and his mother financially. He and his wife end up living in an apartment from which the ferris wheel at Ruby Pier can be seen. In the end, Eddie never does leave Ruby Pier and lives out his days until he eventually dies while saving a young girl from dying under a malfunctioning free-falling ride.
The fictional amusement park "Ruby Pier" where Eddie works seems to draw many parallels to the real life amusement park "Luna Park" located in Coney Island. These parallels include...

★ Both parks are named after people close to the original owner

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★ Luna Park for owner's sister Luna

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★ Ruby Pier for owner's wife Ruby (one of the people Eddie meets in heaven)

★ Both parks had fires that lead to the loss of the original ownership

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★ Ruby Park's fire leads to the selling of the park

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★ Because of the expensive costs, Luna Park is let go by the original owner(s) (not sold away)

★ Both parks had/have very grand entrances

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★ seem to be described (by the book and in pictures of Luna Park) as very similar entrances by the large scale and grand arches/domes

External links

★ Official book web site

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★ Book Summary for "The Five People You Meet in Heaven"