"The Five People You Meet in Heaven" by Mitch Albom

What is heaven? It seems there are numberless ideas today of what "heaven" is like. The fact of the matter is that no one of us can say for certain. Some believe that heaven is where we look back at our lives here on Earth as a way of learning from our mistakes. Author Mitch Albom wrote a story entitled The Five People You Meet in Heaven that follows one man through such a journey. In the story, a man named Eddie is tragically killed in an accident. What follows is his journey to heaven where he meets five people along the way.

Each of the five people are there to teach Eddie a different lesson that he must learn before he enters heaven. Each of the five people Eddie meets in heaven present ideas that serve as the themes of this novel. To begin with, Eddie finally is able to uncover one of the great mysteries of his life. The child he went to rescue from the burning tent in the Philippines did exist. Her name was Tala and she is the fifth person Eddie meets in Heaven. Tala seems mature, almost serene beyond her years, yet she retains her childlike innocence and untarnished sense of faith: this is the paradox of Heaven. Tala tells Eddie that because of him, she did die that day in the burning tent. She speaks in a matter-of-fact way, not betraying any anger, sadness, or accusation. She describes how her mother sent her to the tent to hide from the soldiers but their rage was so immense that no part of the village was safe. Eddie, overcome with horror and guilt, drops to his knees and wails.

Tala watches him until he stops crying. Then, she calmly hands him a stone and asks him to wash her scarred back. Eddie complies and as he runs the stone over her scars and burns, they vanish. In addition, Tala asks Eddie why he was so sad on Earth. Eddie tells her it was because he accomplished nothing, but this response confuses Tala. She tells Eddie that he accomplished a great deal, he kept kids safe on the rides and he made them smile. Ruby Pier was "where he was supposed to be", she says, addressing him as Eddie Maintenance ().

Eddie asks Tala if saved that little girl in the amusement park from being crushed. Tala smiles and informs Eddie that he pushed her out of the way just in time. Eddie protests, wondering how he could have pushed her when he felt her hands in his right before he died. Tala giggles and reveals to Eddie that the hands he felt were her own Tala was bringing him to Heaven. Eddie feels a sudden rush of relief wash over him. The river water splashes around him, baptizing his body and his soul. Eddie can now feel the happiness he brought to so many families. The pain and burden he carried with him all his life finally disappears. His soul feels light, lifted high above his earthly prisons and set free by his metaphysical catharsis.

To sum up, in these final chapters, all of the mysteries of Eddie's earthly life are revealed so that he can finally make his way into Heaven unencumbered. His journey has already forced him to re-examine one of the great tragedies of his life: the injury he sustained in the Philippines while he and his platoon were torching a village. Since learning that it was his own Captain who shot him, Eddie has started to see the incident through a lens of sacrifice and loyalty, instead of violence and injustice. Now, his old wounds are ripped open once again with the knowledge that there was, indeed, a child inside the burning tent.