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Color and Darkness
The novel flashes back and forth between Eddie’s passage through heaven and the retelling of his life story, using birthdays to mark each episode of Eddie’s life. Birthdays and other celebrations thus represent the passage of time, and they add importance to each milestone in Eddie’s life. When Marguerite is alive, Eddie feels enough joy and meaning to celebrate with her—they celebrate their wedding, birthdays, and they hold a farewell party before she dies. Celebrations highlight relationships and connections, and add meaning to the ordinary routine of life. After Marguerite’s death, Eddie no longer feels like life is worth celebrating.
Birthdays and Celebrations Quotes in The Five People You Meet in Heaven
The The Five People You Meet in Heaven quotes below all refer to the symbol of Birthdays and Celebrations. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 9
Quotes
Sometimes you have to do things when sad things happen.
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Chapter 28
Quotes
That was my choice (…) A world of weddings, behind every door. Oh, Eddie, it never changes, when the groom lifts the veil, when the bride accepts the ring (…) They truly believe their love and their marriage is going to break all the records…
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Birthdays and Celebrations Symbol Timeline in The Five People You Meet in Heaven
The timeline below shows where the symbol Birthdays and Celebrations appears in The Five People You Meet in Heaven. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 4
The narrative flashes back again. It is Eddie’s fifth birthday, and he is playing at his father’s feet while his father plays a game of...
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Chapter 8
...novel returns to Eddie’s childhood. Eddie has again lost the ball he received for his birthday the year before (which rolled away in the previous flashback). He runs after it, darts...
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Chapter 9
It is Eddie’s eighth birthday, and he is complaining that he doesn’t want to attend the funeral that his mother...
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Chapter 10
...realizes he was there as a child—and it becomes clear that this was Eddie’s eighth birthday (as mentioned in the previous chapter). Eddie marvels that back then, he couldn’t have known...
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Chapter 12
It is Eddie’s seventeenth birthday, and he is sitting on his bed reading comic books when his mother calls him...
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Chapter 14
...off to war, and his family and friends are sending him off with an emotional birthday celebration. Throughout the night Eddie thinks of asking Marguerite to wait for him, but he...
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Chapter 19
...father, brother, Marguerite, and Mickey Shea come into his room with a cake, singing “Happy Birthday.” Eddie wakes up to the sight and sound of his family coming in, and he...
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Chapter 21
...has set out taffy with a white colored ribbon and cake, and she sings “Happy Birthday” and kisses Eddie. Eddie tries to fight his detachment so he can enjoy this moment...
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Chapter 22
The story flashes back to the night of Eddie’s thirty-third birthday. Eddie’s father is in the hospital with pneumonia, which started a week before with a...
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Chapter 23
Is it Eddie’s thirty-seventh birthday, and he is having breakfast with his friend Noel, who works for the park dry-cleaning...
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Chapter 27
It is Eddie’s thirty-eighth birthday, and he is in the maintenance shop with his brother, Joe, who has a new...
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Chapter 29
Eddie is at the horseracing track with Noel on his thirty-ninth birthday. Eddie bets again after every time he wins, trying to double his money. He calls...
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Chapter 30
...trying to make everything pleasant for her. Everyone acts as if it weren’t a “farewell” celebration. A few days later, Marguerite wakes screaming, and Eddie drives her to the hospital. All...
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Chapter 32
...restaurant menu, an army metal, and a polaroid of a man with children, blowing out birthday candles. The estate attorney finds Eddie’s bank information. As they walk out, the attorney thinks...
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Chapter 34
It is Eddie’s fifty-first birthday, his first birthday since Marguerite died. He remembers how much he hated his birthdays in...
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