The Five People You Meet In Heaven
The idea of heaven has been pondered by philosophers, theologians, and just about everyone else. Many people imagine that Heaven is someplace above the clouds with angels. Some think heaven will contain the material things they longed for in life. Even more controversial is who will be allowed in. How does someone choose who is in their heaven? Are they remembered from when they are alive or are they people that affected their timeline? What if it was much simpler than that? Suppose each person could choose what their heaven looks like and who was there. In the book The Five People You Meet in Heaven and in the poem “Thanatopsis”, there are two different views of heaven but a similar idea that all people will be there. In The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom and “Thanatopsis” by William Cullen Bryant there is the required nostalgia for the past and use of imagination to comprehend the idea of oversoul ,but each story provides two distinct
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views on each the idea of heaven.
The first similarity between The Five People You Meet in Heaven and “Thanatopsis” is that both incite the memory of people who have passed away.
Eddie remembers how he would spend each of his birthdays with Marguerite. The narrator says “Taffy. He thinks about taffy. He thinks it would take his teeth out now,but he would eat it anyhow, if it meant eating it with her” (Albom 184). What Eddie is really thinking about is the time that he spent with Marguerite before she passed away and how much he had enjoyed every second with her. In “Thanatopsis” by William Cullen Bryant he states “Thou shalt lie down with the kings of the infant world” (Bryant 33-34). This line reflects on how we will all be united when we die so that people can make up for lost time on earth. “Thanatopsis” nostalgic view promotes the idea that all people will be reunited. In The Five People You Meet in Heaven , however the nostalgia stems from deep memories that provide an idea of the sacrifice needed to be reunited with those who have passed
on.
Second is how both pieces require the use of imagination. In The Five People You Meet in Heaven the Captain tells Eddie that “Time is not what you think. Dying? Not the end of everything” (Albom 91) and he means that you must believe and imagine that there is a better place for you to go. Later in the book Marguerite tells Eddie “Life has to end. Love doesn’t” (Albom 173) this is an example that Eddie must imagine that his life in heaven will be like it was when he had Marguerite with him. In “Thanatopsis”, the quote that expresses the idea of the need for imagination is “Yet a few day, and thee The all beholding sun shall see no more” (Bryant 17-18). The meaning of see no more can be interpreted in many different ways. It could be determined as seeing no more light or maybe no more darkness but there is no certain answer to this riddle that William Cullen Bryant has presented us. In both quotes from The Five People You Meet in Heaven, Eddie is given two unusual views of death. The Captain tells Eddie that there is much more than just emptiness in death ,and Marguerite supports this when she provides him with the example of something that does not die which is love. In “Thanatopsis” the quote can be interpreted in almost infinite ways all requiring an in depth and diverse use of imagination to comprehend. It could be read as the sun being a person on the brink of death who has only a few more days until they die and is awaiting reunion with those who have come before him.
Lastly, is the idea of Oversoul. The definition of oversoul is a divine spirit supposed to pervade the universe and to encompass all human souls. In The Five People You Meet in Heaven Ruby who the pier was named for informs Eddie that “Things that happen before you are born still affect you. And people who come before your time affect you as well” (Albom 123). What Ruby means is that everyone is connected and that every action and decision has a repercussion that not only affect them but the people who follow. A second occasion that happens earlier in the book is when the Blue Man tells Eddie that “No life is a waste. The only time we waste is the time that we spend thinking we are alone” (Albom 50). The Blue Man insists that people are never alone and people are always together not physically but spiritually. In “Thanatopsis” the idea of all people coming together into one place expresses the idea of oversoul. Bryant writes “So live, that when thy summons comes to join the innumerable caravan, which moves to that mysterious realm, where each shall take his chamber in the silent halls of death” (Bryant 73-76). What really is the Oversoul? Is it a person, a place, or a thing? It can be interpreted as of the three. In The Five People You Meet in Heaven, it is interpreted as a connection that is shared between all people past, present, and future. In “Thanatopsis”, the oversoul is mainly represented as an innumerable caravan that moves into a mysterious realm wherever that might be.
What heaven is like is still wildly speculated over. Thousands of year of religion, philosophy, and science have not been able to prove anything. The one similarity is that they all come to the conclusion that people will come together. Books like The Five People You Meet in Heaven and poems such as “Thanatopsis” suggest that heaven is what you make of it. Heaven is formulated by your imagination and detailed by you memories so that you can have the answer to the burning question. What is the oversoul?
views on each the idea of heaven.
The first similarity between The Five People You Meet in Heaven and “Thanatopsis” is that both incite the memory of people who have passed away.
Eddie remembers how he would spend each of his birthdays with Marguerite. The narrator says “Taffy. He thinks about taffy. He thinks it would take his teeth out now,but he would eat it anyhow, if it meant eating it with her” (Albom 184). What Eddie is really thinking about is the time that he spent with Marguerite before she passed away and how much he had enjoyed every second with her. In “Thanatopsis” by William Cullen Bryant he states “Thou shalt lie down with the kings of the infant world” (Bryant 33-34). This line reflects on how we will all be united when we die so that people can make up for lost time on earth. “Thanatopsis” nostalgic view promotes the idea that all people will be reunited. In The Five People You Meet in Heaven , however the nostalgia stems from deep memories that provide an idea of the sacrifice needed to be reunited with those who have passed
on.
Second is how both pieces require the use of imagination. In The Five People You Meet in Heaven the Captain tells Eddie that “Time is not what you think. Dying? Not the end of everything” (Albom 91) and he means that you must believe and imagine that there is a better place for you to go. Later in the book Marguerite tells Eddie “Life has to end. Love doesn’t” (Albom 173) this is an example that Eddie must imagine that his life in heaven will be like it was when he had Marguerite with him. In “Thanatopsis”, the quote that expresses the idea of the need for imagination is “Yet a few day, and thee The all beholding sun shall see no more” (Bryant 17-18). The meaning of see no more can be interpreted in many different ways. It could be determined as seeing no more light or maybe no more darkness but there is no certain answer to this riddle that William Cullen Bryant has presented us. In both quotes from The Five People You Meet in Heaven, Eddie is given two unusual views of death. The Captain tells Eddie that there is much more than just emptiness in death ,and Marguerite supports this when she provides him with the example of something that does not die which is love. In “Thanatopsis” the quote can be interpreted in almost infinite ways all requiring an in depth and diverse use of imagination to comprehend. It could be read as the sun being a person on the brink of death who has only a few more days until they die and is awaiting reunion with those who have come before him.
Lastly, is the idea of Oversoul. The definition of oversoul is a divine spirit supposed to pervade the universe and to encompass all human souls. In The Five People You Meet in Heaven Ruby who the pier was named for informs Eddie that “Things that happen before you are born still affect you. And people who come before your time affect you as well” (Albom 123). What Ruby means is that everyone is connected and that every action and decision has a repercussion that not only affect them but the people who follow. A second occasion that happens earlier in the book is when the Blue Man tells Eddie that “No life is a waste. The only time we waste is the time that we spend thinking we are alone” (Albom 50). The Blue Man insists that people are never alone and people are always together not physically but spiritually. In “Thanatopsis” the idea of all people coming together into one place expresses the idea of oversoul. Bryant writes “So live, that when thy summons comes to join the innumerable caravan, which moves to that mysterious realm, where each shall take his chamber in the silent halls of death” (Bryant 73-76). What really is the Oversoul? Is it a person, a place, or a thing? It can be interpreted as of the three. In The Five People You Meet in Heaven, it is interpreted as a connection that is shared between all people past, present, and future. In “Thanatopsis”, the oversoul is mainly represented as an innumerable caravan that moves into a mysterious realm wherever that might be.
What heaven is like is still wildly speculated over. Thousands of year of religion, philosophy, and science have not been able to prove anything. The one similarity is that they all come to the conclusion that people will come together. Books like The Five People You Meet in Heaven and poems such as “Thanatopsis” suggest that heaven is what you make of it. Heaven is formulated by your imagination and detailed by you memories so that you can have the answer to the burning question. What is the oversoul?