Allison’s Comments (group member since Oct 13, 2015)

Allison’s comments from the Last but not Least group.

Well, after finishing the book the question is answered. The kid is real. I think the captain was both right and wrong in shooting Eddie. He did save his life but also ruined it. Eddie was forced to settle for work at Ruby Pier after being shot in the knee. His exhaustion, dehydration, and hysteria however were a toxic mix that the captain saw and he did as he was trained to do which was protect his men. However the captain got instant karma since he did die that night. Eddie would not of been able to save the little girl because at that time they didn't even know if she was real.

Well said Michaela

Sydney wrote: "I believe that everyone was influential in their own ways, but if I had to choose one person it would be Tala, as Cassie previously stated. When Eddie washes Tala with the stone, he washes away the..."
I agree with him washing away the guilt hes held for so long.

I think the most important person for Eddie to meet was his wife Marguerite. I'm a sucker for any sort of love in stories but theirs is my favorite. I think meeting her opens up a new side of Eddie to us. She was someone he missed terribly after she passed and was also someone super important to him in his life on earth. He needed to see her. However Ruby helps Eddie forgive his father and see the bigger picture. She also is vital to the theme as Maria said, closure. In giving him the answers and showing him his father in a different light she gave Eddie just that. speaking of his father i believe he should of been a person Eddie met and also his mother, but then again they are people you would expect to meet. Each person is important but i see Marguerite and Ruby as the most important.

Looking at all the flashbacks to Eddies birthdays they all seem like they suck. I think the rhetorical aspect is irony because birthdays are supposed to be happy and fun but his always stink. Each flashback shows us more about Eddies life on earth. When we meet the captain we see how strong, smart, compassionate (besides beating the guard to death with rocks) and calm he was when in captivity. When we meet Ruby we see all his bitterness towards his father melt away. When we meet his wife we see something we all wish we could have, a loving, caring husband who would do anything for their wife. When we meet the girl from the fire we see his regret wash away with her scars, those terrible war flashbacks about the girl in the fire all drip away. I went from feeling bad for Eddie to respecting him. His life was hard and he truly tried his best and was left with nothing and no one in the end.

I Love how deep everyone got! I agree with everyone on how his connection to theme. However being that this is probably the 10th time I’ve read this book I find the Blue Man as exactly what he is titled, the first person Eddie meets in heaven. I’m surprised no one mentioned how Eddie couldn’t talk when he was with the blue man or that he had no pain, meaning he could run and jump and even walk. I thought that to be interesting because it opens up another meaning for the Blue Man which I think Gill touched upon, his life ended when Eddie was a child. It was his time to go not eddies, so it shows us that each person Eddie meets he feels how he did when he ended their life. He is so vital to the theme because he is a symbol of forgiveness, selflessness, interconnection, and also the supernatural (I mean his skin was blue). He helps explain the rules and how you can and will effect someone’s life even if you don’t know it. While I personally don’t see him as the most important person Eddie meets he is definitely the most important to understanding this idea of heaven.

Syd I love what you said. The Characterization of Eddie is so important to this story. It begins with us knowing little to nothing about him and pitying his situation. As the story progresses and we learn more about Eddie I found that I pitied him less and respected him more. The tone of the whole story is depressing obviously, but I’m sure all of us can relate in some way to the concept of heaven. However I believe the characterization of Eddie at the “end” is pivotal simply because it makes us see him one way (bitter) until we slowly chip away at that hard shell and see him with Marguerite or his father or his mother. His bitterness at the end of his life is such a contrast to his happiness in his own heaven, which is ironically Ruby Pier.

Which person do you think was the most important for Eddie to meet? Explain why and their significances to the story regarding Eddies growth in both life and death. Is there a person he should of met in heaven and didn't get to meet? (Last question is for discussion)

Use this as a conversational thread please! Do you think the captain was right in shooting Eddie? Do you think Eddie could of saved the child? What is the purpose of meeting the captain in heaven?

As you can tell a majority of this story is flashbacks to Eddie's life. they are seen each time he meets a new person in heaven and in sections titled "Today is Eddies birthday..." What do these flashbacks reveal about Eddie? Is there a rhetorical purpose behind them? How do they shift our view of him as his life's story progresses? Feel free to revisit this one after each person Eddie meets and each birthday is remembered.

Cassie wrote: "I agree too, and I was also wondering if anyone else thought that the fact that he doesn't like teenagers is significant. I may be over analyzing this, but like Maria pointed out he did go to war a..."

I believe that its not so much as a hatred for teenagers its more of a hatred for the generation. When he was their age he was working and then off at war, times were different back then. He grew up in a time where people respected their elders and what they had. If anything Eddy is just bitter his life didn't turn out exactly how hoped it would. His father was a worker at Ruby Pier and he ended up just like the one person he hoped not to be.

What is the rhetorical significance of the Blue Man? Would you agree he is a vital player in the stories central idea?

Why do YOU think Albom described Eddie the way he did? How do you predict the characterization of Eddie at the "end" (meaning end of his life beginning of the book) affects the tone of the entire book?

I believe Jeannette didn't view herself differently through out the book. Although she matured and grew she almost always stayed true to her morals and herself.

All I know for sure is that this book really made me think. I found myself going through it so quick and then stopping for a while because I couldn't believe that someone lived that. There is definitely a lack of pathos sometimes because she was so optimistic about the future.

All I know for sure is that this book really made me think. I found myself going through it so quick and then stopping for a while because I couldn't believe that someone lived that. There is definitely a lack of pathos sometimes because she was so optimistic about the future.

Walls' tone from beginning to end is changing obviously. It's clear as day that she begins with all the faith in the world in her parents and then ends with her being embarrassed and disappointed in them. How could it not? Her life growing up consisted of promises of glass castles and adventure and joy and love but each time was let down more than the last. Although from the beginning the author held the tone of disappointment in her parents. Each event that happened was almost I should of seen it coming. She was the happiest in the desert and in her time at battle mountain. However when she got to Welch she began to realize that all the promises would never come true and began to make plans to leave. In New York she made a life for herself and she feels so guilty because of her glamorous lifestyle while her mother and father are homeless in the streets.

As I agree with Maria with all those meanings of the glass castle I believe it to be more of a physical representation of the book. If you live in a glass house everyone can see what goes on in your house. You have no secrets and everything is known. Just like how in this story she is making it all known. All the terrible things that happened and the good things that happened too.

Sydney I like what you said

Yet another appeal to pathos is made by the author in their quick retreat from Battle Mountain the place where they lived for over a year. Walls is heartbroken and describes the disappearing lights which I believe is also representing that her seemingly persistent faith in her father and mother is also disappearing. Another appeal is made when she describes the scene of her parents extremely long fight, which ends with the mom out the window flailing around. Causing the whole town to see up her dress. This causes us to be utterly appalled and astonished as she was at this.