Concept of heaven as reflected through the narrator in Albom`s The Five People You Meet in Heaven.

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CONCEPT OF HEAVEN AS REFLECTED THROUGH THE
NARRATOR IN ALBOM’S THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN
HEAVEN
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters

By
BRYAN KEVIN PANDUU
Student Number: 094214079

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2013

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CONCEPT OF HEAVEN AS REFLECTED THROUGH THE
NARRATOR IN ALBOM’S THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN
HEAVEN
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters

By
BRYAN KEVIN PANDUU
Student Number: 094214079

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2013
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LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN
PUBLIKASI ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS
Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswi Universitas Sanata Dharma :

Nama
Nomor Mahasiswa

: BRYAN KEVIN PANDUU
: 094214079

Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan
Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya berjudul :
THE CONCEPT OF HEAVEN AS REFLECTED THROUGH THE
NARRATOR IN ALBOM’S THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HEAVEN
Beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan
kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan,
mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya di internet atau media lain
untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dari saya maupun
memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai
penulis.
Demikian pernyataan ini yang saya buat dengan sebenarnya.
Dibuat di Yogyakarta
Pada tanggal : 10 September 2013
Yang menyatakan

Bryan Kevin Panduu

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STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY

This is to certify that all ideas, phrases, sentences, unless otherwise stated,
are the ideas, phrases, and sentences of the thesis writer. The writer understands
the full consequences including degree cancellation if she took somebody else’s
ideas, phrases, or sentences without proper references.

Yogyakarta, September 10, 2013

Bryan Kevin Panduu

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Live as if you were to die
tomorrow. Learn as if you were to
live forever.
(Mahatma Gandhi)

Forgiveness is the final form of love.
(Reinhold Niebuhr)

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For Mommy
The great mother and woman who helps and
understands my situation and makes everything
possible

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Firstly, I would like to thank God, Jesus Christ. This thesis would never be
done without His guidance and blessing. I know that He always bless me and
always listen my prayers although I often forget Him. I also would to thank to my
family, especially my mother Shelly Wong for trusting, understanding, and caring
of me.
I am very grateful to my advisor, Ni Luh Putu Rosiandani S.S., M.Hum.,
for her patience and her willingness in helping me doing my undergraduate thesis.
Without her help, I would not be able to finish this thesis. And also to my coadvisor, Elisa Dwi Wardani, S.S., M.Hum, for her criticism and opinion, I can
improve knowledge in literary studies.
I also would like to say many thanks to my beloved friends: Mega, Yoga,
Sheila, Emy, Yeyen, Indra, Richard, Li and We, Andi, Anto, Uya, Pandu, and all
of my friends from 2009 for our four years of great time together. My special
thanks to Miss Dewi, Miss Linda, Mbak Yeyen, Mbak Momon, Topan, Daniel,
Mbak Pipi, and all Beauty and the Beast crew, especially Wawan, Aldo, Adel,
Yenni, Cik Jane Elise, and Mike for giving me a lot of fun experiences in my last
year in Jogja. I also would like to thank my brothers and sister for their great

support to me. I would also want to express my gratitude to my academic advisor,
Dra. Bernardine Ria Lestari, M.S., for her guidance and to all my lecturers in
English Letters Department who taught me so many things these years.

Bryan Kevin Panduu
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE …………………………………………………………
APPROVAL PAGE …………………………………………………..
ACCEPTANCE PAGE ………………………………………………
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PUBLIKASI …………………………….
STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY ……………………………......

MOTTO PAGE ……………………………………………………….
DEDICATION PAGE ………………………………………………..
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ………………………………………….
TABLE OF CONTENTS …………………………………………….
ABSTRACT …………………………………………………………..
ABSTRAK …………………………………………………………….

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CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ………………………………….

A. Background of the Study ……………………………………….
B. Problem Formulation ……………………………………………
C. Objectives of the Study …………………………………………
D. Definition of Terms ……………………………………………..

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4
5
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CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW………………………...
A. Review of Related Studies ………………………………………
B. Review of Related Theories …………………………………….
C. Theoretical Framework ………………………………………….

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CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY …………………………………
A. Object of the Study ……………………………………………..
B. Approach of the Study ………………………………………….
C. Method of the Study ……………………………………………

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CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS …………………………………………..
A. The Description of Narrator ………………………..……………
1. A Christian …………………………………………...……..
2. Optimistic …………………………………………………..
3. Philosophical ……..………………………..……………..…
4. Believe in an Afterlife ……………………….…………….
B. The Description of Eddie’s Life Experiences through the
Narrator ……..................................................……..…………….
1. Little Eddie Killed the Blue Man ………………………….
2. Eddie and the Sacrifice of Eddie’s Captain ……………….
3. Eddie and Ruby, the Wife of the Former Owner of Ruby
Pier …………………………………………………………
4. Eddie and his Wife, Marguerite ………………..………….
5. Tala, the Burned Filipina Girl ……..……………………

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C. The Concept of Heaven Revealed through the Narrator’s Perception
on Eddie’s Life Experiences …………….………………………
1. First Step of Heaven ………………………………………..
2. Second Step of Heaven …………………………………….
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION …………………………………….
Conclusion ……………………………………………………...
BIBLIOGRAPHY ……………………………………………………..
APPENDIX
… ……………………… …………………… ……… . .

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ABSTRACT
BRYAN KEVIN PANDUU. Concept of Heaven as Reflected through the
Narrator in Albom’s The Five People You Meet in Heaven. Yogyakarta:
Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University,
2013.
This undergraduate thesis discussed the concept of heaven that is
reflected through the narrator in The Five People You Meet in Heaven (2003) by
Mitch Albom. There are many life experiences and lessons provided by the
narrator that are found in the novel. The life experiences involve the major and
minor characters which is essential to present the concept of heaven according to
the Christianity, specifically on Catholicism.
There are three questions that are analyzed in this study. First is the
description of the narrator, second is the description of Eddie as one of the major
character that is described through the narrator, and the third is the concept of
heaven that is revealed through the narrator’s perception toward Eddie’s life
experiences.
The method used in this study is the library research. The library research
was used since the data that needed to support this study was taken from printed
sources. The approach used in this study is the moral philosophical approach and
it was applied because this study intended to reveal a philosophical thought based
on Catholicism point of view about concept of heaven.
The first result of the analysis is the narrator’s descriptions in the novel
are a Christian, optimistic, philosophical, and believes in an afterlife. The second
analysis shows Eddie’s life experiences with the Blue Man, the Captain, Ruby,
Marguerite, and Tala that he shares during his earthly life. The last analysis about
concept of heaven shows two steps from many steps of heaven. The first step is
after a person’s moment of death, he or she passes five heavens that belong to
different five people in order to learn life lessons which are similar with the
purgatory phase. The second step is a person who finishes the first step becomes
one of the five people in someone’s life to share life lessons too. The researcher
concludes that the contribution of the narrator’s descriptions toward Eddie’s life
experiences creates an idea about concept of heaven. The first step grants valuable
life lessons and also the reason of a person’s life. The second step is a condition
that requires a person who passes the first step. The essences of the heaven are a
place to learn, to understand life stories that consist life lessons, to know what a
person need and do not need to move on to the next steps of heaven.

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ABSTRAK
BRYAN KEVIN PANDUU. Concept of Heaven as Reflected through the
Narrator in Albom’s The Five People You Meet in Heaven. Yogyakarta:
Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2013.
Skripsi ini membahas konsep surga yang dicerminkan melalui narator di
dalam novel The Five People You Meet in Heaven (2003) oleh Mitch Albom. Ada
banyak pengalaman dan pelajaran kehidupan disediakan oleh narator yang
ditemukan dalam novel. Pengalaman kehidupan melibatkan karakter utama dan
pendukung penting untuk menunjukkan konsep surga berdasarkan Kekristenan,
khususnya didalam paham Katolik.
Ada tiga masalah yang akan dianalisis dalam studi ini. Pertama adalah
deskripsi narator, kedua adalah deskripsi Eddie, salah satu karakter utama, yang
diungkapkan melalui narrator, dan ketiga adalah konsep surga yang diungkapkan
melalui persepsi narator terhadap pengalaman hidup Eddie.
Metode yang digunakan dalam skripsi ini adalah studi pustaka. Studi
pustaka digunakan karena data yang dibutuhkan untuk medukung studi ini diambi
dari sumber tertulis. Pendekatan yang digunakan dalam skripsi ini adalah
pendekatan filsafat moral dan pendekatan ini diterapkan karena studi ini bertujuan
untuk mengungkap pemikiran filsafat berdasarkan pada sudut pandang paham
Katolik tentang konsep surga.
Hasil analisis pertama adalah deskripsi narrator yaitu seorang Kristiani,
optimistik, berkenaan dengan filsafat, dan percaya akan kehidupan setelah
kematian. Hasil dari analisis kedua menunjukkan pengalaman hidup Eddie yang ia
alami selama hidupnya dengan lima orang yaitu si Manusia Biru, sang Kapten,
Ruby, Marguerite, dan Tala. Analisis terakhir tentang konsep surga menunjukkan
dua tahapan dari banyak tahapan. Tahap pertama yaitu setelah saat kematian
seseorang, dia akan menemui lima surga yang dimiliki oleh lima orang berbeda
untuk berbagi pelajaran kehidupan, yang dalam hal ini memiliki kesamaan dengan
fase tempat penyucian jiwa. Tahap yang kedua yaitu seseorang yang telah
melewati tahap pertama menjadi salah satu dari lima orang dalam kehidupan
orang lain untuk berbagi cerita kehidupan juga.
Peneliti menyimpulkan bahwa kontribusi deskripsi narator terhadap kisah
pengalaman hidup Eddie menciptakan sebuah ide tentang konsep surga yang
dimana langkah pertama memberikan pelajaran hidup yang berharga dan juga
alasan mengapa kita hidup, dan langkah kedua adalah sebuah kondisi bagi
seseorang yang telah menyelesaikan langkah pertama. Esensi dari surga sendiri
adalah tempat untuk belajar, untuk memahami cerita kehidupan yang terdapat
pelajaran hidup didalamnya yang berguna untuk membantu seseorang mengetahui
apa yang dibutuhkan dan tidak dibutuhkan untuk beranjak ke langkah surga
berikutnya.

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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study
Human life and literature have a close relationship. Life conditions or even
life experiences of human society are often reflected through literature.
Furthermore, as it is a mirror, life is a reflection of death and vice versa.
Moreover, a question about the death as the opposite of life always appears when
it is related to human’s life. What happens as we die? Is there really a life after
death? Is there a place after death? These kind of questions have existed for
thousand years in human life. Many stories about life after death are often
experienced through dreams or apparent death. Yet, the interest about death is
somehow difficult to talk about because of some reasons such as a discussion
about death is taboo in some cultures. For example, in Britain or India, talking
about death is an uncomfortable matter because mostly people want to live long
enough. People feel that since death is a horrible and bad thing, then talking about
death is likely to have originated with the belief that to speak about death was to
invite death.
In relation to the discussion of life and death, Christianity as a religion has
historically taught that everyone has only single life on earth. After death, there is
an eternal life awaits everyone either in Heaven or Hell. There is no suffering but
joy only in Heaven. Meanwhile, for the inhabitants of Hell, torture and torment are

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eternal without any hope. Specifically, in Catholic belief, there is a term called
‘purgatory’ or a phrase of purification from sins after death before going to the
heaven. Father John A. Hardon, S.J. (1914-2000) in The Doctrine of Purgatory
explained the general definition of purgatory in the perspective of Catholic belief.
Father John stated that,
When we speak of the souls of the just in purgatory we are referring to those
that leave the body in the state of sanctifying grace and are therefore
destined by right to enter heaven. Their particular judgment was favorable,
although conditional: provided they are first cleansed to appear before God.
The condition is always fulfilled. (copyright 1998: Intermirifica –
http://www.therealpresence.org/archives/Eschatology/Eschatology_006.htm)
Some verses from Holy Bible: The New American Bible (1970) also
strengthened the idea of the purgatory. However, those verses can be only be held
as references not as evidences of the purgatory itself.
... the work of each will come to light, for the Day will disclose it. It will be
revealed with fire, and the fire (itself) will test the quality of each one's
work. If the work stands that someone built upon the foundation, that person
will receive a wage. But if someone's work is burned up, that one will suffer
loss; the person will be saved, but only as through fire. (1 Corinthians 3: 1315) (1970: 1131)
Regarding to the quotation above, Catholic belief explains the death and the
existence of life after death which is called, in general, as purgatory. Therefore,
purgatory is a place in which the election of the human’s soul reside temporarily
before reaching the promised paradise or heaven.
Literary works, as the reflection of human’s life, are also talking about life
and death. One of the interesting literary works talking about life after death or
heaven is a novel entitled The Five People You Meet in Heaven written by Mitch
Albom. Mitch Albom, the author of the international best seller Tuesdays with

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Morrie, is an author with a gift for tapping sentimental spots with a moving flight
of fantasy which comes to teach what life was all about. The idea of his book, The
Five People You Meet in Heaven, was inspired from his own beloved uncle who
gave him his basic understanding concept of heaven.
The story itself was based on Albom uncle’s story, about life after death and
what happened during the death. In this case, Albom utilizes a narrator to retell his
uncle’s life experiences. The narrator, the main character of the story, describes
Edward Beitchman’s life experiences, which Edward’s function is as the object of
the narrator. In the beginning of the story, the narrator deals with a brief
description about Edward Beitchman or usually called as Eddie. He works in the
Ruby Pier, an amusement park by a great gray ocean. He himself has various past
life stories which are very precious for him. His past life becomes one of many
reasons which influences his character development during his earthly life.
The narrator continues with the moment how Eddie’s life ended when he
wanted to save a little girl falling from a ride in the amusement park. He found
himself awaken and then realized that he died from the accident in the amusement
park. Furthermore, during his travel he meets five different people whom he did
not recognize and some of them were his own relatives. Through the narrator,
Eddie learned some flashbacks of his unclear past life experiences and also
learned many lessons from these five people. Later on, in the end of the novel, the
narrator closes the story with a description that Eddie also became one of the five
people that the girl would meet in heaven. The girl is the one he saved in the
amusement park before his death.

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Having finished reading The Five people You Meet in Heaven, the writer
found some interesting points to discuss and analyze in relation to the concept of
afterlife. Through the narrator’s description of Eddie’s past life experiences which
he recalled it while meeting these five people during his death, the author tends to
send the concept of heaven based on the Christianity point of view about life after
death. To be more specific, the analysis’ focus is on the idea of purgatory which is
derived from the Catholic belief. Therefore, the writer is interested to bring
together and analyze these life experiences in order to divulge the concept of
heaven.

B. Problem Formulation
In order to achieve better understanding of this novel, three problems were
formulated as follow.
1. How is the narrator described in Albom’s The Five People You Meet in
Heaven?
2. How is the description of Eddie revealed through the narrator in Albom’s
The Five People You Meet in Heaven?
3. What is the concept of heaven revealed through the narrator’s perception
on Eddie’s life experiences in Albom’s The Five People You Meet in
Heaven?

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C. Objectives of the Study
This study aims to analyze the concept of heaven based on Christianity point
of view, specifically on Catholic belief, which is revealed through the narrator’s
perception on the description of Eddie’s past life experiences as stated in the
problem formulations. To be more detail, this study would analyze how the author
formulated the concept of heaven through the narrator from the Eddie’s past life
experiences description.
First, the writer will try to analyze how the narrator is described in the novel.
Secondly, the writer tries to identify Eddie’s past life experiences description
within the story. Finally, the writer tries to analyze and find the significance of the
Eddie’s past life experiences in establishing the concept of heaven through the
narrator in the story.

D. Definition of Terms
This research uses two terms to provide clear explanation in order to avoid
misunderstanding. The following explanation will help the reader to get into the
discussion.
Narrator
In A Glossary of Literary Terms: Sixth Edition (1985: 123), Abrams
described that a narrator is a person or a character that tells the work of fiction
such as the novel and short story in prose or romance in verse. It can be said that a
narrator reads the descriptive or narrative passages between the scenes or speeches
inside the story.

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Heaven
According to Matthew F. Kohmescher in Catholicism Today: A Survey of
Catholic Belief and Practice (1990: 179), heaven is described as an existence of a
human soul after death. Heaven is in a state of comparisons with hell such as
heaven presents happiness and becomes human’s goal, while hell is in its absence
and hard for human to choose hell.

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CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW

A. Review of Related Studies
In order to support the study, it is necessary for the writer to review the
previous studies that have been done related to the topic of this study. These
related studies basically discussed the same author, work, and focus in relation
with the topic of this study.
The Five People You Meet in Heaven is one Mitch Albom’s best seller
novels. This story was inspired by Albom’s real uncle, Edward Beitchman, whose
past life experiences were collected. There are also some critics who give their
opinions on Albom’s The Five People You Meet in Heaven. An article written by
James Patrick Holding from Christian Research Institute discussed the similar
vision with Christian point of view which is reflected in The Five People You
Meet in Heaven story line. Holding states that
This theme of religious tolerance, surprisingly, is never again directly
mentioned in the book, nor does Albom clearly refer to any particular
religious system. Albom does not attempt to present a coherent doctrine of
salvation or the afterlife, and it is unlikely that he intended to. Eddie’s
meeting with five people is merely a vehicle for Albom’s primary message
of the relational interconnectedness of all persons, a theme with which all
Christians would agree (http://www.equip.org/ articles/the-five-people-youmeet-in-heaven/).
An article on Self Developmental Site written by Dr Joy Madden also
discusses The Five People You Meet in Heaven. She states that

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Many people believe that during the course of their life several people come
into it and make a difference to them. This book makes you look at life the
other way round. Who are the people that YOU touch without you actually
realising? What is the impact that YOU make on others without your
knowledge? (http://www. bellaonline.com/articles/art54335.asp).
Therefore, in relation to the above quotations, it can be said that Madden
also has similar opinion with Holding. She generally discusses the life values
inside The Five People You Meet in Heaven, while Holding discusses it from the
Christian point of view about life.
Another discussion is written by Ria Faksriani, in her undergraduate thesis
entitled Biblical Values Conveyed Through The Characters in Mitch Albom’s The
Five People You Meet in Heaven analyzed the relation between the portrayal of
the characters with biblical values. She states that,
Those five people that Eddie meets in heaven teach him about some values
in life. Each lesson that they have taught to Eddie conveyed biblical values.
The Blue teaches Eddie about the fairness in life. The Captain teaches Eddie
about Sacrifice. Ruby as his third person teaches about forgiveness.
Marguerite as the fourth person teaches Eddie about the power of love.
Lastly, Tala teaches Eddie about the purpose of life. Those lessons are given
to Eddie to make him see that his life is not a waste. During his life, there
are many things that he has done to others that make his life worth (2008:
46).
She explained about how these five people, although Eddie recognized them
or not, teaches different life values which are the reflection of the biblical values
itself.
The related studies mentioned previously are mainly discussed the meaning
of life or the purpose of life itself and in some way Holding and Ria Faksriani saw
it from the Christian point of view.

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This study analyzes a different topic from the previous studies. The focus of
this study is on how the narrator, as the main character, perceives and formulates
the concept of heaven from Eddie’s life experiences description in the story. To be
more specific, the discussion mainly has relation with the Catholic belief.
Therefore, this study discusses a different topic from the previous ones.

B. Review of Related Theories
To answer the three problems stated previously, some theories are needed to
support the analysis. Those theories are the theory of narrator, theory of character
and characterization, theory of concept of afterlife based on the Catholic belief
and theory on relationship between philosophy and literature.

1. Theory of Narrator
According to Rohrberger and Woods in Reading and Writing About
Literature (1971: 23-24), a narrator is a character that the author creates and
chooses to tells the story in some ways with its own limitation. A narrator also
considered as the point of view in a work of fiction analysis. It refers to the
particular vantage point from which a story is told. Narrator can be the
protagonist, minor character or even an observer who is outside the action in the
story. The author is able to decide between two broad divisions of narrator which
is the first-person and third-person.
The first-person point of view involves a narrator who narrates the story
with his own voice and manners and usually called first-person narration. This

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type of narration limits the narrative with the first-person narrator ability to talk to
the other characters (1971: 23).
The third-person point of view has two types which is the omniscient point
of view and the limited point of view. The omniscient point of view in general is
free to take action and access to the actions and events and also able to give
comments to characters’ thoughts, feelings, and motives. In other words, a
narrator with omniscient point of view has a total access to the story. The second
type, the limited point of view, tells the story as an outsider of the story but still
able to stay inside what is experienced and thought by a single character within
the story (1971: 24).

2. Theory of Character and Characterization
Thomas R. Arp and Greg Johnson in their book Perrine’s Literature:
Structure, Sound, and Sense, Tenth Edition explained that the main character in a
work of literature is a complicated presentation of the human nature. The authors
sometimes do not simply tell the characteristics of a character, but often give
chances to the readers to observe the character through the storyline.
Arp and Johnson (2006: 161) stated that
Analyzing characterization is more difficult than describing plot, for human
character is infinitely complex, variable, and ambiguous. Anyone can
summarize what a person in a story has done, but a writer needs
considerable skills and insight into human beings to describe convincingly
who a person is.
Robert Stanton, in his book An Introduction to Fiction, gives the definition
of character which is divided into two. The first one is “the individual who

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appears in the story” (1965: 17), and the second refers to the set of some aspects
which make up each of these individuals in the story. Those aspects are “interests,
desires, emotions, and moral principles” (1965: 17).
According to Beaty and Hunter in their book New World of Literature,
characters are the individuals which are portrayed in literature. They also stated
what a character in literature is “the particular traits (or characteristics) of a
person suggest that person’s character – what it is that makes him or her
distinctive (1989: 231).”
In other words, characters in literature have their own identity or
characteristics which make each of different characters have differences either in
their appearance, speeches, way of thinking, actions and even names given by the
author.
Focusing on how the author makes the characters understandable to and
come alive for the readers, M.J. Murphy, in his book Understanding Unseen: An
Introduction to English Poetry and the English Novel for Overseas Students
describes some methods to understand a character in the story (1972: 161-173):
a. Personal Descriptions
The author uses the details description of a character’s appearance.
b. Character as Seen by Another
The author uses the description of a character through the other character’s eyes
and opinions.

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c. Speech
This method uses a conversation of a character with another character so that the
readers are able to get some clue or insight on the character.
d. Past Life
The author lets the reader see a character’s past life in order to learn the
character’s characteristics. This can be done by direct comment, through the
person’s thought, conversation or through medium of another person.
e. Conversation of Others
The author gives clues to a person’s character through the conversation of other
people and the things they say about him.
f. Reactions
This method reveals the characteristics through how the character reacts toward
various situations and events.
g. Direct Comment
The author describes or comments directly on a person’s character.
h. Thoughts
This method uses the description which can be received through what a person is
thinking about.
i. Mannerisms
A character mannerisms, habits, or idiosyncrasies can reveals the character’s
characteristics.
This study will employ some of the nine ways of characterization mentioned
by M. J. Murphy, namely speech, reactions, direct comment, and thoughts.

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These ways are necessary in analyzing the characteristics of the main character
which is the narrator of the story for this research.

3. Theories of After Life Concept (Purgatory, Heaven and Hell)
In relation life and death in human’s life, there is life after death according
to Christianity. However, it is very little to know about what life after death is
like. According to Mark Fox in Religion, Spirituality and the Near-Death
Experience, he describes that when people die, they will journey to the other
worlds, meet their deceased friend or relatives, going to heavenly places and
streams before receiving either forgiving or gentle judgement by a loving and
divine ‘being of light’ (2003: 13). Furthermore, in relation to the afterlife concept
which is based on Christianity, specifically on Catholicism, the following terms or
concepts that are described will be used as the basic theory and understanding in
the analysis of this study. These terms are Purgatory, Heaven and Hell.

a. Purgatory
In The Birth of Purgatory (1984: 134), Jaques le Goff described purgatory,
which is according to Augustine (354 - 430 A.D) and Gregory the Great (540-604
A.D) description, as the “second chance” for the souls who had only “slightly
sins” that had not time before dying to do penance on earth. It can be said that it is
a place in the period after death before going to the heaven.

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Further explanation, le Goff also explains that during mid 20th century the
place where the purgatory takes place refers to purgation place which is full of
fire.
He states that
… according to some authorities, it is a “material” fire, not an “elementary”
fire or a fire for which wood serves as a fuel, but a fire existing in the
sublunary world that will disappear along with other transitory things after
the day of judgement (1984: 156).
Regarding to the quotation above, it can be said that in relation to where the
soul of the dead waiting in the purgation place, the “fire” term is used because of
its characteristic that only happened for a certain period of time. Furthermore, the
fire here gives images to burn or it burns like fire for the soul of the dead in a
certain period of purgation time.
Matthew F. Kohmescher in Catholicism Today: A Survey of Catholic Belief
and Practice also discusses about the purpose of purgatory. He states that,
If anyone dies without having made full preparation for his or her failings,
purgatory is a place or state of purgation. In Catholic teaching then we sin
we have both the guilt and the punishment. When we are reconciled with
God the guilt is removed but the punishment may still partially remain
(1990: 178).
Regarding to Kohmescher’s description, purgatory exists as a place for
reconciliation with God or being purge from the earthly matter such as guilt. In
order not to be confused with the other kind of punishment or eternal suffering,
purgatory does not destroy the soul but rather purges temporarily for those who
have not completed their penance for their sin in their earthly life.

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b. Heaven and Hell
According to John Shea in What a Modern Catholic Believes about Heaven
and Hell, heaven is described as the man’s hope which is pushed to their fullest
while hell are their fears that horribly come alive in the end of the life (1972: 89).
In addition, in Catholic beliefs, these two terms are always being compared as
God creates and preserves heaven and hell as two stages of afterlife itself.
Shea also states that
Christian tradition has always held that the Eucharistic meal was
eschatological, anticipation of heaven. Where human friendship and love are
highly praised, heaven will always have the “loaf of bread, jug of wine, and
thou” aspect (1972: 88).
Furthermore, about hell’s description, Shea states that
A “good” hell and damnation preacher knew what was in man and played on
both his physical and psychological fears. On the physical level he could
describe a place of undying worms, unquenching flames, a foul prison of
torment. Psychologically hell was where those who loved unlawfully on
earth hated each other (1972: 90).
Regarding those quotations above, the comparisons and the description of
those two places are basically a Christian teaching in relation to the good deeds
done by man as a grateful act of being freed from sins through the death of Christ
which will lead to heaven. Furthermore, hell is the place for the damned where
man, in his earthly life, usually done bad or evil things.

3. The Relationship between Philosophy and Literature
Philosophy and literature both are social phenomena which are born out of
human experiences. They often treat very abstract matters that arise from a
reflective pondering on the phenomena of human’s life.

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According to Martha C. Nussbaum in Love’s Knowledge: Essays on
Philosophy and Literature, she described that the relationship between philosophy
and literature mainly speaks and puts its focus on the life values of human’s life
and how the way of the man to live a life. In one case, Nussbaum explains that
how the philosophical thought of human have function as a criticism of the ideas
how the human live by. She states that
Literary form is not separable from philosophical content, but is, itself, a
part of content – an integral part, them, of the search for and the statement
of truth (1990: 3).
For further understanding toward philosophy itself, she states that
Philosophy has often seen itself as a way of transcending the merely human,
of giving the human being a new and more godlike set of activities and
attachments (1990: 53).
Therefore, regarding to the quotations above, philosophy has concern with
human self-understanding which is constructed by the society or even humanity in
a particular era. Furthermore, in relation to the work of literature, Nussbaum also
describes the significance of the philosophical thought related to human life
values and life experiences in a works of literature. She states that
For they speak to the reader as a human being, not simply as a member of
some local culture; and works of literature frequently cross cultural
boundaries far more easily than works of religion and philosophy. And as
they speak to the humanness of their readers, they immerse them in the
characteristic movements of human time and the adventures of human
finitude – in a form of life in which that happen to them (1990: 391).
It can be said that literature closely related to philosophy, both may cover
some of the same themes related to the human values or human’s way of thinking.
To be more specific, related to the topic of this study, Geoffrey SayreMcCord in David Hume Moral Philosophy (2006: xv) describes that moral

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philosophy is what specifically a particular person are thinking of people when
this particular person think that the people have a virtue or a vice or think that
what they have done is either just or unjust and the second part is why people
think in the terms people do. Furthermore, based on Hume, he also states that
The first project, which consists in identifying the content of our moral
thought, involves articulating the criteria for virtue and vice, justice and
injustice, while the second involves explaining why we came to have
thoughts with that content (2006: xv)
It can be said that human’s life or their philosophical thought concerns with
the good and bad, wrong or right in relation to the social construct and the reason
why people come to those way of thinking.
Both literature and philosophy is generally seen to be particular that the
focus is on individual cases or events and it is related on the universal in order to
present the ideas or philosophical thoughts through the specific use of literary
techniques.

C. Theoretical Framework
In answering the three questions, the writer will use the theory of character
and characterization, theory of narrator, theory of concept of afterlife or heaven
based on the Catholicism and theory on relationship between Philosophy and
literature.
The first question is about the narrator’s description. By using the theory on
narrator and character and characterization, the writer is able to analyze how the
narrator is described in the story. Secondly, the description of Eddie’s past life
experiences of this story use the theory of character and characterization through

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the narrator description and the other character’s interaction with Eddie. For the
last problem, analysis of the significance of Eddie’s past life experiences in
establishing the author’s concept of heaven throughout the story will be using the
theory of afterlife concept and the relationship between philosophy and literature.
Finally, the answers of the three questions in problem formulation that were
conducted previously will lead to a conclusion. The conclusion will show that the
concept of heaven, which regarding the purgatory phase based on Catholicism, is
reflected through the Narrator’s perception toward the description of Eddie’s life
experiences and its interaction with the other characters.

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CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY

A. Object of the Study
This study will discuss and analyze one of Mitch Albom’s novels, The Five
People You Meet in Heaven, a novel about his uncle whom he put as the major
character, Eddie. The novel consists of 198 pages and divided into 14 chapters.
The novel was published by Hyperion in 2003.
In the novel, the author provides an interesting narration of the storyline
which represents the flashback of Eddie’s past life experiences. The most
interesting part of the story is the narrator as the main character of the story. Thus,
the death of Eddie becomes the beginning of the story of this novel. After his
death, he continues his journey to the afterlife and meets different five people.
From these five people, Eddie learns that his earthly life actually means many
things to the people who ever know him in his life.
In this case, related to the topic of this study, there is a Catholic’s concept of
heaven, in relation to the purgatory phase, which provided by the author. This
concept can be revealed through the narrator’s description, the description of the
Eddie’s past life experiences and the meaning of his journey in meeting the five
people after his death.

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B. Approach of the Study
In this study the writer analyzes how the concept of heaven is reflected
through the narration of the main character’s description and his past life
experiences in Mitch Albom’s novel, The Five People You Meet in Heaven.
Therefore, the writer decided to apply the Moral-Philosophical approach because
according to David Hume (2006) in the previous chapter, the definition of the
moral philosophy is concerned with the theory of morality or right living which
means how we ought to live our lives rightly. Thus, the focus of the analysis is to
reveal the concept of heaven based on Christianity point of view, specifically on
Catholicism, towards life after death in which the narrator perceived through the
human’s life experiences.
In A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature, Guerin states that
The basic position of such critic is that the larger function of literature is to
teach morality and to probe philosophical issues. They would interpret
literature within a context of the philosophical thought of a period or group
(2011: 60)
The quotation above implies that the primary concern of moralphilosophical approach is on the evaluation of the work in relation to human’s life
and even to teach life or human values to people. To be more specific, the
evaluation of the work will mainly related to a philosophical thought or way of
thinking based on the particular group from a certain period of time.
Moral-Philosophical approach is the most suitable in this study to analyze
The Five People You Meet in Heaven because it is related to the topic and focus of
the study from which a philosophical thought about concept of heaven based on
Christianity point of view is reflected through the narrator and character’s

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description of the story. Therefore, the objective of this study is to reveal the
concept of heaven hold by the author which conveyed through the narrator
perception toward the character’s life experiences description in the story.

C. Method of the Study
In analyzing the topic of Albom’s The Five People You Meet in Heaven, the
writer applies the library research as the method of study. The materials and
references that needed to support the study are taken from printed materials which
are books of literatures, book of literary theories, bibles, essays, and
encyclopedias. The primary data are taken from the novel chosen for this study
while the secondary data are from the references. In addition, the writer also
gathered data from the internet and the other sources related to the topic of the
study.
To analyze the novel, some steps were taken to provide the answer to each
question in the problem formulation. First, the writer read the novel in order to
understand the story and then made notes of important quotations to gather the
data related to the issue examined.
The second step was referring to some references and some theories which
were theory of narrator in order to observe and to find out the narrator’s
description. Furthermore, the theory of character and characterization will be used
to explain and describe the narrator and Eddie’s life experiences in the novel.
The usage of the theory of afterlife or heaven concept and theory of the
relation between philosophy and literature will be the third step of this study.

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These theories will help to analyze the relation of the description of narrator and
Eddie’s past life experiences with the concept of heaven.
All of these theories which were the theory of narrator, theory of afterlife or
heaven’s concept and theory of relationship between philosophy and literature
were acquired from the material and references. Finally, the writer drew the
conclusion based on the analysis to answer the three questions in problem
formulation.

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CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS

This chapter is divided into three parts which consists of the analysis on the
narrator, Eddie’s past life experiences, and the concept of heaven, regarding to the
Catholicism about purgatory phase, which revealed through the narrator’s
perception toward Eddie’s life experiences. Thus, to avoid misunderstanding, the
main focus in this analysis is not placed on Eddie, but the narrator as the main
character of the story.

A. The Description of Narrator
The narrator in this story speaks or uses “he” or “she” and “they”, “them” or
“their” to mention the other characters, which is Eddie and the other characters
that Eddie interacted with. The narrator in this story never mentions or introduces
him or herself in the story. Therefore, according to Rohrberger and Woods in
Reading and Writing About Literature (1971: 24), this point of view is called as
the third person narrative. To be more specific, the type of the narrator’s third
person point of view is omniscient point of view because in general the narrator of
this story is free to take action and access to the actions of Eddie and the events
that Eddie and the other characters experienced.
Specifically, regarding on the way of viewing and how the narrator responds
to any events or facts in the story, there are some description that determines the

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narrator’s way of describing, such as narrator’s comments or opinions, which
have relation with the afterlife concepts.

1. A Christian
Regarding to the narrator’s comments on Eddie’s past life experiences, the
narrator in this story is considered as a Christian since the narrator responds and
uses terms related with Christianity to narrate Eddie’s experiences the five people
stories.
First of all, the beginning of the story in which a moment before Eddie’s
death shows the narrator’s belief is Christian. In this part, the narrator describes
how Eddie realizes that the two of the staffs at Ruby Pier will detach the cart and
Eddie shouts in his heart if he has enough time to pull the little girl from the
dropping cart.
Eddie's eyes shot from her to the carts. Did he have time? Her to the carts—
Whump. Too late. The carts were dropping. Jesus, he released the brake!—
and for Eddie, everything slipped into watery motion (p. 18).
Regarding the quotation, the narrator uses the word ‘Jesus’, in which a term
to define God’s name in Christianity belief, to express Eddie’s thought of saving
the little girl right before his death.
Furthermore, through the narrator’s way of describing an experience of
Eddie when he meets the Blue Man in heaven also shows that the narrator is a
Christian. The Narrator, at this point, uses an expression of a Christian funeral
ceremony in which a priest reads a Bible as the mourners are listening to it.
Eddie looked again at the gravesite gathering. He wondered if he'd had a
funeral. He wondered if anyone came. He saw the priest reading from the

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Bible a