Page 1: Irony- maintains rides, but dies to one due to a maintenance failure.

Repetition-Einsteins meaning of chaos. Eddies habit of living the same each day, without vacations
and breaks will lead to his downfall (death).
Page3: Eddie probably might have lived a fulfilling or a meaningless (no purpose) life that he accepted
long ago, so he wont change his outcome and he will accept his destiny.
Page4: Had he known his death was imminent, he might have gone somewhere else. Instead, he did
what we all do. Even though all of humanity knows that death is imminent, no one acts upon this
situation unless theyre faced with it, knowing a specific date or that it will come soon.
Page5: Eddies life was full of action, and after the war his life became dull, his ambitions wore out and
thats why when he was younger he wanted to leave the place he lived at since forever, but like
anything, time wore it out and Eddie ended up living with the flow and staying in the same place until he
died. Generally dooming himself to follow repetition and dying later in life doing his routine habits.
Page7: Character foil, old Eddie/ Dominguez. When Eddie first lived in the Pier, he was filled with action
and excitement in his life. Throughout time his life nulled out and he became grey, and he lost his
imagination that Dominguez showed when he spoke about catching a halibut, but then Eddie didnt
believe it was possible cause the fish was too big.
Page8: War story linking to one of the people Eddie might meet in heaven?
Page9: The writer adds more contrast to Eddies boring life, then relates to another significant figure
(Marguerite) which would be another person that Eddie will meet in heaven. Marguerite is the girl Eddie
loves and he cant forget about the moment they first met, called the Stardust Band shell. His last
memory that he captured of her, was her waving back over her shoulder back to Eddie.
Page10: Over time even his love for Marguerite became dull over time, and pass memories that were
good became bad. (For example, the party with Nicky, all of them had an amazing time, but because
they had such a good time, this had to be consequence of something bad, like when the key ended up
being a reason why the rides cable got torn apart.)
Page11: Old places bring back memories (thinking of Marguerite), then the good will always be taken
away and disrupted. Eddies habit for bring around pipe-cleaners for Amy/Annie is another example of
Einsteins definition of chaos. This repeated habit will also add on to the end of Eddies life.
Page13: she spun away, lost in that place where kids dont even know their feed are moving this
shows when youre young, your action is more prominent, just like when Eddie was young, he acted to
fight and save his brothers, but now when hes old, hes too dull to leave the pier. The older a person
becomes, the more they accept death, and this is probably because Eddie couldnt find any purpose
during his life. Eddies last words are Get back! This could probably means that Eddie is trying to get
back meaning in his life and find purpose in those he influenced in life.
Page 16: Eddie didnt want to remember the terrible accident that he heard about in a carnival. This
could be influential when he has to face the past in heaven. Contrast with the cable and Eddie. Both the

cable and Eddie lived throughout good events in their life, until they wore out and couldnt take it
anymore and died.
(Self-reflection on page 1-16) Even though Im so young I can see my life dulling out like Eddies. I
wonder what is going to become of me in the future. Will I be living a successful life, or a boring dull life,
repeating the same thing over and over again, until that same thing ends up to be my defeat? Even
though Eddie knows hes going to die one day or another and does nothing about it, I do the exact same
like the book indicates. I know Im going to die and that I should be living life to the fullest, but even
though I sit in a chair each day spending time studying or playing games, which is literally nothing great
compared to what life has to offer.
Page17: Even though Nicky isnt in Eddies life, he has a giant influence to Eddies life because his key is
the reason Eddie died. This demonstrates that everyones life is interconnected and ones actions affect
others even if they dont acknowledge it.
Page 18: Last thing Eddie felt and saw before he died was holding Amy/Annies hands as he died. This
event gave significance to Amys character, making her now one of the 5 people Eddie will meet in
heaven.
Page19: Letter of Eddies birth. His fathers face crumbles, why is that? Maybe because he had a baby
boy and he was happy about the situation, or maybe he is sad because he brought another soul into life
to face the terrible truths of reality, but then realizes that hes a father so he smiles.
Page20: After death, there is nothing in the world that matters because its unknown.
Page21: Where?....Then what? Did I save her?....Where?...Did I save her? Did she live? Whereis
my worry? Where is my pain? After Eddies death he doesnt know what happened after he died,
because he died, and no matter what happened he wont know, and it wont matter if Eddie saved the
little girl or not, because hes dead, all the past burdens no longer affect him. Death gave him the power
to release all his problems throughout life. Its ironic also because later Eddie tries finding purpose in life
after hes dead, because he an event great enough brought him to self-realization.
Page23: Letter when he is a child.
Page24: Shows excitement, action, and imagination when young.
Page25: When youre young you feel like no matter what you do, you always have people there for you.
When youre older you have no one and when you have a problem life, you cant fall back on the person
for help.
(Self-reflection) I remember when I was a kid, no matter what I do I feel like I wouldnt have to worry
because I have a mother, a sister, and friends to talk to or ask for help when I face these challenges. As I
get older my friend group shrinks and I dont talk to a lot of people. I feel lonelier and whenever I face
challenges in life because I dont ask people for help, like I did when I was little. Now in life I depend on
myself and I dont ask others for help because I taught myself not to ask others for people, which makes
me all alone in my problems.
Page27: First, he felt wonderful. (Eddie is released from all his problems in life because hes dead and
none of the things in life matter anymore) Second he was all alone. (In death he cant see any more kids

on the pier, or anyone enjoying themselves along the pier. He isnt able to grant people happiness
through his actions anymore.) Third, he was still on Ruby Pier. (The only thing Eddie had in his life
through thick and thin was Ruby Pier. He lived in this place and experienced majority of his life in Ruby
Pier. The time him and his friends partied, the time he first met Marguerite and also when he died.
Page29: Through death Eddie was given a new life. It was if he was young, and alive. This reflects back
on the intro when it states that death isnt an ending but a new start. (Self-reflection) In life for me,
whenever I fail or anything bad happens, my life isnt over. My life takes the consequences of these
events and it changes depending on the situation, to better suit itself to learn and grow and become
something greater (a new life).
Page30: Look well upon this save, born into a most peculiar handicap
This for me shows how kids become potatoes when they get older because theyre not able to think and
create things by themselves, yet they are handicapped in imagination because the stories on film and
radio are made for the kids and theyre not able to experience creating their own story, yet following
along a set path that they have no control of.
Eddie as a kid felt bad for sideshow cast because they werent able to create and live their own destiny
during the show. They were forced to sit in booths, stages and other terrible places where theyre not
able to experience the show (contrast meaning about how humanity feels like theyre destined to do
something, and this feeling actually suppresses the ability for humanity to create their own destiny.)
because of patrons blocking them, and they cant do a thing to change this. Their fate in sealed during
the show.
Page31: Eddie meets the blue man. This man didnt seem to have any direct significance to Eddie
because Eddie was hardly able to notice him.
Page33: Blue man said The whipper. Is it still the fastest ride on earth? The context of this shows a
contrast with Eddies character. Just like the ride he is still the same on the inside, but over time he was
torn down like the ride and felt like hes change when that wasnt the true reality of the situation.
A minute. An hour. A thousand years Even though Eddie has only been dead for a while, The true
active, and imaginative Eddie died and got lost within Eddie a very long time ago. Eddie started a new
life and became an unimaginative and dull person. People often belittle the place where they were
born. But heaven can be found in the most unlikely corners. And heaven itself has many steps. This, for
me, is the second. And for you, the first. Eddies repetitive routine in the place where he was raised
made he place become plain and simple to him, and because Eddie thought of this for the environment
he lived in, he allowed himself to become one with the environment, initially forgetting that this place
was his heaven and meant much more because of all the life events that it held in Eddies life.
(Self-Reflection): Life for me in Calgary has become tiresome, I know this because I have to stay in one
place to study for my future and I dont explore the city and find the life it has to offer. Just like Eddie he
just kept on routine and he didnt explore more to see to find meaning to live for.
Page35: Your voice will come. We all go through the same thing. You cannot talk when you first arrive.
It helps you listen This is significant because it shows that silence is needed because Eddie would be too
ignorant to realize what the blue man was trying to show him, instead he would try making remarks on
how poor the Pier was.

There are five people you meet in heaven, each of us was in your life for a reason. You may not have
known the reason at the time, and that is what heaven is for.
There will be others for you, too. Some you knew, maybe some you didnt. But they all crossed your
path before they died. And they altered it forever.
This shows that even though someone in your life that you have never met, never had significance to, or
even have impact upon, is influenced by your actions no matter how small you are. Everyone in the
world is interconnected and finding out how is the true meaning of life.
Page36: You did Even though Eddie didnt kill himself directly, he killed him through the choices and
actions he took and now hes only paying for the consequences. He didnt have to keep is repetitive
routine on Ruby Pier, he could have prevented the ride from falling due to the key if he didnt allow
drunk kids on the ride. Everyone is interconnected.
Page37: Letter of Eddies 7th Birthday. Shows a tiny interaction between Eddie and two strangers. Even
though Eddie probably didnt remember this, this probably affected the life of the freaks. Another idea
reflecting off that everyone is interconnected.
Page39: The name of the blue man was Joseph Corvelzchik, the son of a tailor in small Polish village.
Peeing himself in front of the foreman made Joseph even more nervous as he grew up. This one small
event ruined the blue mans entire life as he grew up. His father made him feel like he hated him
whenever he peed his bed sheets and because of this Joseph used medicine that made him blue. This
small event sealed his destiny to be a freak and because he was a freak he wasnt able to work in the
factory anymore. The blue man didnt choose this life, but this life was given to him by the foremen. The
blue man was yet another person who had no control of his fate, and had to pay for the price of It and
through it he lost his identity of Joseph Corvelzchik. The Ruby Pier was heaven, because this was the
only place he could be himself, and be free from all the hate and problems that his previous life gave
him.
Ends page 42
Page 42-43: Car and Eddie perspective shows that even though you dont think you did anything bad to
someone throughout the day, you could have without noticing it, inevitably changing another persons
life forever, which could let him change another persons life too. This effect can go on forever changing
the balance of the world, and depending on the person the story can be happy or it can be a tragedy.
Page44: The man was really killed by Eddie but was labeled off as a heart attack, just like how Eddie
killed himself unintentionally.
Take one story, viewed from two different angles. It is the same day, the same moment, but on angle
ends happily, at an arcade, with the little boy in a tawny pants dropping pennies into the Erie Digger
machine, and the other ends badly, in a city morgue, where one worker calls another worker over to
marvel at the blue skin of the newest arrival. Because Eddie realizes his actions and how they killed the
man right in front of him telling him the story, he is now in shock realizes that everything is connected
and that he is to fault for the Blue man being in heaven.

Page45: 8th birthday, It shows how nave Eddie was when he was little and how he wasnt able to grasp
importance of death and his actions and how much power he has, even enough power to indirectly kill a
man.
Page48: That there are no random acts. That we are all connected. That you can no more separate one
life from another than you can separate a breeze from the wind. It is because the human spirit knows,
deep down that all lives intersect. That death doesnt just take someone, it misses someone else, and in
the small distance between being taken and being missed, lives are changed.
Our destinies are conjoint and we all have to live a life influence by each other, because a story isnt
built upon one person, but the interactions with the people around the person.
Page49: Eddie only lived because of the Blue man swerving out of the way.
Page51: Sunday, 3 P.M. Eddies life was connected to everyone and because of his death no one was on
the pier.
Page52: Eddies birthday. 17 years old the day after he met Marguerite.
Page56: Fallen trees and blackened rubble.
Page82: There was a figure that Eddie notice and kept fighting to see, but was stopped by something.
Eddie trying to fight to see the figure even though he can die trying to capture a glimpse of it again gives
the cloudy figure a significance later in the book. Maybe its one of the people Eddie will meet in heaven
when he dies?
Page85: Did you know that I came from three generations of military? Yep. I knew how to fire a pistol
when I was six. In the mornings, my father would inspect my bed, actually bounce a quarter on the
sheets. At the dinner table it was always, Yes, sir and, No, sir. The captains fate was sealed by his
familys military history, he was raised to be a solider just like his parents and their parents before. This
shows how in life we dont decide our destiny, but sometimes our destiny is chosen for us and theres
nothing we can do except for accept it and move on.
For me, that little idea that what I told you guys every day. No one gets left behind. In tough times
people latch on to sayings or beliefs that help them get through the difficulty even though if its a lie, or
if its cause they want to make up for something theyve done. In the book the Captain said that because
he was the one who shot Eddie and if he left Eddie behind to die instead of bringing him back, then the
Captain would have felt guilty for killing the people who trusted him and who looked up to him.
(Self-Reflection) In life whenever there is something hard for me or difficult, I ask people around me that
are older for their opinion and they tell me no matter what life will always get better and this problem
will be nothing. I latch on to this belief looking up to the person, even though their saying can give me
high hopes and then when something terrible happens to me, they would be the guilty ones to place the
blame upon.
Page93: Sacrifice, you made one. I made one. We all make them. But you were angry over yours. You
kept thinking about what you lost. You didnt get it. Sacrifice is a part of life. Its supposed to be. Its not
something to regret. Its something to aspire to. Little sacrifices. Big sacrifices. A mother works so her
son can go to school. A daughter moves home to take care of her sick father. A man goes to war.

Sacrifices for others is meant so theyre able to live life a little bit more fulfilling. Even though the person
making the sacrifices loses something, the overall sacrifice doesnt go to waste, but goes to the person
who is in need. This is why its good for a mother to make sacrifices to send her son to school and for a
daughter to take care of her sick father. Both will give the people in need the help needed to live longer,
because without these sacrifices the sick father will be dead and the son will be a deadbeat. The captain
died for his men to survive and Eddie lost his leg to survive, both people suffered sacrifices but others
lived for it.
Page97: In the morning the next day, both men are affected by Eddies death, and are awaiting his
arrival, yet he will never arrive to work because he is dead. This shows the connection of everyone
around each other and how humans depend on everyone in their group to live.
Page123: we move though places every day that would never have been if not for those who came
before us. Our work places, where we spend so much time-we often think they began with our arrival.
Thats not true. Without the intentions of another creating something, there would be no one at the
creation noticing it or working to at it. Without knowing it, the actions of another builds and sets the
destinies of others that work for the creation and the workers are clueless that their life was affected
this way, until they are shown.
Page137: Your father thought about that, too. He had chased after Mickey to hurt him, perhaps even to
kill him. But in the end, he couldnt. He knew who Mickey was. He knew his shortcomings. He knew he
drank. He knew his judgment was faltered.
Even though Mickey did terrible things, Eddies father still forgave him because of what happened to
him before. His father understood that he was in emotional pain because he lost his job, but he didnt
try to hurt Mickey because he knew Mickey was a good person due to the things he did for Eddies
family, so then Eddies father was able to look pass Mickeys temporary faults and save him. This is an
example of past events effecting current events and decisions because if Mickey didnt help Eddies
family, then Eddies dad would probably leave him to die.
Page140-141: Another example of the fates crossing between people and how life is given up to give
another individual their life to live longer. (Sacrifices).
141: Learn this from me. Holding anger is a poison. It eats you from inside. We think that hating is a
weapon that attacks the person who harmed us. But hatred is a curved blade. And the harm we do, we
do to ourselves.
When people solely think of anger, they let the anger consume their life and disrupt them from
enjoying their life. This gets rid of any chances of the individual from enjoying life or even noticing the
nice things life that would make their life better. Its better to move on and forgive the individual so
then you can move past the anger and experience every little bit of life to its fullest
(Self-Reflection) I cant hold grudges on people for hurting me. Even though it would be nice to hold the
anger and be rude to the people who mistreat me, it only hurts me because anger lingers and attaches
itself on to my character. This makes me hurt people who were innocent and did nothing to me and act
upon situations that most likely lead to terrible consequences, instead of hurting the one person who
inflicted misery on me. In the end anger hurts the person holding it within more than the person who

the anger is for. I simply turn my cheek to the other side and forgive the individual so I can live my life in
happiness rather than anger.

Page145: An example how Eddies good characteristics help develop Dominguezs decisions to hold a
funeral for him. (If Eddie wasnt a nice guy then they would probably not hold or try to hold a funeral for
Eddie).
Page147-148: Shows how all people share something similar. In this example it shows that marriage and
love is all generally expressed the same throughout the masses of people.
Page151: Eddies wife wearing the uniform around his brother, showed how Eddie distasted his job and
how much he resented how it became a part of his home with his wife wearing a uniform in the house.
Page153: How his wife loved Eddie and wanted children before Eddie broke her trust and she got into an
accident.
Page156: All weddings. 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, the possibilities you see in
their eyes, its the same around the world. They truly believe their love and their marriage is going to
break all the records. Eddies wife talks about how love is a human condition, its expressed similarly all
the same way because were all human. Each human lives a similar life, just with a little derivation that
makes the main character feel special, and even though Eddie died and is learning about all sorts of new
things, he isnt the only human-being in heaven finding about how they changed the lives of others.
Page159: repeated use of little hands throughout the book, brings significance for later explanation.
Page159: I missed you so much another small sentence used to help continue the theme that every
human experiences similar things in life.
Page161: This is where Eddies disliking for teenagers came from. In the book we the theme that a single
persons actions can affect another persons life. For example, the blue man. If Eddie wasnt gambling
then his wife would have never left the house and never got into the accident due to the glass bottle. If
this didnt happen then their marriage wouldnt have been damaged, and they would have adopted a
kid.
Page 164: Eddies and Marguerites transformation. Marguerite doesnt want to have a child because
she is upset about Eddie gambling and how his gambling made her go outside and get into an accident,
but this was assume, not directly told to Eddie. Eddie wanted to ask to adopt a kid now trying to cheer
Marguerite up, but she denies the offer and Eddie is left to heal their relationship over time. He gets
more depressed and stayed inside more and hanged out with Noel less.
Page168: Eddies wife gets cancer and now their fate is sealed.
Page169: Eddies wife called the Ferris wheel home, this could be where she ends up in heaven and is
telling Eddie that so he will be able to find her there after all this is over.
Page173: Lost love is still love, Eddie. It takes a different form, thats all. You cant see their smile or
bring them food or tousle their hair or move them around a dance floor. But when those senses weaken,

another heightens. Memory. Memory becomes your partner. You nurture it. You hold it. You dance with
it. Life has to end. Love doesnt
This explain that everything the character feels only depends on how they decide the situation to be.
Eddie liked to believe that he lost everything, but he was wrong. Eddies wife was always watching over
him and she was always there by his side throughout his life, because even through death, her love
didnt stop for Eddie. This meaning can be used in different situations because its so general. For
example, When Eddie was little, as a little kid when he ran out to get the ball he was too nave and
young to care about the car and only saw him retrieving the ball as a good thing so hes able to continue
playing ball with his friends as soon as possible. Eddie didnt make of it that his actions were bad,
because he didnt allowed himself to see the other side of the story where the blue man dies. Even
though Eddie died, his action lived on and stilled had an influence past his death to the close ones of the
blue man. This could be a close friend becoming depressed and end up abusing their children because of
it. Then his children will abuse their children and the chain will continue to grow and grow even though
Eddie died.
Page175:

You made me love you

I didnt want to do it
I didnt want to do it
You made me love you
And all the time you knew it
And all the time you knew it

Every human being has a set destiny/ fate. Eddies wife wasnt thinking about falling into love with Eddie
or anyone at the time, but with Eddies personality and charm, Marguerite ended up falling in love with
him even though this wasnt a set goal in her mind. Destiny led Marguerite to fall in love with Eddie and
all this time both Eddie and Marguerite knew that this was density and that they were meant for each
other. If this wasnt their set fate to be together and fall in love then they wouldnt have loved each
other just as much when they were dead than living together.

Page178-184: A rapid growth in Eddies birthday describing how dull his days are becoming, ending with
a trip to the cemetery showing that Eddie is getting closer to death. Eddie thought about the taffy
because his wife Marguerite would give him it as a present so then he would be able to remind himself
of his birthday. Even though Marguerite is dead, her gifts of taffy didnt leave Eddie unaffected. Her
actions lived on and became a link that Eddie could use to connect to his wifes grave emotionally.
Page190: Washing the little girl was parallel to Eddie washing away his sins and finding clarity in his own
life.
Page191: I was sad because I didnt do anything with my life. I was nothing. I accomplished nothing. I
was lost. I felt like I wasnt supposed to be there.

During life you feel like you have no meaning because there is greater things around the world being
done with greater importance taking away the few small things that you can do to change another
persons life for good. Eddie was always jealous of his rich brother and was always thinking about
leaving the pier for greater good. He thought it was an excuse for him having to work because his father
died and he had to take care of his family, but it wasnt true. Eddie could have left the pier without any
question, but he didnt because it was fate, he just didnt know it yet until he was shown. Just like the
song, fate made Eddie be a maintenance man even though he didnt want to be one. Yet all the time
fate knew that this was his life to protect children and this was shown when Eddie had to run out on
instinct to save that little girl.
Page191: Children. You keep them safe. You make good for me. Is where you were supposed to be,
Eddie Main-ten-ance.
Page192: Not her hands. My hands. I bring you to heaven. Keep you safe.
Rational for both pages 191 and 192 quotes: Eddies fate brought him to take care of children and keep
him safe after he accidentally killed a girl in the Philippines without knowing and because of this fate,
and because of this he was able to clear his sins and end up in heaven. In the end Eddie needed the
children just as much as he protected them, throughout his life, children has always made him happy
and kept him living each day with a purpose to make children smile and be happy. When Eddie died the
little girl decided to take Eddie into heaven instead of letting his soul from falling into hell, and this was
because he kept children safe for the rest of his life, and even sacrificing his own life so then the little girl
he saved could have lived the rest of her until she got old. Through dying, Eddie made sacrifices to give
more than what his life had for him on Earth.
Page194: Eddie goes home the Ferris wheel where Marguerite said she would be before she had to
leave Eddie after meeting him in heaven.
Page196ending: Summary of all themes together, and how everyones life changed depending on
Eddies actions and then it shows how everyone is connected and how our lives are influenced, even in a
small place like the Stardust Band Shell, the place where Eddie lived all his life, met his wife, and met the
girl he was going to save and the final place he will meet the girl again showing her how his sacrifice of
the rest of his little life left was given up to give the little girl Amy/ Annie a whole life ahead of her so she
can experience the human conditions that everyone faces through life.