I Am The Messenger Analysis

"I am the Messenger" by Markus Zusak is the story of an ordinary 20 year- old Cab driver, Ed Kennedy. It is a story that has given me a whole new perspective of the world and the actions that occur within it. Ed is assigned series of missions to help people through the use of Ace playing cards. From this, Ed learns to face his fears and ignore his feelings of incompetence. He discovers that anyone can make a life-changing effect to somebody else’s life through the smallest of actions. Some of the messages Ed receives are as easy as buying an ice-cream for a struggling single mother, where others, Ed finds himself in the difficult situation of having to decide whether to kill a man for the safety of the man’s wife and children or let him go. Ed improves his values as a human being, and creates strong relationships with his friends Marv and Ritchie after helping them as well. His final and most personal message is for his best friend, Audrey, who he is in love with. She won’t allow herself to love Ed though, after promising …show more content…
This relates back to Ed because the main obstacle he had to overcome throughout this novel was himself. He didn’t believe in himself and didn’t know why he, out of all people, had been chosen for this challenge. His lack of faith in his skills, courage, and intelligence was holding him back from living his life. These aspects of Ed’s character were used well to deliver the message that this novel is trying to convey by informing the reader that you don’t need to be the sportiest or most intelligent person in the world to achieve things in life. Which is shown through this quote from Ed, “Maybe everyone can live beyond what they’re capable of” Meaning, you only need to be able to believe in yourself, which will then give you courage and the ability to achieve as high as you aim and beyond what you think you are capable