Birthday Parties
Throughout the novel, there are chapters all about some especially important birthday in Eddie's life. Birthdays mark the aging of a person until they die. Death, as told in this book, marks a new beginning. When Eddie is young, he enjoys the attention he gets on his birthday on looks forward to that day. But as he gets older, Eddie becomes less and less excited about his birthday eventually only celebrating because others insist he does. When his wife dies, Eddie no longer celebrates his birthday and treats it like any other day.