The Ace of Diamonds

Response to I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak, Part One: The First Message

    This is seriously one of my favorite books of all time right now. I love it a lot. In my mind, this is the best Ace, the Ace of Diamonds. My favorite message is the girl who runs barefoot, because that was one of the happier ones that he delivers and because of that it was way more enjoyable. I love the way that he gives her an empty shoe box and her father looks at Ed like he's a crazy lunatic.
     Another great message was the one for Milla. It's impossible not to love her. She's so nice and loving that it makes everyone feel bad about her alzheimer's. It is so sad, as she is just about the least deserving person for something like that to happen to. I really wish that she was like my grandmother or something. It seems as if her entire life is like a sick joke. She marries a good guy who dies in the war, loses her mind, and then simply starts accepting this random stranger as her husband, loving and caring for him as if he was her husband.
     I didn't love the other message very much. It was a worse one with a terrible man in it who should go and die somewhere, alone and unloved. This entire message is filled with Ed going back and forth on his plan of action. He tries to go into the house, but cannot due to his paralyzing fear that takes control of his body, forcing him to stop dead in his tracks. He leaves, and then finds a gun in his mail box. I love his reaction, because it seems so close to how any regular person's reaction would be if it happened to them. I'd end up doing the same thing, except I'd end up blasting AC/DC all night long while losing my mind. Other than Ed receiving the pistol in his mail box, my favorite part of this message is how Ed decides to deal with the guy. I mean, he manages to drug him, drive him out to the middle of nowhere, force him, at gunpoint, to climb to the top of the cathedral, and then manage to actually pull the trigger took a lot of self control that I wouldn't be able to possess. I'm so happy however, that he chooses not to shoot him and instead give him a second chance. It's that human part in all of us that shines through in this message and shows us that no matter what, we are all human.