Heaven

“Sometimes he gets so mad at me, he just shakes his head and mumbles that I’m just like Uncle Jack.”

This early quote is an example of foreshadowing, for Pops’s habit of pointing out the similarities between Marley and her elusive and nomadic Uncle Jack indicate that the connection between the two is more complex than it might appear on the surface. These comparisons foreshadow the revelation Uncle Jack is actually Marley’s biological father.

“People look for what they need, I guess. You find what you think you need and what might make you happy in different places with different people and sometimes it’s just waiting in a tiny town in Ohio with a cute little schoolhouse by the river. Heaven was waiting for us.”

This quote introduces the small-town setting of Heaven, Ohio, which the author depicts as a quaint and bucolic place with happy residents. The name Heaven itself is an allusion to the Christian conception of the afterlife, further characterizing Heaven as a happy and positive place to raise a family. The revelations about Marley’s family history will come to reshape Marley’s perception of Heaven, and she must reconcile her childhood perceptions with her new understanding of her situation.

“Can you see them, Angel? They’re tall and languid. Tall and graceful. They’re yellow because they swallow up the sun and brown in the middle—almost burnt from eating up all the rays.”

Uncle Jack writes many letters to Marley over the years, and his words illustrate his propensity for employing lyricism and vivid imagery. Because the two characters communicate and connect solely through letters, Uncle Jack makes extra effort to invoke the details of his travels.