Written by: Marcus Zusak
Main Characters
Ed Kennedy
Audrey
Marv
Ritchie
Awards
CBCA (Children’s Book
Council of Australia) Book of
the Year
Plot
Characterisation
Dialogue
Themes/ideas
Symbolism
Structure
Allusions
Meta-fiction
Imagery
Messenger quiz
1. Who are Ed’s three best friends?
2. What event starts the book?
3. What order do the cards come in?
4. What order do the cards come in?
5. Who is the man with the briefcase?
The beginning:
The story begins with an introduction to the
character of Ed Kennedy, a down-and-out
underage taxi driver who is in love with his best
friend Audrey, who, to his dismay, feels that she
cares about him too much to date him. Ed is
standing in a bank queue when a robbery takes
place. He accidentally foils the robber’s escape,
and is proclaimed a hero. Shortly after, he
receives an Ace of Diamonds in the mail.
Plot
The ending:
The last card is a Joker and has his own address written
on it. But as it is made clear in the last lines of the novel
it's all about the realization of chances and potential because as Ed finally says: "I'm
not the messenger at all. I'm the message." We learn that the person sending the
cards was Zusak himself. Ed was the 'guinea pig' of an experiment to see if an ordinary
(very unsuccessful) man could perform the impossible and give hope to the world that
this generation is not useless. As the book comes to a close, Audrey comes to Ed and
reveals that she does love him, deciding to move in with him for good.
The Cards
In the middle of the book Ed receives
5 playing cards. Four aces and a joker.
Your task: Match up the relevant aces
with
1. The right task
2. The right instruction
3. The right meaning
behind the card
Theme!
Recognising the extraordinary in the
ordinary.
What does this mean?
We all have something extraordinary about us, no matter where we
are from or who we are.
We all have the potential to be extraordinary, it’s about taking hold
of your life and making changes, while also taking pleasure in the
little things.
Be kind, be active, take risks, don’t be a bystander. Ed’s life changes
when he stops being a bystander and stops blaming other people
for his own failures.
Success doesn’t always consist of commonly acknowledged
achievements. Just small things…which are big.
Extra vs ordinary
Extraordinary
Getting mystery cards in the mail
Ordinary
Working as a cabbie
Characterisation - Major
The Messenger is packed full of
interesting characters who rotate
around our protagonist, Ed.
Your task:
1. Your group will be given a set
of quotes which relate to the
4 main characters. Match the
quotes to their appropriate
characters.
2. Come up with a list of
adjectives that describe your
two assigned characters.
3. Share adjectives with the rest
of the class to get words for
the other 2.
Audrey
Ritchie
Ed
Mrs
Kennedy
Marv
Ed Kennedy
Your job:
Write Ed a short Lonely Hearts advert as if he was going to try out internet dating. It
needs to be short and punchy, so no more than
150 words.
You can use words from the quotes about Ed to help.
You have two choices:
1. Be completely honest about Ed’s faults, or
2. Try to use euphemistic language to gloss over
his bad parts, eg. When they describe tiny, cramped
houses as “cosy” in house ads.
Lonely hearts examples
HAPPY-GOMALE, 42, Asian l
CUDDLY male,
LUCKY, petite East looking but English, 5ft young 47, likes food,
End woman, loves 10ins, medium build,
wine, sports,
keeping fit and
thin on top with grey
comedies, evenings
music, seeks white hair, looking for lady, 5ft in/out, WLTM warm,
male, 30-35, who is 8ins, 35-47, intelligent, considerate female,
100% genuine,
funny, fairly attractive, to 30-40, NS, GSOH
honest and caring, get my thoughts alive
and back on course.
for friendship
possibly more.
Some abbrevs to help you.
ND - Non Drinker
OHAC - Own house and car
TLC - Tender loving care
NS - Non smoker
YO - Years old
OFAC - Own flat and car
WLTM - Would like to meet
GSOH - Good sense of humour
Audrey
Audrey seems incapable of loving
anyone because the people in
her life that she loved have hurt
her. Like Ed, she has let her past
control her life.
Instead of letting anyone in she
sleeps with people who she
doesn’t truly love. She keeps
people at arms length.
Your task: Imagine Audrey is a member of AskFM.
1. Write a question as Audrey which addresses something in her
life she might need help or advice about.
2. Reply to her question with the advice you think she might need.
3. Write a facebook message you would say to another friend to
describe why Audrey is the way she is.
Characterisation - Minor
There a number of minor characters which display our theme “recognising the
extraordinary in the ordinary” very well.
Your task:
1. Write a note next to each saying why you think they are extraordinary.
2. Draw a picture next to each to help you remember.
Milla – “She ate a salad and some soup, and loneliness , she ate that too.” “No other man
has entered her life. Not the way her Jimmy did. She’s been waiting years for her Jimmy
to come back. And now he has.”
Sophie – “On her face is the beauty of the morning and for the first time she recognises
it, 5.30 am.”
The Tatupu family on Glory Road – “Sometimes people are beautiful, not in looks, not in
what they say, just in what they are.” “When they laugh you can see the world in their
eyes.”
Milla - Ordinary? Hers is a beautiful story of loyalty and love.
Sophie - Sophie is someone who needed encouragement to be herself. She runs
barefoot, and is only herself in those moments. Ordinary? Ed doesn’t think so. He
thinks she has beauty and grace.
Tatupu family - This family have such love for each other they are extraordinary.
These three show us that it is easy for us to dismiss people, this is about “looking
closer” seeing the quiet heroes, the potential we all have,
recognising that no-one is ordinary we are all capable of greatness and
heroism. Relate to Ed, an educated cab driver who manages to be a hero to
countless people by small, single acts.
An example of metafiction
Daffy Duck!!
How is this metafiction?
Metafiction
A good way to think about it is it’s like the author or character winking at you from
within the book. They are “breaking the fourth wall” as they say in theatre. They are
acknowledging this is a work of fiction.
Zusak does this for a specific reason that he makes explicit in the end of the book. He
creates this world and these characters for a reason… what
does he want us
to realise by doing this?
He wants us (and Ed) to realise that if even a character as hopeless and useless as Ed
Kennedy can change his life, realise his potential, and affect change in other’s lives,
than it really is possible for anyone, including the author to do so as well.
Ed is a guinea pig for Zusak to discover the truth about human potential. The
potential to be extraordinary that we all have, if we could just realise it and make it
happen. By putting himself in his own novel and acknowledging Ed’s role as a character
in a book, we see not just Ed’s potential but our own as well. He makes us
question our lives and what we have accomplished. Ed is the message, and Zusak
the messenger. We are the recipients to that message. We just have to be listening.
Metafiction quotes
Your task:
Pick the two quotes you think best show
metafiction in relation to our theme. (You
could pick part of a quote instead of the
whole one.) Write a note next to each of
them explaining how they do that.
“I’ve been watched all along, but never have I
felt as vulnerable or scrutinized as right now.” –
p 341
“I came to this town a year ago, Ed… I saw your
father buried. I saw you and your card games
“What would you do if you were me? Tell me. and your dog and your ma. I just kept coming
Please tell me! But you’re far from this. Your
back, watching, the same way you did at all
fingers turn the strangeness of these pages
those addresses… I killed your father, Ed. I
that somehow connect my life to yours. Your
organised the bungled bank robbery for a time
eyes are safe. The story is just another few
I knew you’d be there. I instructed that man to
hundred pages of your mind. For me, it’s here. brutalise his wife. I made Daryl and Keith do all
It’s now.” P 89
those things to you… I did it all to you. I made
you a less than competent taxi driver and got
“You are like he was… and just like him you
you to do all those things you thought you
were most likely to die the same way – a
quarter of what you could have been… you see couldn’t…. And why? Because you are the
epitome of ordinariness, Ed… and if a guy like
Ed, you were always an absolute no-hoper –
you can stand up and do what you did for all
just like your old man… and we’ve been
employed to test you – to see if you can avoid those people, well, maybe everyone can.
Maybe everyone can live beyond what they’re
this life.. the only problem is… it wasn’t your
capable of… Maybe even I can.” – p 353
father who sent us.” – p347
That’s so Meta (fiction)
What is metafiction?
Metafiction uses literary techniques to draw attention to itself as a work of art, while
exposing the "truth" of a story. "Metafiction" is the literary term describing fictional
writing that self-consciously draws attention to its status as a piece of art in posing
questions about the relationship between fiction and reality, usually using irony and selfreflection. Metafiction does not let the reader forget he or she is reading a fictional work.
Some things that show you a work is a piece of metafiction are when:
A story containing another work of fiction within itself; A book in
which the book itself seeks interaction with the reader; A story in
which the characters are aware that they are in a story; A novel where the
narrator intentionally exposes him or herself as the author of the
story; A story about a writer creating a story; A story about a
reader reading a book; A story containing another work of
fiction within itself.
How many of these aspects does The Messenger contain?
Quotes continued
“I recall the sensation of the town feeling
painted around me and of feeling invented. Is
this happening.” – p 353
“For a long time, I wonder what I’m waiting
for, but I understand it’s just like he said. I
guess it’s for life beyond these pages.” – p
355
“Everything. Everything I wrote for you. Every
idea I scratched around with. Every person you “I got through the folder incessantly. I sit there
helped, hurt, or ran into… even this… this
and comb through it. I rummage and plow
discussion.” – p353
among the loose papers. “I’m looking for this…
“Of course you’re real – like any thought or any I’m looking for you and me, together.” She
knees with me and places her hand on mine to
story. It’s real when you’re in it.” – p354
make me drop the papers. “I don’t think it’s in
“Keep living, Ed. It’s only the pages that stop
there… I think, Ed…. This belongs to us.” – p
here.” – p354
357
“The odds are, however, that he’s beaten
me to it already. It’ll be his name on the
cover of all these words, not mind. He’ll
get all the credit… but just remember that I
was the one – not him- who gave life to
these pages.” – p 355
“That’s when I realise… I’m not the messenger
at all. I’m the message.” – 357
Biblical Allusion
Ed the messenger, Ed the saint, Ed the saviour.
Despite seeming to be a no hoper, Ed is forced to play the role of the messenger, the
saint and the saviour when he starts receiving the cards. In this way, Ed is like Jesus
figure, while the person sending the cards/the author/Zusak is the all knowing, all
seeing God.
His acts are not always big, but his small contributions affect change in his own life and
others. By helping people in whatever way they need it, he makes his own life
extraordinary.
The stories told in this novel are akin to parables. Ed must act the Good Samaritan and
help a series of people to find their heart’s desire. But the needs of each are different,
and the type of task required is different too.
Question:
Is he saying Ed is a saint? Or is he showing us something else?
Biblical Allusion quotes
“Clubs are no snack, my son. The question
is, are you up to it? Or is that question
irrelevant? Surely you weren’t up to the
Ace of Diamonds. But you did it. Good
luck and keep delivering. I’m quite sure
you realise your life depends on it.” P 113
“The damn card is like gravity itself.
Like a cross to strap across my back.”
P 113
“’Are you some kind of saint or something?’
Inside I laugh. Me? A saint? I list what I am.
Taxi driver. Local deadbeat. Cornerstone of
mediocrity. Sexual midget. Pathetic
cardplayer… ‘No, I’m not a saint…I’m just
another stupid human.” P 74
“Why have I been chosen for this? I beg,
despite knowing without questions
what I have to do. You were happy with
the other two, I castigate myself. So
now you have to do this one.” P 81
“You know, they say that there are countless
saints who have nothing to do with church
and almost no knowledge of God. But they
say God walks with those people without
them ever knowing it… you’re one of those
people, Ed. And it’s an honour to know you.”
P 156
“The father speaks with a sincerity that’s
hypnotising. Not about god, but about the
people of this town getting together. Doing
things together. Helping each other. And just
getting together in general.” P 162
Imagery
Zusak uses the dark/light,
day/night imagery repeatedly
in the novel.
In the context of our theme
and characters, what could
that dark/light dichotomy
represent?
And what are some examples
that show it?
Imagery
Zusak’s repeated use of light and dark can be seen to
represent good and evil as well as Ed movement from
no hoper to someone with a purpose. He goes from
being someone ordinary to recognising others and his
own potential to be extraordinary.
For example, the fact that Ed chooses to face all of his
earlier “cards” in the dark is a fact not to be
overlooked; as the book progresses and Ed becomes
more confident in his missions, more and more of his
challenges are dealt with during the day.
Egs: “The sun is up – an orange cutout in a cardboard
sky. I make it to the top and kneel down. My hands
touch the cool stone.” One could say Zusak uses the
idea of reaching the top of the rock face as the sun is
rising as a symbol for the perseverance and
determination of Ed in the novel.
This could also be seen as a reflection of Ed’s evolving
conflicts and character in the novel – once dejected
and relatively isolated, the sun is now “rising” from
darkness, dawning on a new chapter in his life and
possibly revealing the answer to the “cards”
themselves.
DARKNESS AND LIGHT QUOTES
“We sit in on the front steps, which are half in “I cant let him slink off
shadow, half in the sun. As it happens, I sit in
to that darkness place
the darkness and Tommy sits in the light… I’d
inside him, where his
wanted to stay on the porch with him until
pride is strewn all over
the sun shone bright on both of us, but I
the floor in some
didn’t… I’d rather chase the sun than wait for
hidden room.” P 302
it.” P 282-283
“I meet the darkness and
“The words stagger slowly from Marv’s
uncertainty of what will come
mouth. Half his face is trodden with
next. I feel the fear, but I walk fast
darkness, covered but I can still make out toward it.” P 289
the outlines, the forms.” – p 317
“The first two hold me up with
“God it’s dark now. As dark as
the rising of the sun.” p75
the Ace of Spades.” P 245
“Each time a shudder makes
“I wonder for a moment why I didn’t
its way to my arms and legs, I
just set my alarm at home and come
walk harder, deciding if Audrey
over at dawn, but I know I have to do
needs me, and Ritchie and
this right. I had to suffer the night to do Marv, I have to hurry. Fear is
this properly.” – p333
the street. Fear is every step.
The darkness grows heavier on
“If my stomach was a colour, I think, it
the road and I begin. To run.”
would be black, like tonight.” P 296
P290
Major Symbols
Symbolism - Ed’s
neighbourhood (also
counts as setting)
Ed lives is a town near Sydney, Australia. But his suburb could stand in for many in
New Zealand, or any Western country, it’s an “every town” like the “everyman” in a
virtue and vice story. Meaning it stands in for our own towns and neighbourhoods.
It’s “run of the mill”.
“The town we all live in is pretty run of the
mill. Its past the outskirts of the city and has
good and bad parts. I’m sure it wont surprise
you that I come from one of the bad parts. My
whole family grew up at the far north of town,
which is kind of like everyone’s dirty secret.
There are plenty of teenage pregnancies there,
a plethora of shithead fathers who are
unemployed and mothers like mine who
smoke, drink, and go out in public wearing
ugboots.” P17
What does the
neighbourhood symbolise?
It’s not the place, I think, it’s the people. We’d
have been all the same anywhere else. P 245
“It’s the person, Ma, not the place. If you left
here, you’d have been the same anywhere
else…. If I ever leave this place.. I’ll make sure
I’m better here first.” P 283
The neighbourhood represents our excuses and justifications for why we
aren’t living the lives we should be. It allows us to let luck control our lives. Ed realises this
and determines he will be better in his own home before leaving.
It also shows us that even in a place like this, heroes and extraordinary people and stories
are happening.
Ed uses his neighbourhood as an excuse for his own failure. He blames it for his lack of
motivation and focus.
Don’t use where you come from as an excuse for your ineptitude, your
failure. Ed needs to recognise the ordinariness was him, not where he came from.
Relatable?
I’m from Palmerston North, which has very similar associations.
People think if you’re from Palmerston North you’re going to be a pregnant teen,
an alcoholic, a school drop out. That you’ll wear ug boots to the supermarket,
smoke around your kids, and sign up for the benefit.
Can anyone relate to this?
What does this mean?
What effect does it have if people around you are negative about your
community, and you are too?
What message should we take from the novel about where we live and
where we come from?
Where could this kind of connection to the text help in terms of essay
writing?
Symbolism – The playing cards
Talk to your neighbour:
What do playing cards represent in life? What associations do they have with
them?
What could they represent in this book? (There may be more than one
correct answer.)
Luck – you might have bad luck but you can’t blame it forever
Chance
Gambling
Doing what you can with the cards you are dealt
Mastering life like you master a game of cards
Taking control – not letting the cards you receive be the end of the story
You need to take risks to get any reward
Where do we see the cards as
symbolic?
The card game - Annoyance
The messenger cards
The structure
The suit themselves
Annoyance
The 4 friends get together every week to play annoyance.
What could this be symbolic of?
(Hint: think about the name…)
The messenger cards
Clearly the cards themselves are symbolic.
Ed says
“I imagine a full hand of aces in that drawer,
fanned out as a player would hold them in a
game. I never thought I wouldn’t want four
aces. In a card game, you pray for a hand like
that. My life is not a card game.” 117
This quote is slightly ironic… Ed’s
life isn’t a card game, but it
has been created by Zusak. While Ed had his cards dealt by the
author he can still make changes and have an extraordinary life.
And if
someone like Ed can do it… anyone can.
So the cards represent the life you are in, not what you can do. We are all
dealt certain cards, but unlike Ed, we have full
authorial authority
over our own lives. And we need to take risks in order to move
forward.
Structure
How is the book set out?
What does Zusak use to structure the novel?
Zusak structures the book around a deck of cards. Ed must work his way through each of
the decks in order to fullfil his role and find meaning in his life. While most of us don’t
have to take on a journey like Ed, Zusak is encouraging each of us to consider the various
aspects the suits represent.
It’s also no coincedence that the cards are Aces – Aces are either the lowest or highest
card in the deck.
Again, he is reminding us that while Ed’s life is “a game of cards”, our own isn’t. We have
full control of our lives.
Ed.
We are the author of our own lives, unlike
While we may have excuses, like Ed does, we can see that even someone who has been
created to be useless can achieve extraordinary acts, then we can too.
Suits
In addition to the overall symbolism of the cards, the suits each have their own
symbolism.
Your task: Identify what each suit represents. What was Zusak trying to do with the
different meanings of the suits?
Playing cards quotes
“I was lying about throwing out the diamonds.
“Protect the diamonds. Survive the
No one in their right mind would throw
clubs. Dig deep through the spades.
diamonds out, would they? They’re valuable. If Feel the hearts.”
anything, they need protecting.” P70
“Later that night I look in the bathroom mirror.
Two black eyes. Swollen jaw. A blood stream
“I imagine a full hand of aces in that drawer, flowing to my throat… I stare strangely into the
fanned out as a player would hold them in a face of clubs.” P 180
game. I never thought I wouldn’t want four
aces. In a card game, you pray for a hand like
“I have to dig. This is spades so I have to dig.”
that. My life is not a card game.” [ 117
P214
‘People die of broken hearts.
“I remember the diamonds, relive the clubs,
They have heart attacks. And it’s the heart that and even smile about the spades. I worry
hurts most when things go wrong and fall
about the hearts.” P 280
apart.’ p 292
Minor symbols
The Christmas Lights are Ed’s way of making the Tatupu
family feel acknowledged and welcomed. It’s a small gesture, not
heroic or brave, but it means so much to them.
He realises from this act that small things can have a big impact.
That the ordinary can be extraordinary and that behind the façade
of an ordinary house there can be beauty and something special.
It also shows how a small gesture can mean the world to someone.
“Four globes to brighten up the
Tatupu house this year. It’s not a
big thing, but I guess it’s true – big
things are often just small things
that are noticed.” P 221
“Lua kisses her. Just softly on the
lips. And she kisses back.
Sometimes people are beautiful.
Not in looks. Not in what they say.
Just in what they are.” P 224
“This isn’t about words. It’s about glowing lights and
small things that are big.” P 221
Have a think…. Has anyone ever done
something like this for you? It might seem
small to them but it made your
day/week/year?
Or….
Have you ever done some thing like this for
someone else? Not for the thanks, or the
reward, just to make their day?
If you said no…. Why not? What’s stopping
us?
The Invisible Running Shoes
When Ed meets Sophie he can’t figure out what she needs.
When he sees her run, he sees her true beauty. She is happiest when she runs
barefoot.
By giving her the invisible shoes he is giving her permission to be extraordinary,
to run her races barefoot and enjoy it in the same way she does at 5.30am.
The shoes represent the fact that she had that ability all along, she just needed
to be reminded of it. Each message Ed delivers lets him know the same thing.
Angie Carusso’s icecream
Like the Christmas Lights, the icecream is a
small gesture that has big effects.
Angie is a solo mum with small children. This
is a demanding life with very little
recognition.
Of course she loves her children, but in having
them she has sacrificed a different possible
life.
What does it mean that Ed gives her the
icecream? What is he trying to say to
her?
“It’s the person, Ma, not the place. If
you left here, you’d have been the
same anywhere else…. If I ever leave
this place.. I’ll make sure I’m better
here first.” P 283
Dialogue
“You were sent here to remind yourself
that you don’t want to die the same
way your father did. Understand?” p
348
“You are like he as… and just like him you were
most likely to die the same way – a quarter of
what you could have been… you see Ed, you
were always an absolute no-hoper – just like
your old man… and we’ve been employed to
test you – to see if you can avoid this life.
“Yes, you’re here – and that’s exactly it!... Look
at this dump. The house, the town,
everything… your father – he promised me
that one day we’d leave this place. He said
we’d just pack up and go, and look where we
are, Ed. We’re stil her. I’m here. You’re here,
and just like your old man, you’re all promises,
Ed, and no results… you could be as good as
any of them… but you’re still here and you’ll
still be here in fifty years… and you’ll have
achieved nothing… I just want you… to make
something of yourself.” P 245
“You know, they say that there are
countless saints who have nothing to
do with church and almost no
knowledge of God. But they say God
walks with those people without them
ever knowing it… you’re one of those
people, Ed. And it’s an honour to know
you.” P 156
“Are you looking at a dead man now?”
p351