I AM THE MESSENGER (Journal Entry)

"[Ed] think[s] it's the first chance in a long time the father's had to say thank you" (p. 165) and the reason for this is that he has developed into a person that has changed society in this case for the betterment of society. The father, used to giving advice and receiving thanks, has never been helped because of his selflessness in relation to those he helped.
Even the least motivated person in the world has some role in the existence of mankind. A homeless person on the street could alter life in a grandiose way. Just think if one person had seen him on the street and felt sorry for him, they could have ended up starting a movement to help get homeless people into houses and shelters and off the street. That movement could alter society all because of a seemingly useless homeless person. Ed in "I Am The Messenger" believed that he was one of these seemingly useless people with no place in the world. His job got him comfortable in his life and he didn't seek any betterment in his life. All of this changes as "everything stops to watch as [Ed] reach[es] in and pull[s] out... the Ace of Diamonds" (p.25). He is delivered the aces of playing cards with messages written on them. As he realizes these are messages which leads Ed to help people out in the town, he begins to change and develop into a better person, making an impact on the world just as others have done whether the President of the United States or that homeless person which ultimately led to a movement. Many people in modern day society don't believe that they have an impact on life. In the big picture of the evolution of society, everyone and everything will have or will alter something. If the apple was missing from the tree under which Isaac Newton was sitting, it would have never fallen on his head which wouldn't have led to him finding his theory of gravity. This could be seen as fate but in the end, these things all happened for a reason and were placed on this planet to make a difference. A simple child which was third born from a family of four children on a farm in a remote part of Scotland could grow into a great biologist and pharmacologist and discover penicillin just as Alexander Flemming did. He had a role in life which hugely impacted modern medicine. All from a simple child in a farming family. Also, if the robber from the bank hadn't been there when Ed was in the bank, Ed would have never acted and set the whole message thing in motion. In the end, Ed has an epiphany which leads him to see that he wasn't the messenger and he was rather the message being delivered which stated that even the least motivated and purposeless person has a purpose in life and can change society.