The Last Lecture

Jeffrey Zaslow, Randy PauschNonfiction | Essay / Speech | Adult | Published in 2008

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Section 5, Chapters 56-58Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Section 5: “It’s About How to Live Your Life”

Section 5, Chapters 56-58 Summary

Pausch focuses his attention on the effectiveness of positivity. However, because of his approaching death, he knows that life requires a “healthy balance between optimism and realism” (183). He can’t deny that he is dying, but he argues that his focus should be on living the best he can while he’s here. To highlight the need for positivity, he uses the example of A. A. Milne’s characters Tigger and Eeyore to suggest that a person must choose which one they will be in their life.

To further establish the benefits of positive thinking, Pausch examines the overwhelming amount of support and advice he has received from strangers and how he has “been buoyed by their good wishes” (184). He believes that the kindness he has received is due to his receptiveness to other people’s help for himself and his family during such a difficult time. Because of all of these people, he has “never felt alone on this ride I’m taking” (188).

Section 5, Chapters 56-58 Analysis

Now that Pausch has offered his advice to others, he turns his reflection back to himself, examining how all this wisdom has helped him as he reaches the end of his life. Much like at the beginning of his lecture, when he introduced the reader to the “elephant in the room,” he comes back again to the issue of his illness.