Part 5, Chapter 31

Content Warning: This section includes discussion of suicide, addiction, animal cruelty, illness, and death. During the bike ride, Miller met a man in his 50s named Mike Barrow, whom the group called Iron Mike. Mike told many stories about his past. He was married four times, and he failed because he lacked resolve. He was a nurse and developed an addiction to drugs. Mike had an affair with a colleague. When she left him, Mike kidnapped her cat, called the woman, and squeezed the cat on the phone. The woman called the police, and Mike was arrested. He admitted he was a “real mess.” Mike explained to Miller’s bike group that his father died by suicide when he was a kid and that God helped him heal and change. He participated in the bike ride to show himself that he could finish it and was not a “quitter.”

Part 5, Chapter 31 Summary: “Squeezing the Cat”

Part 5, Chapter 32

Miller refers to a friend named Jim who lost his 27-year-old wife, Janice, to cancer. Miller spent time with Jim as he and his children prepared for her death. Miller understood the man’s “deep well of love,” suggesting that people realize how capable of love they are when they lose loved ones and a story is ending (222).

Part 5, Chapter 32 Summary: “The Beauty of a Tragedy”

Part 5, Chapter 33

Part 5, Chapter 33 Summary: “All You Have to Do Is Try”

Part 5, Chapter 34

Part 5, Chapter 34 Summary: “To Speak Something into Nothing”

Part 5, Chapter 35

Part 5, Chapter 35 Summary: “Summer Snow in Delaware”

Part 5, Chapter 36

Part 5, Chapter 36 Summary: “Where Once There Was Nothing”

Afterword

Afterword Summary

Part 5-Afterword

Part 5-Afterword Analysis

Emotions & Behavior

Fear

Memory

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Book Events

National Suicide Prevention Month

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Self-Help Books

Donald Miller

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Part 1: “Exposition”

Part 1 A Million Miles In A Thousand Years Part 1 Summary & Analysis

Part 2 A Million Miles In A Thousand Years Part 2 Summary & Analysis

Part 3: “A Character Who Wants Something”

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Part 4: “A Character Who Wants Something and Overcomes Conflict”

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Part 5: “A Character Who Wants Something and Overcomes Conflict to Get It”

A Million Miles In A Thousand Years Part 5-Afterword Summary & Analysis

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A Million Miles In A Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life

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Part 5: “A Character Who Wants Something and Overcomes Conflict to Get It”

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