Randy Pausch is the epitome of a person who finds happiness in everything they do and simply enjoys life. Pausch was a professor at Carnegie Mellon University with the terminal illness pancreatic cancer. Pausch is an inspiration because of how he handled this terminal illness. In his book, The Last Lecture, Pausch explains how he came to achieve his childhood dreams. Randy shares his ideas on living life to the fullest and various anecdotes from his life. Through the use of literary techniques and through his very detailed and descriptive writing, Pausch helps put the reader in his shoes and inspire them to ultimately take advantage of everything they are lucky enough have right now and to live every day like it's their last. .
Randy Pausch uses consistent themes throughout his novel, The Last Lecture, to emphasize his fundamental message to take advantage of everyday and every minute you have. One major theme throughout the book is achieving childhood dreams. Pausch does not introduce this theme and even his specific childhood dreams as if they are just things on a bucket list that need to be checked off, but rather a way to live your life. He shows how being optimistic and leading your life efficiently can help make your dreams come true more readily. "It's not about how to achieve your dreams, it's about how to lead your life, .If you lead your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself, the dreams will come to you" (Pausch, The Last Lecture). Randy also emphasizes the theme of not only making your own dreams come true, but also enabling the dreams of others. Selflessness is a trait that he exaggerates throughout this book. When you enable the dreams of others you're thinking more of them and their success rather than yourself. Another theme that is present in a majority of this novel is the optimism in overcoming an obstacle. In his book, Pausch refers to obstacles as brick walls.