Friendship In Mitch Albom's 'Tuesdays With Morrie'

1501 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Use of Symbolism

In Tuesdays With Morrie, Mitch Albom meets with his favorite college professor who taught him at Brandeis University. Mitch and Morrie always had a unique relationship, a friendship that you don’t really see between a student and a professor. Many years after graduating Mitch finds out that Morrie was diagnosed with Lou Gherigs Disease which slowly breaks your body down until you eventually die. Mitch is a famous sports beat writer that never really had free time, but when he heard this news he felt he had to pay Morrie a visit. In the first visit Mitch has a flashback on his graduation day. In a student-teacher relationship it is normally just distant and professional, but on that day Morrie gives Mitch a briefcase which has his initials on it. The briefcase is a symbol of the friendship that they had. They both decide to meet every Tuesday to have a final class about life, a class that has no grades and instead of graduation, it will be a funeral.
A major theme in the book is how Mitch lives his life prior to the meetings with Morrie. He works for the media, which could also be viewed as a symbol. Work takes up so much of his life and he doesn’t have time to live as the way that Morrie did. Morrie despised the mediea, believing that it was driven by greed, violence, and superficiality. He was encouraged by Morrie to quit his job, and it was the his office went on strike and left him jobless where he really discovered lifes meaning. Morries told Mitch a quote from a poem by his favorite author W.H. Auden, which read “ In the absence of Love, there is a void that can be filled only by loving human relationships.” Morie tells Mitch “When love abounds, a person can experience no higher sense of fulfillment.” Morrie believed that...

... middle of paper ...

...ho experiences love for the first time. The boy she likes doesn’t feel the same way about her. She is so hurt that she wants to speed up life to end it. Victor is a millionaire who is dying of cancer and wants his body to be frozen so in the future his cancer is healed and he has another life time to live.
The Lesson in this book is to show people to live in the moment and not worry about the future, because in order for the future to be great we have to make sure that the present is good. More often, people should take a moment to reflect life. I’m guilty of wishing that there was more time in a day, and as a college student I know that pretty much everyone else wishes for that too. A quote from this book that I’ve grown to appreciate is “When you are measuring life, you are not living it”. Time is precious and we need to take advantage of what we have.

Show More
Related

  • Mich Albom's Tuesdays With Morrie

    1044 Words  | 3 Pages

    Wisdom is a part of this story because morrie has very good judgement, and experience. Morrie is very aware and responsible, morrie told some very great life lessons to morrie and to the class that he taught. More is a very wise man who has been thr0ugh a lot of rough stuff in his life, these hard times he has been through has taught him many new and helpful things that he tries and shares with those around him. He is clever and discerning. An example of wisdom in tuesdays with morrie is, “The culture we have does not make people feel good about themselves. And you have to be strong enough to say if the culture doesn’t work, don’t buy it.” (Albom, 42). This quote is an example of wisdom because morrie is very aware 0f this culture and how it works, morrie shows intelligence and respect. Morrie tells it how it is to mitch and gives him some good advice that if the culture doesn't work don’t buy it. Morrie also said, “Everyone knows they’re going to die but nobody believes it. If we did, we would do things differently.” (Albom,81). By this quote morrie is saying that the best thing is to not live life in denial. There is as bit of pressure in life to make it count. Don’t be complacent about life. Be aware and try to make something matter in the time you are here. If you don’t know where to start, it usually good to start with giving of yourself and finding out where that

    Read More

  • Tuesday With Morrie Quotes

    555 Words  | 2 Pages

    There was a student in Morrie's social phsychology class that year, his name is Mitch Albom. These two characters grew a bond to one another where they spent their lunches together, talking for hours. unfornatuely when Mitch graduated, he did not keep his promise to keep in touch with is loving professor. Based on the reading, Mitch gets lost in the work field and becomes a work alcholic. When his uncle dies of pancerous cancer, Mitch decided to make something of himself, he felt "as if time

    Read More

  • Mitch Albom's Tuesdays with Morrie

    968 Words  | 2 Pages

    The class is conducted in Morrie’s house in the suburb or Boston, there is no books or any other students, just Mitch and Morrie. Throughout this class Morrie teaches Mitch the lessons of life; lessons such as death, fear, aging, greed, marriage, family, society, forgiveness, and a meaningful life. As Morrie’s conditions worsen, Mitch’s condition is getting better, Mitch is becoming a better person with the help of Morrie. Finally Morrie’s life comes to an end, and Mitch graduates from Life 101.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Symbolic Interactionism In Tuesdays With Morrie

    982 Words  | 2 Pages

    The concept questions if a set of values and beliefs influences the way live or how a collective meaning shapes our social behavior (123, T.S.P 2.0). For example, Morrie tells us it does by explaining his situation of not being able walk, not being able to wipe his behind, and some nights not being able to fall asleep without crying; these things are supposed to seem embarrassing, but his value to accept he is dying and value the life he has now leads him to not be embarrassed. Morrie really made me realize that we don’t have to follow everything society tells us to and that we are our own people and we should do what makes us happy. Additionally, culture as a form of communication was another important concept to Morrie because all he had to give was his insight and his love to teach and communicate with his students. That was the main reason Mitch recorder their conversations because Morrie was willing to give us the experience of death while also showing us how to live. Even though Morrie was dieing on the inside, he was living more then the rest of us. We go day-by-day lost in society following the norms and rules that we see as set for us, while Morrie is living to the end making sure nothing holds him back. Morrie was a gift to us, to truly and honestly give us life’s greatest

    Read More

  • Stages Of Grief In Tuesdays With Morrie

    457 Words  | 1 Pages

    In the movie, “Tuesdays With Morrie”, Mitch’s old professor, Morrie, is diagnosed with ALS. Mitch finds out that he is dying, and wants to fulfill the promise to visit him after graduation. Mitch starts visiting him. He talks to him and goes places with him, but when his condition worsens it is hard to go anywhere. Conflicts arise in his love life and work, but Mitch keeps visiting Morrie every Tuesday.

    Read More

  • Sociobolic Interaction In Tuesdays With Morrie

    1048 Words  | 3 Pages

    Mitch spends every Tuesday with Morrie not knowing when it might be his dear sociology professor’s last. One line of Morrie’s: “People walk around with a meaningless life…This is because they are doing things wrong” (53) pretty much encapsulates the life lessons from Morrie, Mitch describes in his novel, Tuesdays With Morrie. Morrie Schwartz, a beloved sociology professor at Brandeis University, was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), which most people would take as a death sentence. Morrie viewed it differently; he saw it more as an opportunity. This is because he does not follow the so-called “rules” of society. These rules come from the sociological concept of symbolic interaction, the theory that states that an individual’s

    Read More

  • Tuesdays With Morrie Mutualism Analysis

    1138 Words  | 3 Pages

    Mitch Albom and Morrie Schwartz, surely, demonstrate a mutualistic relationship in Tuesdays with Morrie because both characters benefit from affection, and their visits gives them a sense of purpose. One way Mitch and Morrie share a mutualistic relationship is with love and affection. Morrie is very affectionate and outgoing, so he surrounds himself with the people he loves instead of shutting everyone out when he discovered he had ALS. Mitch describes Morrie’s need for affection when he says, “I suddenly knew why he so enjoyed my leaning over… or wiping his eyes. Human Touch. At seventy-eight, he was giving as an adult and taking as a child” (Albom 116). Mitch sees that Morrie likes affection, and at first he feels uncomfortable at first, but by his last visit, he had changed, ”I leaned in and kissed him closely…he had finally made me cry” (Albom 185-186). Mitch also benefits greatly in this relationship. After his uncle passed away, Mitch decides t...

    Read More

  • AP Book Review

    740 Words  | 2 Pages

    The full title, as shown on the cover of the book, is Tuesdays With Morrie: An Old Man, A Young Man, And Life’s Greatest Lesson. The title of this book is significant because it basically explains everything that will happen in the book without picking it up. It really is, when you boil it all down, about an old man, a young man, and life’s greatest lesson, taught by Morrie. The main goal of this book is to relay the last few months of Morrie’s life, but also to teach the lessons taught by Morrie to everyone. “This book was largely Morrie’s idea. He called it our ‘final thesis.’” and he even came up with the title. (Albom 191) Mitch Albom, the author, is obviously credible because he and Morrie wrote it together. There really is no question if you should believe what is said because it came from the books main characters. I think that the most important passage of this book is at the very end of the last Tuesday with Morrie. Throughout their entire relationship, from college all the way to Mitch’s weekly visits, Morrie had been trying to get Mitch to openly cry and embrace his emotions. He finally did so when he said goodbye to Morrie. “I blinked back the tears, and he smacked his lips together and raised his eyebrows at the sight of my face. I like to think that it was a fleeting moment of satisfaction for m...

    Read More

  • Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom

    547 Words  | 2 Pages

    With the threatening reality of Morrie’s illness looming overhead, Mitch must learn from him just how necessary it is to live life to the fullest. Mitch was living an empty life, a life lacking fulfillment and love. Morrie explained this in a quote “So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they are busy doing things they think are important. This is because they're chasing the wrong things.” He also explained, “The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.” Morrie helps Mitch lead a life consisting of love and happiness rather then material possessions. Morrie taught Mitch to live with the key ingredients of happiness and gave him understanding about what those ingredients are, and how to make them apart of his life.

    Read More

  • Mitch's Criticisms Of Mitch And Morrie

    1154 Words  | 3 Pages

    Morrie was given the opportunity to discuss his fears regarding his impending death. He was granted love and company in his final days. He was able to reach to Mitch to show him the importance of living. Mitch is shown life in a new perspective, without having to suffer the consequences of being terminally ill. He is given the knowledge of what it means to live a successful life. I believe both parties think they benefited themselves more than the other.

    Read More

  • Quotes From Tuesdays With Morrie

    1299 Words  | 3 Pages

    I experienced a sense of pleasure as the relationship between Mitch and Morrie strengthened from acquaintances into a strong bond held together by trust and loyalty. The countless hours of dedication in giving and receiving was a mutual allegiance between two adult men who depended on one another in the pursuit of happiness and meaning of life. Morrie was well-known for his fluid use of words as well as his silence. His explanation of exploring the meaning behind silence instilled a sense of awareness of cultural norms in our

    Read More

  • Death and Dying: Life's Greatest Lesson (Tuesdays with Morrie)

    623 Words  | 2 Pages

    Notable in his relation of this story is his avoidance of discussing death with his uncle, attempting to suppress the thoughts and feelings even as his uncle attempts to communicate his concerns about dying, “He...said...he wouldn't be around to see his kids into the next school year...I told him not to talk that way”(p 15). Not only this, but thereafter Mitch states that he put a premium on the time he felt he really had to live, though unfortunately this value of life came to be predominately represented in material accomplishments rather than spiritual ones. Along a similar theme, Morrie discusses his mother's illness which witnessed as a child. Morrie describes his mode of coping with his mother's illness as also being one of avoidance, evidenced by his pretending not to hear his mother calling for medicine as he played outside the house and how this was easier than confronting the reality, “In his mind he believed he could make the illness go away by ignoring it”(p 74). Later, after receiving the news of his mother's death and going through the grieving process, Morrie is frustrated by his father's forbidding discussion of the loss and so grieves privately through religion, attending services and saying a memorial prayer for her. Looking back on the deaths of his loved ones and that of a colleague, Morrie is able to learn from these experiences how to cope with his own death: by ensuring that there are no goodbyes left unsaid and that he is surrounded by those he loves. This inspires him to have a living funeral, rather than having it be an experience of mourning in which people say nice things that he never gets to hear, he wishes to be a celebration of his life and the relationships it has fostered.

    Read More

  • Death, Dying And Death

    1084 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout Tuesdays with Morrie written by Mitch Albom, Morrie discusses his outlook on Dying, Death, Religion, and how Religion can help someone cope with these topics. Morrie’s experience with dying is talked about often in and is a major topic of the novel. Death, which is the end to life, is different to everyone who experiences it partially due to beliefs. Morrie’s understanding of religions help his mindset during his horrible times. An individual’s outlook on the topic of dying and death is partially influenced by society’s contrasting beliefs.

    Read More

  • Critical Analysis of Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

    1117 Words  | 3 Pages

    One lesson Morrie teaches Mitch is about the view his culture has and how we, not only Mitch but also the rest of the world, should not believe what they say. Morrie tells Mitch: “Take my condition. The things I am supposed to be embarrassed about now — not being able to walk, not being able to wipe my ass, waking up some mornings wanting to cry — there is nothing innately embarrassing about them. It's the same for women not being thin enough, or men not being rich enough. It's just what our culture would have you believe. Don't believe it.”

    Read More

  • The Trap of Materialism

    614 Words  | 2 Pages

    The importance of materialism in Tuesdays with Morrie. Many people are very confuse on what they think really makes them happy. Morrie all through the memoir shows us that what really makes happiness is being love and giving love. For example, when Morrie talks about family he said that it doesn't matter how much money you have, if you don't have the love and companionship of a family, you really don't have anything that is worth. Mitch is an example of the type of people that think money makes happiness because since the death of his uncle he has dedicated himself to work and not his family. Morrie says, “These were people so hungry for love th...

    Read More

More about Friendship In Mitch Albom's 'Tuesdays With Morrie'

Open Document