Mitch Albom's Tuesdays with Morrie
Tuesdays with Morrie, written by Mitch Albom is a story of the love between a man and his college professor, Morrie Schwartz. This true story captures the compassion and wisdom of a man who only knew good in his heart. A man who lived his life to the fullest up until the very last breath of his happily fulfilled life. It is a story of a special bond of friendship that was lost for many years, but never forgotten and simply picked up again at a crucial time of both Morrie’s and Mitch’s lives.
When Morrie learned that he had only a few months to live with the deadly disease of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, Morrie began the last class of his life with Mitch – life’s greatest lesson.
Throughout the last fourteen weeks of Morrie’s life, Mitch met with him every Tuesday to learn and understand all of the wisdom and lessons of life that were within Morrie. The weekly routine consisted of lunch and lecture. These meetings included discussions on everything from the world when you enter it to the world when you say goodbye.
From the relationship that these men had with each, a love is revealed like no other love resembles. This is a love of friendship and of respect. Such a bond between people is difficult to achieve. Their relationship consists of an “unembarrassed love” that is constantly present.
Morrie Schwartz was a man of great wisdom who loved and enjoyed to see and experience a simplicity of life, something beyond life’s most challenging and unanswered mysteries. From Morrie, we learn that life is most happily experienced when enjoyed and fulfilled to its highest ability. Morrie shares this with Mitch in the last days of his life and these great lessons will be carried and practiced throughout Mitch’s life.
After reading Tuesdays with Morrie I felt a sense of discovery. Morrie Schwartz was a man that touched the lives of many. He will always be remembered for his sincerity and his compassion for life and for love. The lessons that Morrie loved to teach were of his own experience with life. These great lessons were full of wisdom and love and they came deep from within Morrie.
I enjoyed reading this book by
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
While reading Tuesday with Morrie by Mitch Albom, it is discovered that Professor Morrie Schwartz a genuine humble old man filled with life ends up being dignosed with a fatal disease called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) which targets the neourological system. Slowly losing his range of motion, Morrie tries to continue his life as normal as possible, As he lost his ability to walk without tripping, he purchased a cane to help him get by. When he is unable to undress himself, he finds someone to assist him the locker room so he can change in and out of his swimwear. Morrie is a man that refuses to give, only to find different techniques to get by. Accepting death, Morrie writes aphorisms about accepting life how it is. Inspiring many people with his
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.
Tuesdays with Morrie is about the final lesson between a dying professor and an old college student(Mitch), who happens to be the author. Mitch used to be Morries old student in psychology, and reconnects when he sees Morrie in an interview on the show
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.
“Challenges is what makes life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.” - Joshua J. Marine. Life is difficult and people need to accept it and in someway every thing in life is a challenge and people need to know how overcome and how live life with those challenges. Morrie teaches people to live life by showing how to accept death, that money isn’t everything, and how to accept aging.
Some people spend their lives working towards the coming of their death, and their life thereafter, where others spend their lives doing everything they possibly can to make the most of their time on earth. In Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom, the lead character Morrie Schwartz was diagnosed with the fatal disease Lou Gerrig’s Disease, also known as ALS. Although many people would fall into a deep pit of self-loathing and regret, Morrie Schwartz took the opportunity to teach people about life and love. He surrounded himself with friends, and loved ones in his final days. Contrary to Morrie’s attitude, Lear, in William Shakespeare's King Lear, treats death as a negative thing in his life, fearing it, and running from it.
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.
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.
Which is why he falls under Erikson’s theory of identity achievement. Identity achievement is when a person understands who he or she is as a unique individual, in accord with past experiences(Berger pg 356). Morrie understands who he is completely so he decides to give advice on life issues that most people go through while Mitch records him. During one session Mitch asked Morrie what his perfect last day would be and he gave it in complete detail from start to finish, it started off having a lovely breakfast, then going for a swim, have some lunch with friends, sit around and tell each other how much they meant to one another, go to dinner and have pasta and duck, then dance until he was exhausted, then go home and fall asleep. He had lived his life too the fullest and he knew exactly how he would want to spend his last day.
I learned from the book that a former student reconnected with his old college professoi Morrie who was diagnosed with ALS (a terminal disease). Through their reconnection, Mitch and Morrie begin to meet every Tuesdays to discuss the different problems they face and the meaning of life. Also, choosing not to live his final months in fear. Morrie meditated on life and spread his ideas in the form of short aphorisms.
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.
Morrie Schwartz knew he only had a few months to live after getting diagnosed with ALS. But instead of mourning and drowning in his own self pity, he decided to share his knowledge and experiences that he’s gained throughout his life, and inspire others. The novel Tuesdays with Morrie shows that Morrie Schwartz rejects some of the socially acceptable practices of popular culture. Morrie illustrates his nonconformist approach to living and dying by forgiving, accepting, and loving. On the contrary, Morrie says the popular culture is founded on greed, selfishness, and superficiality.
As you read the novel, Morrie talks about his experience with dying and everything he has done to convert his experience into a positive one. In the chapter “The Fourth Tuesday We Talk About Death,” Morrie began to elaborate on the final outcome of life. He connected his experience of dying with religion and explains how religion can have such an impact on others in this process. In the novel, Morrie says to Mitch, “The truth is Mitch, once you learn how to die you learn how to live.” (Albom 82) In this instance, Morrie doesn’t specifically talk about religion and it’s assistance in dying but it does explain how Morrie lived his last few months of life. Morrie learned that he had to overcome the fact that he was going to die so life could become easy. Morrie tried to teach Mitch that dying is the hardest thing in life and once you learn to do so, everything else becomes easy. The second quote from the literary criticism article, Yom
Morrie’s messages about life in this book were not solely directed fro Mitch; they are meant for anyone who is willing to take the time to listen. For me, there is not only one thing I learned from Morrie. I learned that I should not take life for granted because you never know when it will be over. Even though I have heard it many times I never really believed that what the media says is not necessarily true, until I read this book. Finally, I learned that love and compassion, not only for others, but also for oneself are essential in living a happy life. It does not matter if someone is rich, or if they are poor for that matter. The truth is that as long as you lived your life as best you could, you learned from your mistakes, and you are happy with yourself, then you lead a fulfilling life.