Mitch Albom’s novel Tuesdays with Morrie delves into the complexities of the human condition from the stand point of an elderly man that is slowly dying from the disease ALS, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The man, Morrie, decides to spend the last of his time on earth spreading his wisdom to as many people as possible, teaching them a lot about the importance of life, as well as what is necessary to live life to the fullest and be truly happy. What Morrie teaches these people is something great poets have been doing for a very long time. In the novel Tuesdays with Morrie, Mitch Albom expresses themes and ideas in everyday life that relate back to poetry and can be applied to one’s perspective of the human condition.
In the novel, Morrie conveyed the importance of focusing on the important things in life, rather than things that society says will bring you happiness. He indicated that “how we think,” and “what we value,” is something “you can’t let anyone, or any society determine for you” (Albom 43). Morrie’s statement addresses the importance of determining one’s own values and beliefs rather than allowing society to choose them for you. Phillip Larkin’s poem “Next, Please” tells the tale of several individuals that waited for what society told them would bring happiness, but resulted in the bitter deaths of people who had worked hard to earn a reward that would never be given to them. Through his poem Larkin is trying to warn readers of the hollow promises offered by society. Larkin primarily does this through the ending of the poem that states: “Only one ship is seeking us, a black-/Sailed unfamiliar, towing at her back/A huge and birdless silence. In her wake/No waters breed or break” (21-24). Though the prospect of life de...
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...ty. Mitch Albom, along with Morrie and the authors of the poems, provide an excellent description of true happiness, the powers of love, and the dangers of fearing death.
Works Cited
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Albom, Mitch. TuesdaysWith Morrie. New York: Random House, 1997. Print
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Hughes, Langston. “Advice.” Treasury of Best-Loved Poems. 38. Ed. Louis Phillips. New York: Random House, 2004. Print.
Larkin, Phillip. “Next, Please.” 100 Great Poems of the Twentieth-Century. 151. Ed. Mark Strand. New York: W.W. Norton, 2005. Print.
Remember life's greatest lessons are usually learned at the saddest times. This is exactly what happened in a book called tuesdays with morrie written by mitch albom, it is a story about a college professor who teaches the meaning of life and sociology. He was diagnosed with als, throughout his journey with als he taught many life lessons to mitch. Every tuesday they would come together and talk about life. The book tuesdays with morrie contains the themes, empowerment and wisdom. Empowerment is self determination, and respect no matter who it is directed to. Wisdom is having a mix of knowledge and good judgement. Empowerment plays a big part in this story because morrie tried to stay positive throughout the rest of the time he has to live
Overall, dwell on this process of changing throughout the poem, it can be understood that the poet is demonstrating a particular attitude towards life. Everyone declines and dies eventually, but it would be better to embrace an optimistic, opened mind than a pessimistic, giving-up attitude; face the approach of death unflinchingly, calmly.
To begin with, when Mr. Donne first commences his poem, he uses the personification “Death, be not proud” (1). The author gives death the human characteristics of being “not proud.” The rest of the line continues as “though some have called you thee”. ” Death should not be prideful even if people think it is. John displays through this first line how he feels about death: he is too proud for his own good.
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One of the quotes, “learn how to die and you learn to live”, is when Morrie realizes near the end of his life that his perspective of the world changed as his window in life grew smaller (Albom, 1997, p. 82). His view of life transformed into appreciating simple interactions with the people he loved and cherishing the moments of leaving behind a legacy when he accepted death. To me, this quote means to revel in the moment, treasure the present, live memorably, appreciate the people who mean the most to you, and to live life to the fullest. Another quote, “aging is not decay but growth”, is what Morrie was finally able to translate in the final chapters of his life (Albom, 1997, p. 118). Morrie felt a sense of fulfillment of his years in life and savors the time he has remaining as death looms closer. He feels that growing old is not tied in with a negative context of falling apart physically, but about the positive aspects of growing emotionally and spiritually. From my perspective, this quote signifies that the person you are at the end of life is an accumulation of all the years compressed together, continuing to flourish with the knowledge of life’s experiences. Only with personal experiences come wisdom and
During the process of growing up, we are taught to believe that life is relatively colorful and rich; however, if this view is right, how can we explain why literature illustrates the negative and painful feeling of life? Thus, sorrow is inescapable; as it increase one cannot hide it. From the moment we are born into the world, people suffer from different kinds of sorrow. Even though we believe there are so many happy things around us, these things are heartbreaking. The poems “Tips from My Father” by Carol Ann Davis, “Not Waving but Drowning” by Stevie Smith, and “The Fish” by Elizabeth Bishop convey the sorrow about growing up, about sorrowful pretending, and even about life itself.
Hughes, Langston. “The Negro Speaks of Rivers.” The Norton Introduction to Literature. 11th ed. Ed. Kelly J. Mays. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 2013. 1278. Print.
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In John Donne’s sonnet “Death, Be Not Proud” death is closely examined and Donne writes about his views on death and his belief that people should not live in fear of death, but embrace it. “Death, Be Not Proud” is a Shakespearean sonnet that consists of three quatrains and one concluding couplet, of which I individually analyzed each quatrain and the couplet to elucidate Donne’s arguments with death. Donne converses with death, and argues that death is not the universal destroyer of life. He elaborates on the conflict with death in each quatrain through the use of imagery, figurative language, and structure. These elements not only increase the power of Donne’s message, but also symbolize the meaning of hope of eternal life as the ultimate escape to death.
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 and lived his life to the fullest up until the very last breath of his happily fulfilled life. When Mitch learned of Morrie’s illness, the began the last class of Morrie’s life together and together tried to uncover “The Meaning of Life.” These meetings included discussions on everything from the world when you enter it to the world when you say goodbye. Morrie Schwartz was a man of great wisdom who loved and enjoyed to see and experience simplicity in life, something beyond life’s most challenging and unanswered mysteries. Morrie was a one of a kind teacher who taught Mitch about the most important thing anyone can ever learn: life. He taught Mitch about his culture, about trust, and perhaps most importantly, about how to live.