Lesson 8
(pages 100 - 108)
1. What prompts Morrie to tell Mitch how he wants to die and what is the significance of his desire?
Morrie begins by telling Mitch about some of his most horrible and fearful moments during this whole disease experience. Then, I believe Morrie could sense how that coughing spell had made Mitch feel, even though “he was gagging, then hacking violently…” (Albom 106). All through that suffering, Mitch’s panicked energy permeated to him the clearest, and after he had finally settled I think Morrie wanted to set him in some sort of peace of mind, in his own way. They both know what this disease is doing to Morrie, and how much pain he goes through on a daily basis, so when Morrie looks at Mitch and says “I want to die
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To him, “we put our values in the wrong things. And it leads to very disillusioned lives” (Albom 123-124). People are always overestimating the value of one thing, and undervaluing others, when really it should be the other way around. Yet Morrie sees these people as “so hungry for love that they were accepting substitutes…You can’t substitute material things for love or for gentleness or for tenderness or for a sense of comradeship” (Albom 125). No matter how much money you may have, it can’t make up for a lack of human love in your life. It’s true when people say “money can’t buy happiness” because it can’t buy people, real people who are there for you through thick and thin. It doesn’t what new thing you buy in order to fill the void left in your life, it can never truly fill it even if you convince yourself otherwise. For Morrie, giving others “your time. Your concern. Your storytelling.” (Albom 126), things of that nature are far more valuable than any material possession could ever be. By being in the company of someone who needs it, offering a shoulder to cry on, or lending an ear to someone’s woes, you are showing them you’re there for them, offering yourself and gaining a purpose, along with …show more content…
Then forgive others” (Albom 164). I think Morrie’s aphorism is a good one to live by, since I don’t think you can fully forgive other people before you learn to forgive yourself, and there is no point in dying mad at yourself. Morrie is dying, so he understands the need surrounding forgiveness more than anyone else. He tells Mitch a story about an old friend who had hurt him and that “he always tried to reconcile, but I didn’t accept it. I wasn’t satisfied with his explanation. I was prideful…a few years ago he died of cancer. I feel so sad. I never got to see him. I never got to forgive him. It pains me now so much…” (Albom 166). Here we see something that Morrie seems to regret, which we don’t often see as he tries to live without regrets and because his younger self couldn’t look past his own pride, he now lost someone he can never truly reconcile with. That pain will follow Morrie to his final days and beyond, keeping just a piece of his peace with it. One major piece of advice that stuck out to me was when Morrie tells Mitch “you can’t get stuck on the regrets of what should have happened. That doesn’t help you when you get to where I am” (Albom 166), and I find this very soothing in a way, for both myself and Mitch. He is basically saying don’t beat yourself up for all the things you think you should have done because in the end they don’t matter, and I feel that is something people really need to hear. Personally, I think forgiveness
Wisdom has been proven to be a part of this story because morrie is very wise and aware of the world around him. He is respectful and understands common perception. Empowerment has also been proven to be a big part of this story because morrie has been a very big hero and a very big role model to not only mitch but to the class that morrie had taught. He is a very smart man and his legend and great life lessons that he has reflected will live on
During the interview Morrie states "'There are some mornings when I cry and I cry and mourn myself. Some mornings, I'm so angry an bitter. But it doesn't last too long. Then I get up and say, 'I want to live...'" (Albom 21). This quote helps reveal what kind of person Morrie is because it shows that Morrie does not want to give up.He has the will power to continue what he has left of his life. ALS it does not stop Morrie from teaching his social pyschology class at Brandeis University.
Morrie was talking about money and mentioned that money doesn’t satisfy our needs because we don’t need what money can buy us. He told Mitch that time with certain people is what we need to be satisfied. I think Mitch Albom
According to kids data center, “24,444,000 kids leave with a single parent.” Morrie’s biological mother died when he was eight. Being the only english speaker, Morrie, read the telegraph first and was the one to tell his family that his mother had passed. This was a very hard time for Morrie. Morrie said on page eighteen ”Accept the past as the past, without denying it or discarding it.” Morrie had to accept at a young age that people come then go and that he couldn't change anything about it. His father wouldn't let him talk about his biological mother which is explaining the second part of the quote, he decided it was better to talk about your hardships. He decided that you shouldn't try to ignore it or act like it never happened. In the book, Morrie cries over his dead mother as an elderly man. He still allows himself to feel deeply rooted emotions even after it happened many years ago. His mother's death also made Morrie very sympathetic when hearing about other people’s pain. Morrie can relate to their pain so he understands their tremendous distress. This is one reason why Morrie is immensely caring. He knows people can have a lot of pain even if they try not to show it, so he shows everyone love. This is why he says “What’s wrong with being second?” because he believes everyone is entitled to the same love. This is shown in the book throughout Morrie’s and Mitch’s friendship as adults. Losing his mother at a young age
For anger, in the mornings he will say to himself, “what in the hell did I do to deserve this!” He also becomes depressed and cries throughout the nights and into the mornings, but tells himself to stop. Morrie also accepts his death, and says many things such as “fear of death means life without meaning” and that he wants to be a living textbook.
Morrie was never really a materialistic man and always loved the simple thing like singing, music, laughter, dancing, etc and now that he’s dying he cares even less and he says that people are so hungry for love that they start accepting substitutes and they start embracing it to and people except a sort of hug back, but it never works because people can’t substitute material things for love, tenderness or for even a sense of comradeship so Morrie doesn’t really care about money or material things.. “Money is not a substitute for tenderness.”(Albom #125). I agree with Morrie that money can’t replace tenderness because a lot during last summer I really wasn’t being with my family and friends I was just working and now that I think about it I was quite sad during that period and I felt very lonely and really having know one to make me feel something and it was something that I missed because I was always away from my family and friends and I also never really became friends with my coworkers I just wanted the money and because I wasn’t really ever with my family or friends and I all I wanted was money and that money made a lot more sadder and then it making me happy. During the last couple of weeks of summer I quit because I didn’t feel good alway being away from family and friends and when I did quit I remember there being a bigger change on how I felt because I felt something and it something good and I
Morrie is Mitch's favorite professor from Brandeis University, and the main focus of the book is Morrie, who now suffers from ALS, a weakening, incurable disease that destroys his body, but cruelly leaves him as intelligent as ever before. He had taught sociology at Brandeis, and continues to teach it to Mitch, enlightening him on "The Meaning of Life", and how to accept death and aging. After having a childhood with out much affection shown at all, he lives on physical contact, which is rather similar to a baby. He has a passion for dancing and music, and cries a lot, especially since the beginning of his disease. He doesn’t hide his emotions, but he shares them openly with anyone, and stays in the same frame of thinking as he did before this fatal disease struck. Mitch Albom sees him as a man of absolute wisdom.
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’s criticisms of Mitch were never harsh or inaccurate. I believe impending death dims one’s filter of projecting their opinion. If Morrie was tougher on Mitch he may have weakened their relationship. If he was easier the reality of mortality would have never have been accepted by Mitch. The balance of being caring and concerned allowed for Morrie to reach Mitch deeply.
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.
What are the steps to due process? What significance are the court cases Goss v. Lopez and Dixon v. Alabama in maintaining a well-ordered school?
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
In the book Tuesdays with Morrie, Morrie talks about his friend Norman and how he was hurt when Norman never inquired about his wife’s health, even when he knew she was not well. On page 166, Morrie says what happened: “‘Over the years, I met Norman a few times and he always tried to reconcile, but I didn’t accept it. [...] I was prideful. [...] A few years ago… he died of cancer. I feel so sad. I never got to see him. I never got to forgive’” (Albom, 166). Morrie’s deep regret taught him the importance of forgiveness, and inspired him to prevent this pain from being inflicted upon anyone else. This desire to right by his friend is what caused Morrie to give advice on the importance of forgiveness to Mitch, so he and those he meets could be spared of this
What Morrie does is he emphasizes the idea because Morrie has been derived from love in his childhood, it foreshadows that this will be a recurring theme in the book. Morrie's mother died when he was very young, his father was always working and wasn't interested in showing affection and love towards Morrie and his brother. When Eva came into their house she provided them with motherly love, that they hadn't had in awhile. Morrie had realized just how important it is to show affection towards others and he emphasized that for the rest of his life. The concept can really relate back to love as an important aspect of life because like Morrie, he didn't really have much love and affection in his childhood until Eva came into his life. Throughout Morries whole adulthood he realized love is significant, because without love you feel like you are worth
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.”