Miss Parker
ENG 4U-B
March 26th, 2014
Old Wise Men
Do all old men truly possess wisdom because they can see their death on the horizon? Wisdom is a valued trait in our society today. In both King Lear by William Shakespeare and Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom, the main characters were able to acquire wisdom after undergoing trials and tribulations. However, both of these men began their quest as completely different people. Morrie always emphasized the value of family and of love, while King Lear saw these qualities that could be used to boot his ego. Morrie was disappointed by the way things were in society, while King Lear did not care much about it and accepted it the way it was. Morrie viewed death as a natural thing and an ideal way to live, while King Lear still wanted to live life as a King despite giving and dividing his land between his daughters. Regardless of being very different character wise and beliefs, both King Lear and Morrie came to achieve wisdom by experiencing the fact of life; otherwise known as death. Both of these men differed in their values when it came to the life concept. Morrie believed that it was better to perish than to live a life without love, where he quoted “If you don’t have the support and love Blahey 2 and caring and concern that you get from a family, you don’t have much at all. Love is so supremely important. As our great poet Auden spoke “Love each other or perish””(Albom 91). This quote shows Morrie’s view of love and has the opinion that it is better to die than to live a life without love. Although Morrie grew up with little love in his life, this is the reason why he emphasized the importance of love and family to him. Contrarily, King Lear believed that family only existed to serve his needs. “Tell me, my daughters, since now we will divest us both of rule, interest of territory, cares of state which of you shall we say doth love us most that we out largest