Tuesdays With Morrie - Extended Written Response
1) I think one of the most important lessons Mitch learned from Morrie is the Tuesday when they talked about death. Mitch asked, “How can you ever be prepared to die?” Morrie answers with describing the Buddhist way of living, to make sure that you ask yourself every day if you are the person that you want to be. I think that this is a great way to live. If you do this every day then you will have one of the best chances possible to lead a happy life with choices you can be proud of. It lets you keep track of whether or not your life is genuine, and if you can truly be content with the way you are living. If you are not your true self in life, you will not really be happy, you will always be feeling like you are hiding something from the world, from your friends, from your family, and from yourself. Once you are able to show your real self to the world, and be able to express who you really are, you can be happy.
2) There was a significant amount of seasonal symbolism in Tuesdays with Morrie. During the summer Mitch finds out Morrie is sick, and begins to make the first Tuesday trip over to see him. As time passes and Autumn begins, Morrie’s condition worsens. During winter, Morrie passes away. Winter to me has always felt like the season of death. The season where all the trees are stripped of leaves and the plants lie flowerless. The season where nothing grows. It is sad to think of a person so full of life dying in a season where nothing is growing. However, summer was when Mitch and Morrie were reunited. Summer, when all the kids have a sense of freedom, when everything is growing. Their relationship too was growing in that time, flourishing into the easiness and happiness that it was when they were in college. Summer is a time of happiness, and it was for that reason.
3) I think that Morrie’s step-mother Eva really influenced him to become the great person that he was. Eva was the one that