Tuesdays With Morrie By Mitch Albom

The process of death is a very trying time. Even though it is easy to want to shut yourself down, it is important to make the most of the little time you have left. Sometimes, the best way to learn about these kind of things, is to read about other people’s experiences in the situation, as the novel Tuesdays with Morrie persists. Tuesdays with Morrie is a book written by Mitch Albom, about the lessons that a college professor taught a former student, both when he was alive and his final stages of life. In the book, the main character, Morrie Schwartz, is a beloved professor who is diagnosed with ALS. Former student Mitch Albom also played a big role in the book, as he had promised he would come back around to see Morrie, however it would take him a while to do so. Although Morrie had
trouble finding why it was so easy for people to continue with their normal lives, Morrie was still able to find peace in the situation. For Mitch, life got in the way of his promise. It was not until Mitch saw Morrie on an interview with Ted Koppel for Mitch to come back around. Morrie was so glad to see Mitch, and the two of them spent Morrie’s last days together while Morrie taught Mitch some important things about life. Although Tuesdays with Morrie is essentially about the relationship between Mitch and Morrie, the book does a good job explaining some important lessons in life. In the novel, the main character, Morrie Schwartz is unexpectedly diagnosed with ALS. Although he wants to drown in self-pity, as it was upsetting for nothing to change in the world around him aside from his health, Morrie tries to stay positive and focus on the important things in life. As was expected from the beginning, Morrie was quite surprised by how everything around him continued on. People were still buying groceries, going to school, going to work, and doing normal things. However, the only thing that changed was Morrie’s health. Instead of being ashamed of his sickness, Morrie decided to look at the good in the situation. For instance, in the novel, it explains that Morrie states, “Since everyone was going to die, he could be of great value, right? He could be research. A human textbook. Study me in my slow and patient demise. Watch what happens to me. Learn with me.” (The Syllabus 34) Although Morrie is in a terrible situation, he makes sure to see what he can do to shine light on the situation by doing things to possibly help others, rather than drowning in self-pity and shutting himself down. Moreover, Morrie wanted to live his final days in peace, instead of living miserably. Throughout the process of Morrie’s illness, Morrie and his former student, Mitch, build a strong relationship, something Morrie wanted ever since Mitch’s graduation. Throughout Morrie’s illness, he also teaches Mitch some valuable lessons on what is important in life. In an article about the book, it is mentioned that Morrie is often reminding Mitch how important it is to rely on their peers, no matter what they may think. The article mentions, “Morrie reminds Albom how much humans need to rely on each other, what they were born as, and what they can learn despite the dictatorship of popular culture.” (P. 4) In this article, the author tells us that despite Morrie’s terrible situation, he is not only willing to try and build a stronger relationship with not only an old student, but an old friend. Furthermore, he is willing to take some of the things that Morrie had learned through the course of his life, and teach Mitch some of those important life lessons. By the end of the novel, Mitch takes all the lessons he learned from Morrie, and almost completely changes who is as a person.
Throughout the course of the book, Morrie teaches Mitch things like why not to feel sorry about yourself, or how to forgive people even though you may not want to. After Morrie had died, Mitch reached out to his brother, who he did not have a good relationship with, to tell him he had changed and wanted a better relationship. The book mentions, “Not long after Morrie's death, I reached my brother in Spain. We had a long talk. I told him I respected his distance, and that all I wanted was to be in touch-in the present, not just the past-to hold him in my life as much as he could let me.” (The conclusion 188) Without the influence of Morrie, this encounter with Mitch’s brother likely would’ve never happened. Mitch and his brother have never really had a strong relationship. Mitch has done things to hurt his brother, and his brother has done some things to hurt Mitch. However, the lessons Morrie taught him encouraged Mitch to reach out to his brother and forgive all the things that had happened in the past, and look to build a relationship with his
brother. In the novel, Tuesdays with Morrie, Morrie Schwartz is diagnosed with ALS, a disease in which death is almost certain. Instead of feeling bad for himself, or thinking too much about the normalcy of the world around him, Morrie decides to stay positive throughout the sickness, and keep the things that are truly important around him. Throughout the whole process, Morrie develops an important relationship with one of his former students, Mitch Albom. Throughout the book, Morrie focuses on teaching Mitch the things he had picked up throughout his life, that would make a positive impact on Mitch’s life. Although Morrie is going through the most difficult part of his life, he never stops trying to make the best of the situation and helping the important people around him learn the valuable things in life.