Tuesdays With Morrie (Mitch Albom) - Critical Essay

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“Have I told you about the tension of opposites?” he says. The tension of opposites?

“Life is a series of pulls back and forth. You want to do one thing, but you are bound to do
something else. Something hurts you, yet you know it shouldn’t. You take certain things for
granted, even when you know you should never take anything for granted.
“A tension of opposites, like a pull on a rubber band. And most of us live somewhere in the
middle.”
Sounds like a wrestling match, I say.
“A wrestling match.” He laughs. “Yes, you could describe life that way.”
So which side wins, I ask? “Which side wins?”
He smiles at me, the crinkled eyes, the crooked teeth.
“Love wins. Love always wins.”

– an excerpt from Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)


Introduction
The non-fiction novel, Tuesdays with Morrie, written by Mitch Albom is a moving and
timeless work. Although it was published back in 1997, the lasting gift of the main character,
Professor Morrie Schwartz, remains to be relevant and can still resonate with readers,
regardless of age, gender or status. The lasting gift that the author wanted to live on was
Morrie’s words – his insights, his aphorisms. He wanted his readers to experience Morrie’s
presence through this book which can also be considered a memoir.
Tuesdays with Morrie is a real-life story about “an old man, a young man and life’s
greatest lessons.” Morrie, though dying, remains to have a positive outlook in like, refusing
to wallow in self-pity and let his illness take control of his remaining days – influencing
others around him, especially Mitch, his former student. Every Tuesday, Mitch and Morrie
dabble on almost every topic about life – birth, death and the in-betweens. It makes us
reevaluate how we spend our time, what things we should focus on and whether or not we
should align ourselves to societal norms.
Summary
The book starts with the end – Mitch Albom at his graduation. He hugs his favorite
professor, Morrie Schwartz, and gives him a briefcase as a farewell gift. Teary-eyed, Morrie
asked Mitch if he would keep in touch. Mitch said yes, but he didn’t. Few years forward, Mitch
became a renowned sports writer after his failed dreams of becoming a pianist. Instead of
chasing his own success, he wrote about other peoples’ triumphs. He is now a changed man;
wearing suits instead of sweats and working for money instead of passion.
Mitch then finds out that Morrie was diagnosed with ALS or Lou Gehrig’s Disease on
Nightline, a television program on ABC. Mitch’s memories with Morrie cascade onto him –
sitting at lunch together, Tuesday sociology classes, calling him “coach” and being called
“player.” He realizes how far he’s drifted away from his favorite professor and becomes
compelled to visit him. One Tuesday, on the front door of Morrie’s house, he hesitates but as
soon as Morrie welcomes him, all the fear ebbs away. That was his first Tuesday out of the
thirteen that will follow. Each Tuesday visit was considered to be part of Morrie’s last class
called The Meaning of Life. Mitch always tries to attend every “class,” hopping on a plane to
Morrie’s home.
The second Tuesday, we talk about feeling sorry for yourself. Morrie told Mitch that
feeling sorry for yourself does nothing and instead, people should focus on the good things
that are still in their lives. The third Tuesday, we talk about regrets. Morrie shares how much
he regrets not being close enough to his family. The fourth Tuesday, we talk about death.
Morrie wept for people he saw suffering in the news and Mitch, a writer, wrote about
thousands of grieving stories and cried not one tear. “Is this what comes at the end?” Mitch
wonders. “Maybe death is the great equalizer, the one big thing that can finally make
strangers shed a tear for one another.” Morrie also utters these words: everyone knows
they’re going to die but nobody believes it. The professor stated that there is a better way in
facing death – know that you’re going to die and be prepared for it. That way you can actually
be involved in your life while you’re living.
The fifth Tuesday, we talk about family. Morrie quotes his favorite poet, WH Alden:
“Love each other or perish.” The old man says that having family is an irreplaceable feeling
of contentment, yet it also has a painful price to pay. The price is knowing that he’ll be leaving
his family soon. The sixth Tuesday, we talk about emotions. Morrie expouns how we need not
to shy away from emotions. Instead, we let it penetrate us fully to get over it.
The seventh Tuesday, we talk about the fear of aging. It was then that the small horrors
of Morrie’s illness began to intensify. The eight Tuesday, we talk about money. “Money is not
a substitute for tenderness and power is not a substitute for tenderness. Neither money nor
power will give you the feeling you’re looking for, no matter how much of them you have,”
Morrie articulates, showing how money and power are barely of any importance. You cannot
buy love or lord over companionship.
The ninth Tuesday, we talk about how love goes on. Love goes on when you invest in
people, not in material things. The tenth Tuesday, we talk about marriage. It was the day
before that Mitch called Morrie, hearing him in fits of coughs, barely able to talk. Morrie
requests to see Janine, Mitch’s wife, and so he does. Morrie asks Janine to sing him a song and
Janine, a shy one, unexpectedly heeds to Morrie’s request. The eleventh Tuesday, we talk
about our culture. “People are only mean when they’re threatened and that’s what our
culture does. Even people who have jobs are threatened, because they worry about losing
them. And when you get threatened, you start looking out only for yourself,” Morrie
emphasizes.
The twelfth Tuesday, we talk about forgiveness. Morrie tells a story about how he never
forgave his friend before his friend died of cancer. How it wrecked him and how much he
regrets it. The thirteenth Tuesday, we talk about the perfect day. Mitch asks Morrie what he
would do if he was perfectly healthy on a seamless day. Morrie narrates having breakfast,
going for a swim, and then eating lunch with his friends. After he’ll take a walk and, in the
evening, he’ll go to a restaurant to get some pasta and maybe dance. After all that, Morrie
would go home and have a deep sleep. Mitch questions, that’s it? But after, he realizes that
it’s exactly the meaning of life – simplicity, gratefulness, companionship.
The fourteenth Tuesday, we say goodbye. Mitch and Morrie barely have any time for
“class” and the visit was short, as Charlotte, Morrie’s wife, reveals that Morrie’s body is
slowly withering away. Morrie’s last line to Mitch was this: If I could have another son, it
would be you. It was a bittersweet moment, because at some point, Morrie jokingly promised
he would one day make Mitch cry and it was at this moment that he did. Two days, after the
visit, Morrie fell into a coma. The old professor then died one Saturday afternoon.
This book, Mitch said, was their last project together – aiming for Morrie’s memory to
live on forever.
Analysis
For an international bestseller, the book cover is modest and minimal. It’s not
something that would pique your attention at first glance. If I were in a bookstore and I’d
pick a book judging only by it’s cover design, this would not be my first choice. However, the
catchphrase – “an old man, a young man and life’s greatest lesson” makes up for the lack of
artistry. Although the book design would not be entrenched in your mind, this quote will.
Though, the unassuming cover layout is not entirely a bad thing. It represents exactly how
this novel is – a clear-cut approach with words stroked by a genius.
The book is both heartwarming and heart-wrenching; heartwarming because you
cannot help but love Morrie – his unique personality, his way with words and the way he
journeys through death; then, heart-wrenching because Morrie makes you think and grieve
of how unfair and cruel it was that of all people, he was dying. Morrie’s and Mitch’s bond,
before and after the fourteen Tuesdays, exceeded professor and student; coach and player.
Their connection was more like a father and a son. Mitch thirsted for the father’s affection he
never had and through Morrie, he was quenched.
What was most likeable about this book was the main character himself. Morrie
always had a special way with people; melting their walls before they could even realize it
was melting. It was this way when he got a mental patient to talk to him when not even the
psychiatrists could. It was this way when he got cold-hearted Nightline interviewer Ted
Koppel to call him his friend. It was this way when he got timid Janine, Mitch’s wife, to sing
to him. It was also this way with Mitch, before and after graduation.
In a philosophical sense, it would seem that Morrie’s life purpose was to touch the
hearts of the people around him, making them see what was really important in the course
of life. And through reading this book, you could say that his purpose was fulfilled. Morrie
talked about the miniscule things – death, forgiveness, regret – and yet it can be shown
through their conversations how much of the small things really are the big things. We just
don’t see that because we’re blinded by the earthly things – those that don’t matter.
Tuesdays with Morrie is a refreshing read; it’s like listening to your two closest
friends have deep conversations at 2 am. The dialogues are smooth-flowing and natural,
probably because the conversations actually happened in real life. Because the writing style
mostly follows an alternate between Morrie and Mitch’s conversation and a narration
relating to their topic of the day, it never gets boring and it makes you feel as if you were
actually there with them; listening, feeling, talking. I liked that their words made you ponder
on whether or not you’re actually living your life to the fullest and if not, how could you
change that?
The only “lapse” about Albom’s writing style was the absence of quotations in his
dialogues which may be confusing for some of his reader. Some readers may misinterpret
the dialogues as only thoughts, not actual lines. It happened for me when I first read this
book when I was still in fifth grade. The reading was a bumpy start as I took time figuring out
how the conversation actually flowed and I even thought, Can Morrie read minds? I eventually
worked it out, though. But the thing is, I spent more time trying to understand Albom’s
writing style than appreciating his actual writing.
This, though, is not necessarily a negative. The people misinterpreting Albom’s style
may only be a minority. Albom should be lauded for branching out to slightly different
writing approaches and not conforming to just one means. It shows imaginative thinking and
creativity in his field. Moreover, Tuesdays with Morrie had a lot of hard-hitting lines and
quotes that would stay in your mind and teach you a thing or two about life. It’s one of the
things that makes Albom’s work extraordinary and keeps it etched in your mind. Here are a
few:
“The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in.
We think we don’t deserve love, we think if we let it in, we’ll become too soft. But a wise man
named Levine said it right. He said: Love is the only rational act.”
“If you hold back on these emotions – if you don’t allow yourself to go all the way
through it – you can never get to being detached, you’re too busy being afraid of the pain,
you’re afraid of the grief. You’re afraid of the vulnerability that loving entails.”
“It’s not just others we need to forgive, Mitch,” he finally whispered. “We also need to
forgive ourselves. For all the things we didn’t do. All the things we should have done. You
can’t get stuck in the regrets of what should have happened.”
“Death ends a life, not a relationship.”
To finish, there was nothing to not like about this book: it was simple, short and
bittersweet. Tuesdays with Morrie is a masterpiece, through and through.
Conclusion
Tuesdays with Morrie is the book to read if you feel like you’re lost in life or running
around in circles. Mitch’s life lessons will ground you, just like how it did to Mitch – a man
who prioritizes his paycheck instead of his partner. It will reinforce new values in you that
will ultimately better you in more ways than one. The lessons found in this book are ageless
and it is commendable that after 20 years of being published, Tuesdays with Morrie remain
a significant and unforgettable work.
This book is strongly recommended to everyone. It gives us a look into a dying man’s
life then through him, urges us to take a step back and reflect on how we live our own lives.
It teaches us many of life’s greatest lessons – love, companionship, the beauty of mundane
things – Tuesdays with Morrie shows us how words are not just a cluster of letters or a group
of syllables put together – words can hold power over us and more often than not, it could
be life-changing.
Just like Morrie’s words.

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