Tuesdays With Morrie

Theme

What is the message the author communicates through key events in the story?

Complete the following chart with details and a thoughtful analysis of how the events in the story influence the theme.

Key Events - What happens?

What do we learn about the character in this event? Or how does the event change the character?

What is the author's message in each set of events you have identified?

Sportswriter Mitch Albom recounts the time he spent with his 78-year-old sociology professor, Morrie Schwartz, at Brandeis University, who was dying of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Albom, a former student of Schwartz, had not corresponded with him since attending his college classes 16 years earlier. The first three chapters incorporate an ambiguous introduction to the final conversation between Albom and Schwartz, a brief flashback of the Albom graduation and an account of the events that Albom experienced between graduation and the meeting with his teacher. The name Morrie comes from its meaning in Hebrew (mori מורי), which means "my teacher".

Albom is a successful sports columnist for the Detroit Free Press despite his childhood dream of being a pianist. After seeing Schwartz on Nightline, Albom called Schwartz, who remembered his former student despite the lapse of 16 years. Albom was asked to travel from Michigan to Massachusetts to visit Schwartz. A journalist strike frees Albom to travel weekly, on Tuesdays, to visit Schwartz. The resulting book is based on these fourteen Tuesdays that meet, complemented by Schwartz's lectures and life experiences and interspersed with flashbacks and allusions to contemporary events.

Tuesday With Morrie examines the interactions and phenomena between the human experience of living and dying. A theme of personal transcendence appears for both characters: Morrie and Albom. This transformation is experienced by both characters through the deterioration of Morrie's health. Morrie shows us the value of maintaining dignity in the face of death; That love is the most valuable thing we can offer each other. For readers, this allows an informal way to learn about the process of dying; Learning "that not all stories end happily with a person in remission and, therefore, avoiding death." Rather, death and death are natural processes and must be recognized for what they are: natural events. The role that culture plays in the development of happiness in our lives is also examined in the novel. Morrie says that we often see ourselves as different from each other, rather than similar. Continues to promote the value of investing in people instead of material objects.