The Audiovisual, Part Two/ The Professor

Summary

The Nightline show did a follow-up story and Ted Koppel once again interviewed Morrie. He mainly asked him what he will do when he can no longer speak and move his hands.

Morrie then read a letter that he wrote back to one of the viewers and we find out that Morrie lost his mother when he was a child.

Albom then presents us with Morrie's childhood background.

Notes

This is Ted Koppel's second visit with Morrie and we can already see he is more comfortable around Morrie; he did not pre-interview Morrie, he spoke with ease and did not wear his jacket during the interview.

We also see Morrie, for the first time, express his sadness about feeling lonely. We find out that his mother died when he was a child over seventy years ago. Morrie gets very upset and Ted Koppel seemed slightly surprised that his pain continued that much seventy years later.

Morrie's mother died when he was eight years old. Morrie had to break the news to his father, who spoke minimal English. After her death Morrie severely lacked love and compassion from another. He also learned that his brother was terminally ill with polio. Thinking all of this was his fault, Morrie began going to the synagogue to pray for his mother and his sick brother.

The next year he gained a step-mother named Eva. She treated Morrie and his brother like her own children, feeding them, singing to them and kissing the two good night. Eva greatly valued education, for during this time was the Great Depression; education seemed like the only path to a job. Eva also took classes to improve her English; she served as a great educational inspiration to Morrie.

At the end of the chapter Eva asks Morrie what he wants to do for his career. It seems as though he became a professor by default; however, we can see, from this background information, that Eva served as a key factor in Morrie's love for education. It only seems fitting that he chose a career in academia.

The Fourth Tuesday

Summary

Morrie is now becoming dependant on an oxygen machine but still meets Mitch on this fourth Tuesday. They discuss death and how most people do not believe that they are ever going to die. Morrie tells Mitch that once one learns how to die, they learn how to live.

With this said, Morrie asks Mitch that if he could accept the fact that he could die at any time, would he still work as much as he does. He suggests that Mitch find some sort of spiritual development.

Notes

Morrie explains to Mitch how he is able to see life differently now that he has accepted that he may die at any time. He says, Everyone knows they're going to die, but nobody believes it (81). He feels that if people, in general, were able to believe that they could die at any moment, that they would live their lives differently. Morrie feels that we need to be prepared and learn how to die before we can learn how to live.

Morrie asks Mitch that if he could accept the fact that he could die at any time, if he would still be ambitious as he was. Mitch smiles and we can infer that he would answer that question by saying he would not live so quickly and busy.