Aside from dancing, one of Morrie's favorite things to do is eat. Each
Tuesday Mitch stops at the grocery store and brings Morrie a bag of food.
Shortly after Mitch starts this tradition, Morrie is no longer able to
eat solid food. Mitch does not find this out until a few weeks later when
Morrie's wife, Charlotte, shows Mitch all his food she had stored away
in the freezer and refrigerator. Each week Mitch continues to bring the
bag of food and presents it to Morrie who acts excited to see it. Although
Mitch knows Morrie can no longer eat the food he continues to bring it
because it reminds him of when Morrie was not sick, especially when he
and Mitch used to have lunch together in the cafeteria at Brandeis. Mitch
feels comfort in bringing the food each week, to cushion the reality that
Morrie's death is actually approaching.
The media is referenced a lot throughout the book as an inherently evil
dictator under which our society suffers. The media has caused Mitch to
become a materialistic workaholic, and has drained him of compassion and
appreciation of life and love. Mitch's career forces him to be only concerned
about stories of crime and hatred, which so negatively impacts our society.
The O.J Simpson trial is also referenced a lot throughout the novel; this
emphasizes Mitch's claim that society has become obsessed and depended
on pop-culture and media stories which contribute nothing to life or compassion
of other human beings.
The pink hibiscus plant is used as a metaphor for Morrie's life throughout
the time of his sickness. As we see Morrie's body gradually give way to
death, we see his hibiscus plant deteriorate as well. The plants petals
slowly wither and die as Morrie becomes more dependant on other people.
The plant is also a metaphor for life itself; we all experience the natural
life cycle which ultimately results in death. Throughout the novel Morrie
also stresses how important the realization of death is to leading a fulfilling
life.
Throughout Morrie's sickness he always preferred to stay in his chair,
in his study, where he was surrounded by pictures of his family, friends
and could look out his window and appreciate the seasons and sunlight.
Morrie states that, "when you're in bed, you're dead" (131).
Morrie is determined to live the last days of his life as much as possible
because he feels that if he decided to stay in bed, he would be surrendering
himself to death. We only see Morrie in his bed on the last Tuesday which
happens to be one of the final days of his life. He had been successful
at not staying in his bed until these last few days which was when he
fully accepted and surrendered himself to death.
Title:
Tuesdays With Morrie
Author:
Mitch Albom
Date Published:
September 1997
Meaning of the Title:
The title, Tuesdays With Morrie, refers to Mitch
and Morrie's weekly Tuesday meetings, in Morrie's home, in which they
discussed the meaning of life.
Setting:
Morrie's home in West Newton, Massachusetts.
Genre:
Non-Fiction
Protagonist:
Morrie Schwartz
Antagonist:
The disease ALS
Mood:
Sentimental, thoughtful
Point of View:
First person limited
Exposition:
First four chapters, The Curriculum, The Syllabus, The Student
and The Audiovisual. In this first part of the novel the major characters
and conflicts are introduced which provides as the background information
for the remainder of the novel.
Climax:
The last Tuesday Mitch visits Morrie, when he is very close to his
death. They hug each other and Morrie is finally successful at making
Mitch cry.
Outcome:
Mitch finds comfort in talking with Morrie's spirit, after his death.
Mitch also contacts his brother in Spain.
Themes:
Love or perish, acceptance through detachment, rejection of pop-culture
for self-created values
Clapsaddle, Diane. "TheBestNotes on A Long Way Gone".
TheBestNotes.com.
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