Favorite Book Analyisis

Tuesdays with Morrie
A few years ago I read a book that happened to change my life. It was recommended to me by one of my parents, and because I don’t have a huge passion for reading I reluctantly agreed just this once. This book is “Tuesdays with Morrie”, written by Mitch Albom. I had recognized the author because Mitch Albom happens to be a world renowned sports writer and is on many weekly sports television shows. Because of this I decided to sit down and try a chapter or two just to please my parents. I quickly realized that I had made a very good decision. For the next day and a half I could not put the book down. It says on the cover that this is a book about “an old man, a new man, and life’s greatest lesson”. This lesson is to live every day to the fullest, because the tomorrow is never a guarantee in life. Morrie Schwartz was Mitch’s college professor. After many years and an unlikely television exclusive on “Nightline”, the teacher and student were reconnected. What transpired next is certainly overwhelming. It taught me to live every day as if it were my last and to love unconditionally. To be so content with my life that if I were to leave this world tomorrow, I would be happy with how I left it.
Morrie was a man without much time left in this life. He is petite person who has recently been diagnosed with ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease. This disease attacks the muscle and muscle tissue, slowly diminishing it until it is no more. Thus leaving the body weak and unable to take another breath. It is in this episode of “Nightline” I referred to that Mitch becomes aware of his old professors situation. Mitch was flipping through the channels on television one night and he happened upon Morrie. He was exactly the man he remembered and was delighted to see him, until he realized why “Nightline” was there. After he got over the shock of it all, he decided to spend as much time with him as he possibly can before he passes. Mitch lives in Detroit and Morrie still lives near the campus in Boston, Massachusetts. Mitch flies back every Tuesday for about four months to see Morrie. Thus becoming his student once again, but this time the subject is life and the way to live it.
Despite all that Morrie is going through, he still manages to be happy with his life. On Mitch’s third visit, they talk about feeling sorry for yourself. Morrie says “I mourn what I’ve lost, I mourn the slow, insidious way in which I’m dying. But then I stop mourning... I give myself a good cry if I need it. But then I concentrate on all the good things still in my life” (Albom, pg 57). This is remarkable, even though his body is wilting away before his own eyes he still manages to be joyful about his life. When asked how he can be this way when he has such a horrible disease he replies “it’s only horrible if you see it that way. It’s horrible to watch my body slowly wilt away to nothing. But it’s also wonderful because of all the time I get to say good-bye. Not everyone is so lucky” (Albom, pg. 57). Lucky? He is dying of a disease that slowly turns your muscles into pudding and he describes his condition as lucky. However, in an odd way I agree with him. I wish that I could only be so lucky as to tell all my loved ones how much they mean to me before I go. But before I read this book, I don’t know that I would have had the maturity to fathom this reality.
I believe that anyone who reads this book will really connect with at least one, if not all of the topics they discuss. The topic that stood out the most to me is something that I had struggled with frequently. This topic is death. A topic that would literally keep me awake at night because of the fear that death is inevitable. Morrie states that “everyone knows they are going to die, but nobody believes it”(Albom, pg. 81). This is an absolutely perfect way to put it. Normally people choose not to discuss death because they fear it, because they don’t want to think about it until it is upon them. Most people think that by simply keeping it out of mind, they can live their lives better without the fear of death looming. But Morrie disagrees, saying “there’s a better approach. To know you’re going to die, and to be prepared for it at any time. That’s better. That way you can be more involved in your life while you’re living it”(Albom, pg. 81). This is a very important point that can possibly make life a lot more enjoyable for people, it certainly has for me. But perhaps the most important quote in the book for me, Morrie declares later in the chapter. “Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live”(Albom, pg. 82). One I read this quote I truly felt I was headed on the right path of learning how to live. It made me realize that running from my fear of death wasn’t allowing me to live my life to the fullest. This insight provided by Morrie I was able to slowly work towards making my life more fulfilling on a day to day basis.
Even in the face of death, Morrie Schwartz was a visionary. Knowing that his days were limited, he was able to be happy with himself and his life. He was able to have one more class, with one of his favorite students. I would like to thank Morrie for this last class because he unintentionally taught me to live the right way. It goes without saying, but it obviously changed Mitch’s life instantly. He took a dire situation as a sports writer in Detroit and turned it into a booming career as a prominent person in his field. Morrie told us all to embrace our lives, to love unconditionally and to never take any moment or situation for granted. Although Morrie doesn’t know it, it is actually his final course. So much information was taught about how to look at life in a better way. We must embrace ourselves and roll with the punches. There are no quizzes or exams, just one final. The final is pass/fail, that final is life.
Works Cited
Albom, Mitch. Tuesdays with Morrie. New York, NY: Little, Brown & Company, 2004. Print.