Performance Task in

Philosophy of Man:
Tuesdays with Morrie
Book Report

Submitted By: Krzystof Emmanuel P. Autencio

Submitted To: Rogie Sijera Esquillo

 Tuesdays with Morrie
by Mitch Albom

I. INTRODUCTION

❖ Background

The book is titled Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life's
Greatest Lesson. It is a memoir written by Mitch Albom and originally published in
1997.
It is based on the real-life relationship with Mitch Albom and his favorite professor
Morrie Schwartz, who had been diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease (ALS), years
after the two had last seen each other. Mitch sees that his professor's time was
fading. He travels to Morrie’s home and the two reconnect. They make a pact that
Mitch will visit every Tuesday. Morrie agrees to let Mitch record his "final lessons"
as the two discuss life, death and everything in between. The lessons from those
Tuesday meetings make up the pages of the book. Hence the name, Tuesdays
with Morrie.
❖ Themes

➢ The Rejection of Pop Culture in Favor of Self-created Culture

Each of Morrie's lessons contributes to a larger message: that each of us should
reject pop culture and instead develop one’s own. According to Morrie, pop
culture is a dictator under which we must suffer. It promotes greed, violence
and shallowness. Morrie had fled this cultural dictatorship in favor of creating
his own culture based on love, acceptance, and open communication. Morrie
encourages Mitch to do the same. It is only when he does so, that he begins to
reassess his life and rediscover fulfillment.
➢ "Love each other or perish”
Throughout the story, Morrie recites a quote by his favorite poet, W. H. Auden,
to enclose one of his most important lessons to Mitch: in the absence of love,
there is a void which can only be filled by loving human relationships. According
to Morrie, when love abounds, a person can experience no higher sense of
fulfillment. Throughout his fourteen Tuesdays with Mitch, Morrie proclaims that
love is the essence of every person and every relationship, and that to live
without it is to live with nothing.
➢ Acceptance Through Detachment
In order to accept his impending death, Morrie consciously detaches himself
from the experience. Morrie derives his method of detachment from the
Buddhist philosophy that one should not cling to things, as everything that
exists is impermanent. In detaching, Morrie is able to step out of his
surroundings and into his own state of consciousness, for the sake of gaining
perspective and composure in stressful situations. He does not want to die
feeling upset, and so in his frightened moments, he detaches so that he may
accept the impermanence of his life and embrace his death.
❖ Major and Minor Characters

➢ Major Characters

• Morrie Schwartz
Morrie is a Sociology professor at Brandeis University. He connects with
Mitch Albom, one of his favorite students. And during the end of his life, as
he battles ALS, meets with Mitch every Tuesday to discuss a multitude of
life's topics. These Tuesday meetings become Morrie's final lessons.

• Mitch Albom
Mitch is the author of the book, who tells the story of his meetings with
Morrie. Mitch was Morrie’s student. Mitch promised to keep in touch
following his college graduation. However, he and Morrie lost touch. He
becomes a sports journalist in Detroit. After seeing his old professor years
later on an ABC show, he reconnects with Morrie. The two made a pact to
meet every Tuesday, where Mitch records the final lessons he learns from
his professor.
➢ Minor Characters

• Charlotte Schwartz
Charlotte is Morrie's wife. She collects the food that Mitch brings for the
weekly meetings and gives Mitch updates on Morrie's health.
• Janine
Janine is Mitch’s wife. She takes a phone call from Morrie, whom she had
never met, and accompanies Mitch to his next visit with Morrie. As a
professional singer, she never sings upon request. However, when Morrie
asked her to sing, she did without hesitation and moved him to tears.
• Ted Koppel
Ted Koppel is the ABC journalist and host of Nightline who did a story on
Morrie. This was the story Mitch saw that reminded him of his promise to
stay in touch with his professor. Ted Koppel and Morrie form a bond, as
Morrie is able to break down Ted Koppel’s guard.
• Connie
Connie is one of the members of Morrie's team of live in nurses. She is a
good, compassionate friend to Morrie.
• Morrie's Mother
We never learn her name, but Morrie lost his mother when he was seven
years old. From this, Morrie learns that life can go on after a death.
• Charlie
Charlie is Morrie's father. He becomes hardened following the death of his
wife. He came to America to escape the Russian army. He was uneducated,
poor, and did not speak English well. Morrie was disappointed that he never
experienced the feeling of love or warmth from his father. Charlie took
Morrie to the fur factory where he worked in hopes that Morrie would make a
career from it. Morrie hated it and vowed never to work in a factory.
• David
David is Morrie's brother. He contracts polio following the death of their
mother. Morrie blames himself for this, as David awoke unable to move one
morning, following a day of playing together in the rain. David spends his
childhood with braces on his legs, in and out of a medical home. From his
brother's disease, Morrie is able to learn compassion at a young age.
• Eva
Eva was Morrie's stepmother. She married Charlie the year following the
death of Morrie's mother. Morrie received the love he longed for from Eva, a
Romanian immigrant. She would sing to Morrie nightly, something he loved.
• Rob and Jon Schwartz
Rob and Jon are Morrie's two sons. They support him and help him write
letters to people with questions.
• Peter
Peter is Mitch's brother. The two lost touch after Peter got cancer and
wanted to fight the disease on his own, away from family and friends.
 Through Morrie's lessons, Mitch realizes the importance of family and is able
to reach out and make a connection with him.
❖ Setting
The story takes place during 1995, mainly in Morrie’s home office which is located
in West Newton, Massachusetts. Mitch and Morrie met every Tuesday, in his home
office, to discuss the meaning of life. Morrie was a college professor for most of his
career, and Mitch took all of his classes offered, when he was in College. When
Morrie taught small classes, he would often hold them in his office, at the
university, to give the students a friendlier environment. Morrie would also meet
with his students, especially Mitch, outside of the class for discussion purposes.
Since Morrie has been sick and restrained to his house, he and Mitch met every
Tuesday, in his home office. This setting is reminiscent to Morrie’s teaching career
and the many lives of students he had changed.

II. BODY

❖ General Philosophical Questions Tackled in the Book

➢ Which is more important in life, personal values or those of society?

Morrie encourages Mitch to adopt his own personal values and reject pop
culture values embraced by people in general.
➢ Is Love important in Life?
Morrie believes love offers the highest sense of fulfillment. Morrie loved those
around him who were caring for him, and they loved him. Morrie lives long
enough to instill his message of love and its power to Mitch.
➢ Does death control you?
Morrie detaches himself from the experience of his imminent death. He does
not want death to rule him and emphasizes to Mitch that life is not permanent
and death is inevitable.

❖ Conflict
There are two conflicts in the story: the major conflict is Morrie versus ALS, and
the minor one is Mitch versus himself. Morrie must accept his illness and that he is
going to die from ALS. In the meantime, Mitch visits him every Tuesday. Mitch had
become very distracted with his hasty life and constant endeavor for worldly
possessions. He struggles to find meaning with his life and to change the person
he had become.
➢ Protagonist
Morrie is the protagonist. Almost everything orbits around him in the story.
➢ Antagonist
ALS, Morrie's disease, is the antagonist. It is the disease that Morrie is suffering
from throughout the story. The disease is gradually taking over Morrie, it limits
him to his chair in his home office, then prevents him from eating solid foods
and moving around. Eventually, the disease completely takes over and he is
bedridden, and finally takes his life.
❖ Climax
The climactic point is when Mitch visits Morrie for the last time. Morrie is in such a
horrible state that he is stuck in his bed and can barely breathe. Throughout the
story, Morrie's goal was to get Mitch to open up, and he finally succeeds. After all
this time, Mitch starts to cry when he realizes that this is the last time that he will
be able to speak with Morrie.
❖ Conclusion
At the end of the story, Mitch is at Morrie’s funeral. He remembered Morrie telling
him to talk to him, so Mitch tried talking with Morrie and was surprised at how
natural it was. Undoubtedly, Mitch will continue to find these conversations with
Morrie helpful. He has a new perspective on life now. He also tries to contact his
sick brother in Spain. For the first time, Mitch tells his brother how much he wants
to be closer and how much he loves him. By that moment, it was certain that
Mitch and his brother are going to stay in touch for years to come.

III. ANALYSES

❖ Explain how Morrie Schwartz feels about death and dying and what he
feels society’s approach is to those who are dying.

➢ Morrie's attitude towards death was positive and accepting. Morrie continued to
focus on the positives in his life: the things he was still able to do and the
loving, caring people that surrounded him. He even made death his final
project, the center point of his days. He believed and wanted to prove to
everyone that “dying” is not synonymous with “useless”. He viewed dying as a
natural progression. And thus, he felt that society should not be afraid of death,
 nor should people be uneasy around those who are dying. Instead, people
should learn from it.

❖ Discuss Morrie’s struggle with death throughout the story.

➢ Morrie's biggest struggle with death was that it progresses so quickly and
causes him to be dependent on others. He wasn’t afraid to die, in fact, he
embraced the knowledge that he will die as an opportunity to do what he felt
he needed to do: change how the world viewed death. And eventually, he
began to enjoy his dependency, saying it was akin to being a child once more.

❖ Describe the characterization of Mitch as a man who is defined by

society’s idea of a successful man.

➢ Mitch has lots of accomplishments. He is intelligent, talented, and well-

educated. He has a great career, a lot of money, an expensive car, a luxurious
house, and a beautiful, talented wife. All of these things fit society’s definition
of a successful man.

❖ Explain how popular culture may influence people’s viewpoints about

issues such as aging and death.

➢ “Popular culture” has the word “popular” for a reason: it is the predominant
culture of society. It pervades every aspect of modern life—from the time you
wake up, to the time you go to sleep. Its influence on people is very apparent.
Reminiscent to a dictator according to Morrie. Unfortunately, pop culture is
obsessed with youth. As a result, the elders are rarely celebrated and often
pushed aside. Death, in pop culture, is something to be feared. And so, we
rarely talk about it as it makes people uneasy. These are a testament to pop
culture’s influence.

❖ Compare and contrast Mitch’s and Morrie’s beliefs about life.

➢ Both shared the belief that life should be meaningful. But “meaning” meant
different things for them. Mitch believed that life is all about work and
accomplishments: he buried himself in deadlines, did several things at once,
and chained himself to his laptop and to his phone, all for “success”. He had
followed pop culture’s recipe for a meaningful life, yet he was certainly
unhappy. Morrie, on the other hand, was dancing, teaching, giving, and loving.
Following his self-created culture, he believed that life is about pursuing things
which you valued and loved. And he had, undoubtedly, lived a happy,
meaningful life.
❖ Describe the importance of love in Morrie’s life.

➢ Throughout his life, Morrie recites a quote by his favorite poet, W. H. Auden,
“Love each other or perish.” He proclaimed that love is the essence of every
person and every relationship, and that to live without it is to live with nothing.
In fact, Mitch once asked Morrie about his definition of a “perfect day”.
Surprisingly, Morrie did not want an extravagant day. Instead, his “perfect day”
would be spent in his community and with his loved ones; a testament to
Morrie's point that love is vital and all that one needs to be happy.

❖ Explain the development of Morrie’s religious beliefs. How does Morrie

view religion in his life?

➢ On the fourth Tuesday, Mitch once asked Morrie how one can be prepared to
die. Morrie responds with a Buddhist philosophy that every day, one must ask
the bird on his shoulder if that day is the day he will die. Morrie adopts values
and parables from many different religions. Mitch described him as a "religious
mutt". Morrie had been born into Judaism, but turned agnostic during his teen
years, partly because of all that had happened to him as a child. But as he got
closer to death, he got more religious. During one of his conversations with Ted
Koppel, Morrie once said, “I’m bargaining with Him up there now. I’m asking
Him, ‘Do I get to be one of the angels?’” It was the first time Morrie admitted
talking to God. Though it was not explicitly stated, I think it is safe to infer that
Morrie viewed religion with reverence.

❖ Explain your thoughts about aging, dying and death before and after
reading the book.

➢ My thoughts on aging, dying, and death are largely influenced by science. I see
them generally as byproducts of biological errors. So, do I fear them?
Obviously, yes. Any sane person would. It’s embedded in our genes. If—by
some mutation, mental illness, or self-hypnotism—you weren’t afraid of them,
good luck surviving and reproducing. The lessons Morrie taught about aging,
dying, and death were indeed very interesting. My thoughts on them haven’t
really changed. For most of them, I already knew as a variant. I agree with
them, but you can never really rid yourself of that fear, you can only minimize
it by changing your perception.

❖ Explain what you believe to be the ultimate lesson the reader is

supposed to take away from the book.

➢ “Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live.” What Morrie meant is that
one must accept the possibility of one's own death before he can truly
 appreciate what he has on earth. It prompts the urge to appreciate and value
one’s life, and to use every moment of that time doing something that one will
not regret when the bird sings its last note. I think that is the ultimate lesson
that we are supposed to assimilate.

❖ Cite your favorite quotation/s from the book and explain why it is
personally significant to you.

➢ There is one quote that really resonates with me, “Love each other or perish.” I
must say, my heart had been hardened when I was a child. I never knew my
mother for she left our family before my mind could form coherent memories.
My father was present, but rarely gave me parental affection, which I never
understood why. I lived and grew up under my grandparents; they fed me,
sheltered me, and loved me. But there was this void that longed for my
parents’ affection. That is partly the reason why I left school and resented my
parents. Years have passed and I have forgiven them, after all, there was
nothing I could do. I do not want others to perish as I have, realizing how
important love is. That’s why I made a promise to myself to love those around
me with the best of my efforts.