One of the greatest books I have read...Tuesday's With Morrie...

What simply makes Tuesdays with Morrie a winner is the fact that it’s nonfiction, that it happened in real life. When I was reading about Mitch Albom’s conversations with his former professor, Morrie, I ultimately thought about how these actual situation occurred in real life. This makes the whole plot more magical, because usually, when a tearjerker comes out in the market, I always think of cheesy writing styles and melodramatic scenes that seem exaggerated and not too different from any average soap opera. And although some scenes are melodramatic, they are only rightly so, for in truth, death is a tragic affair. Albom was able to capture Morrie’s courage and strength as his body deteriorated gradually. Tuesdays with Morrie does not intend to be dramatic, it just is. Reading this book made me rethink about my priorities, and hours after closing the book for the final time, I was still pondering about its theme. Certainly, it left a deep imprint on me, as it showed how a person’s life is not measured by his age, but by the number of things he has fulfilled and done in such a transitory world. Morrie’s life, and death, showed us one thing: how a person could have a lifetime in such a short while.

The significant Characters of the Story:
Morrie Schwartz
The title character grows up in Brooklyn, the son of poor immigrants. Morrie Schwartz's mother dies when he is very young, and soon after, his younger brother develops polio. He is forced to go to work at a very young age to help support his family. His father remarries, and his stepmother fosters in him a great love of learning.
After vowing never to work in a job that exploits another or makes money off the sweat of another, Schwartz takes up research as his chosen profession. Long after, he used to be an old professor who was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), a brutal, unforgiving disease of the neurological system. Guided and talked to people about his life and death. Mitch would also call Morrie, coach.

Mitch Albom
A former student and close friend of Morries’. He is an open receptacle and Morrie filled his mind with new thoughts and ideas. After college Mitch’s dream to become a well know musician had failed and all was bad. Until he got a job as a sports colonist that gave him a better life. Until he again rejoin his old friend Morrie. And then met him again when he had the chance.
Albom, when in college, met with Morrie on Tuesdays. After Mitch saw his friend on Nightline, he once again started meeting with Morrie on Tuesdays. In these visits, Mitch learns a lot about life and what is really important from Morrie. He tells Mitch that in life you have to find out what is important to you, and not let society make those choices for you. Mitch realized that society puts a value on stuff that shimmers and glistens, not on the things that really matter. Mitch had been caught up in all this while trying to become a successful sports writer.

Some of MORRIE SCHWARTZ’s inspiring quotations...
“Death ends a life, not a relationship.”

 Being open to reality and to the fact that he is going to die, Morrie said this trying to uustify that it is not the relationship that death ends. Death only ends the physical self of the person but not the memories the person had bring onto someone’s life. He told this for he knew that Mitch is bothered ny the idea that he, his coach, is going to die. Because of this, Morrie then preferred to project the idea that even though he already die, still, the memories and the relationship they have shared with each other will never perish.

“Well I have to look at life uniquely now. Let’s face it. I can’t go shopping, I can’t take care of the bank accounts, I can’t take out the garbage. But I can sit here with my dwindling days and look at what I think is important in life. I have both the time----and the reason to do that.”

 Morrie used rationalization as the defense mechanism here. He tried to rationalize the fact that he is close to fully depend himself on others, especially physically. He rationalizes that he, on the other hand, should try to enjoy the process because just like what he said, he have to look uniquely at life now. It’s a reality that the disease is gradually making him stop do usual things yet he can make his remaining days fruitful by accepting the reality and spreading all the love that he has.

“When you’re in bed, you’re dead.”

 Morrie haad said this because of the fact that he doesn’t want to stay in bed while waiting for his last breathe to come. He rationalize that he won’t be spanding his dwindling days in bed for there are still certain things to be happy about his life and there are still lots of things that he can do like touch people’s lives. According to him, he’ll only stay put in bed at the moment of his final breath.