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Alejandro Dorado
Mrs. Nicolette Rose
English Composition I
5 February 2021
Tuesdays With Morrie Assignment Pages 55-122
1.
On page 57, Morrie states, “I don’t allow myself more self-pity than a little each
morning, a few tears, and that’s all”. Why do you suppose Morrie doesn’t experience more
self-pity than this, considering his situation?
On this occasion, Morrie supports the fact that we are what we think, and we become
in what our thoughts want. I consider that it is an ideology to admire; since Morrie limits
himself to self-pity because he thinks that depending on the approach you give to your life, it
will be so until you die; a person may have a life full of complexes that make his life
complicated, but if you spend the rest of your life complaining about what happens or what
occurred to you, you will live in a shell full of negative thoughts surrounded by regrets. Thus,
Morrie decides to put aside the idea of regrets and self-pity despite his illness and focuses on
obtaining her happiness not through something that provokes it, but through his own decision.
2.
On page 58, Mitch states, “Holding him like that moved me in a way I cannot
describe, except to say I felt the seeds of death inside his shriveling frame…”. What exactly
does Mitch mean by this? What is Mitch afraid of? Explain.
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Mitch, as Morrie's disease progressed, developed an emotional dread in which he
thought that his illness would take his life at any moment. That's why, in the instant in which
Mitch helps Morrie to move from his wheelchair, he realizes the real gravity in which Morrie
was going through his illness, simultaneously; it is a crucial moment for Mitch to understand
how he was changing, since now he had become a compassionate person, from someone with
notably superficial feelings. This fear is observed throughout most of the text, even when
Morrie says: "I know, Mitch. You mustn't be afraid of my dying. I've had a good life, and we
all know it's going to happen. I maybe have four or five months" (Albom 42).
3.
Mitch states on page 63, that “Morrie is looking at life from some very different
place than anyone else I knew”. What place is this? How is Morrie looking at the world?
Just like the expression "we are what we think," Morrie represents Mitch's phrase in a
philosophical way; since this time, Morrie is in charge of giving life to a human tendency that
we carry for a long time, which is to appreciate something when it is already out of our
possession, and something we are finally aware of when it is about to disappear. Unfortunately,
this concept is adapted in Morrie as "life"; he is aware that he has a brief time left to lose it, so
he makes his decision to live it as comfortably as possible for his happiness. It seems ironic
but it is a life lesson for all of us who are part of this story.
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4.
On the second interview with Morrie, Ted Koppel seems to be more relaxed around
Morrie. Why is this? Why is it that Morrie seems to have such a calming effect on people?
Why is it that people feel that they can connect with Morrie such as the woman that sends
Morrie a letter after she watches him on the Nightline interview?
Morrie always had a gentle treatment with all the people around him; along with him,
there was only tranquility and hope. Mitch in the text states the following: "but it is Morrie's
softness that draws me, and because he does not look at me as a kid trying to be something
more than I am, I relax" (Albom 36) implying that by his way of interpreting things and his
way of speaking, generates in a person a feeling of absolute tranquility; this is how, in the
second interview with Ted Koppel, Morrie is in a more delicate stage regarding his illness,
where he mentions how the disease has harmed him motorically since the first interview,
generating the audience, and even Ted Koppel, to become more familiar with his condition.
Morrie throughout the interview maintains his tone of hope, stating that the disease has not
prevented him from pursuing his happiness and living a healthy and comfortable life; that is
why Ted Koppel is shown in a more friendly and understanding tone towards Morrie and his
story.
Since Morrie has the ability that other people become familiar with his life (which in my
opinion people realize is one that has had multiple disappointments such as the death of a
parent), people decide to narrate their story, like is the case of the teacher who tells how she
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has a class where all her students lost a parent, case in which Morrie feels identified and
collapses in tears by the memory that brings him to his mother.
5.
Although Morrie describes his relationship with his father as cold and distant, what
are some “life lessons” that Morrie learns from his father? Explain what are some things that
Morrie dislikes about his relationship with his father? Be specific in your answer.
Morrie depicts his father throughout the text as a person much like Mitch is once Morrie
gets to know him, a cold, tactless, emotionless person with abstinence from showing affection
for other people. Charlie's lack of affection in Morrie's childhood was crucial for his growth
since once his mother died, he had nowhere to receive that special care. Then is where Eva
arrives, where they learned a lot of valuable things for life and received the love they needed
as children. In addition to the lessons that Eva taught them in the lives of the kids, Morrie saw
in his father a reflection of who he never wanted to be, and much less Mitch; a person without
education that leads to a life without light and dulled by poverty and poverty.
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