Have you ever asked yourself these questions?
When was the last time I thought of people who are no more in my life but have changed it beyond all means? And felt grateful for them.
If a few days were all that was left of my life, would I do things differently?
Do I let the thinking of the society overwhelm my own intelligence?
What do I live for? Money, fame or myself?
Is death the end of life or the beginning of another journey?
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The Protagonist:
Meet Mr. Morrie Schwartz, a professor of Social Psychology in Brandies University who has been diagnosed of a terminal illness called Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Like all diseases of the nervous system, ALS kills a person gradually by taking away his mental and physical functions one by one. In normal circumstances, one would expect the victim of this disease to go into the throes of clinical depression. But Morrie Schwartz is no ordinary person.
Morrie, in one of the more poignant moments in the novel organises a ’’mock funeral’’ wherein all the people close to him are asked to come and say things which they would after he is dead. Morrie chooses to hear those compliments while living. This incident, in effect, sums up the man who is the epicenter of Mitch’s narration.
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The Student:
Mitch albom, the author of this book and a Sports Journalist by profession is one of Morrie’s favorite students. Mitch spots, by accident, a show featuring the plight of his favorite professor on television. It reminds Mitch of the promise he had never kept. That of keeping in touch with Morrie after graduation. Driven by guilt, Mitch fixes up a meeting with Morrie.
At this point, Mitch is going through an emotional crisis himself. His brother is afflicted with pancreatic cancer, the company he works for is on strike and he does not have enough time for family.
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The Thesis:
Morrie, the teacher and Mitch, the student, decide on a thesis that Mitch will write for Morrie. This thesis, a collection of Morrie’s random thoughts on his way to meet death finds shape on every Tuesday, the day they decide to meet each other regularly till the inevitable happens.
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The Contents:
Morrie narrates in lucid detail, his past, without indulging in self-pity. A Russian father who could ill-afford a family, a mother who died prematurely, a brother struck with Polio at an young age. Not the material that fairy tales are made of. These scars, buried deep within come to haunt Morrie in death.
Morrie laces his experiences with thoughts on life and death. Our value systems, the importance of family, the importance of loving and most importantly, the ability to forgive oneself and others.
Not a man to accept death without fighting it, Morrie finds succour in his meeting with Mitch. While Mitch helps Morrie physically, Morrie fills the emotional void facing Mitch. The thesis, for which the meetings are held for, becomes more of an excuse in this holy communion of the pupil and his guru.
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My opinion:
If it is profound philosophy you are looking for, this book might leave you dissappointed. And some of Morrie’s thoughts on love and life may sound too simplistic. But looking at it from the perspective of a man who is desperate to teach the world-the importance of living a full life before death, this novel triumphs. Like Morrie wants carved on his tombstone, ’’ A teacher till the last’’.
Most of us live life as if tomorrow was a certainty. Which is why, we never fully utilise what life has to offer us today. It is only when we are given a deadline that we realise the things left undone, unsaid and unfinished. And sometimes, it is too late to undo a few things.
When it is time to die, it is immaterial how many cars one has or how many acres of land one owns. It is the number of people who are affected by our absence, who will carry our word after we are gone that matters.
There is nothing extraordinary in the story of Morrie, apart from that of a brave teacher who refused to face death as the ultimate humiliation. And, like all our good teachers, Morrie makes us realise things we have become insensitive to in an increasingly consumerist world.
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There is very little preaching and sermon in this book. It is a gentle reminder about things we forgot on the way to attain our selfish ends. Things, which should amd will matter, on our deathbed.
’’Where have all our heroes gone?’’.
’’Tuesdays with Morrie’’ is more than a students’ tribute to his teacher. It is about a world of misplaced ideals where the the real heroes around us are forced to make way for cardboard cutouts until someone has the courage to push them to the centerstage.
All of us have our Morries in life. But do we give them the place that they deserve in our hearts? Mitch Blom makes you ponder...