A Symbol Of Hope In The Darkness: Tuesdays With Morrie By Mitch Albom

It was the 1970’s and a young Mitch Albom was pursuing a bachelor’s degree at Brandeis University. While there, he met Morrie Schwartz, a profound and inspirational professor who would change Albom’s life forever. After college, Albom pursued many careers before becoming a sports journalist and getting sucked into the whirlpool of the media industry. In the late 1900s, the media’s grasp on society was growing and infecting the minds of millions. Albom had completely altered his life to be a part of the growing infection in society “He moved to Detroit in 1985, where he became a nationally-acclaimed sports journalist at the Detroit Free Press and one of the best-known media figures in that city’s history, working in newspapers, radio, and television.”(Albom) During his illustrious career, society was beginning to see the toll of the media’s constant presence.

People were inundated with news of violent crime spreading throughout the nation. It hit its peak in 1991. Since this point, the crime rate has dropped, however, fluctuations are common “In Detroit, crime has fallen dramatically since 1991 despite intermittent spikes, in 2006 and 2010. The history of the past 25 years shows that some annual fluctuations are to be expected without disrupting the overall trend.” (Friedman) While the rate did decline it still raises the question of how much bad news can one person take?

In the middle of the battle against the troubling crime rate, the media monster that enveloped Detroit started to deteriorate. On July 13, 1995, the employees of Detroit Free Press went on a strike that lasted five and a half years, getting violent at points and affecting thousands of lives, one of those being the life of Mitch Albom, who worked at Detroit Free Press at the time. At this point, Albom had been focusing all his time on his work and was struggling to find a purpose. That is when he heard that his beloved teacher had been diagnosed with ALS and Albom decided it was time for him to reconnect with his old friend. The love he had for his old teacher and the struggles he saw in society inspired him to write a memoir of Morrie

Critics have given mixed remarks on the book that resulted from Albom’s meetings with Morrie, which was practically named Tuesdays with Morrie. While some praise it for being a book filled with inspirational messages, others call it basic and overdone. A reviewer from Kirkus Review gave the book high praises stating “This book, small and easily digested, stopping just short of the maudlin and the mawkish, is on the whole sincere, sentimental, and skillful.” (Kirkus) They discuss how the conversational tone of the book helps convey the vividly described, inspirational messages that are talked about in the book. The reviewer jests that while one will not discover the meaning of life from the book, the messages are greatly explained in a way that could cause a lasting effect on its reader.

Oppositely, a reviewer for the New York Times states that “Unfortunately, such true and sometimes touching pieces of advice don't add up to a very wise book. Though Albom insists that Schwartz's words have transformed him, it's hard to see why to judge from the evidence in ‘Tuesdays With Morrie.’”(Botton) This reviewer believes that the messages conveyed in the book are overused and the structure is unorganized and hard to follow. Instead of coming across as inspirational, the tone comes off as pompous and full of himself. The critic describes how the writing style is primitive and does not help convey the tone of the mundane messages that Albom tries to get across. This critic chooses to look at the book pessimistically and provides a very negative outlook.

No matter how many pessimistic things the New York Times reviewer decided to say about the book, it does not detract from the plethora of people who were truly touched by Albom’s work. Another reviewer stated, “These lessons have inspired me to love in a way I never imagined to be possible, to build a space in communities that people want to be in, to work towards my career goals of being a community leader, and to focus on my purpose, which is yearning to do what we do in the service of something larger than ourselves.”(Elizabeth) Reading Tuesdays with Morrie inspired her to find her higher purpose and get the most out of life. The reviewer is not alone in that sentiment. She praised Albom for using heightened language that helped support the messages he was trying to convey. She loves the conversational tone and admired how different it was from other books at the time.

The primary purpose of Tuesdays with Morrie was to share Morrie’s profound messages with the world. Albom opens the book by saying “The class met on Tuesdays. It began after breakfast. The subject was the meaning of life. It was taught from experience.” (Albom, 1) That experience was Morrie’s life, a life which he had begun to analyze after he was diagnosed with ALS. Morrie found himself asking the question “Do I wither up and disappear, or do I make the best of my time left?”(Albom, 10) This question is what sparked the inspirational messages and discussions that can be found throughout the book. Although critics debate over whether these messages were inspirational or not, it is hard to not glean some sort of insight from them.

The first set of lessons deal with the materialism of life and how to combat it. Albom extrapolates that “The eighties happened. The nineties happened. Death and sickness and getting fat and going bald happened. I traded lots of dreams for a bigger paycheck, and I never even realized I was doing it.” (Albom, 33) Albom and Morrie talk about how today’s culture focuses on the materialism of life, how earning money takes the place of happiness. Morrie teaches Albom that “The culture we have does not make people feel good about themselves. And you have to be strong enough to say if the culture doesn’t work, don’t buy it.” (Albom, 42) These and other messages like it are inspired by the events that were transpiring in society and Albom’s life.

Evidence of these events' effect on the story can be seen throughout the book. Albom goes into great detail about the Detroit Free Press strike. Albom states “I was suddenly, and for the first time in my life, out of a job, out of a paycheck, and pitted against my employers.” (Albom, 44) This prompts him to discuss more lessons about life with Morrie about money and our culture leading to several realizations. Morrie’s aphorisms help Albom get through a turning point in his life. Throughout the book, one can see Albom change and grow due to the profoundness of Morrie’s lessons and the effect they have on Albom.

Most of the lessons that are learned are prompted by events in society or Albom’s life. Several times he discusses things that are depicted in the newspaper. For instance, Albom discusses several cases of violent crime “ There was a story about a small timber town where two teenage girls tortured and killed a seventy-three-year-old man who had befriended them, then threw a party in his trailer home and showed off the corpse.” (Albom, 58) This leads to a discussion about death which is considered one of the most emotional sections of the already profound book. Morrie states “Everyone knows they’re going to die, but nobody believes it” (Albom, 80). He then explains that he has been able to grasp the concept of his impending death and, while some days are better than others, he has never been freer.

Every single lesson in the book is prompted by an event in Morrie or Albom’s life or society. The inspiration behind the lessons makes them that much more profound and meaningful to the reader. They are not just blanket statement lessons given by a person who does not truly believe them. The reader becomes immersed in both men’s lives and develops a strong connection with them. They can see the effect the lessons have on Albom’s life. They see him grow and change and can not help but hope to see those effects on their lives as well. While one critic does not believe in the impression the book can have on people, the writing says otherwise. No matter what one has gone through there is always something to connect to in the book, which is exactly how Albom intended it to be. He was fueled by the emptiness he felt within his own life and wanted to help others who felt the same.

Mitch Albom wrote Tuesdays with Morrie during an emotional time for everyone: Morrie, Albom, and society as a whole. He saw that light was absent in people’s lives and saw this book as a way to fill it. Along with being able to pay for Morrie’s expensive medical bills, this book could help provide insight for thousands of people. It was written during a time when the crime was on the rise, Detroit Free Press was in shambles, and Albom felt lost. While it was formed around those events, the lessons can apply across any time period and problem. Tuesdays with Morrie provides answers to people who feel lost and will inspire many for a long time to come.