Tuesdays with Morrie

Key Facts

full title ·  Tuesdays With Morrie: An Old Man, A young Man, and Life's Greatest Lesson

author ·  Mitch Albom

type of work ·  non-fiction

genre ·  Autobiographical documentary

language ·  English

time and place written ·  Detroit, Michigan, mid-1990's

date of first publication ·  1997

publisher ·  Doubleday

narrator ·  Mitch Albom

point of view ·  The narrator speaks in the first person for the majority of the novel, with the exception of a few passages in which he had not been present. With the exception of these passages, the narrator provides a subjective view of all other characters introduced.

tone ·  Mitch's narration uses very basic language, as most of the book is composed of dialogue between him and Morrie, word-for word conversations he has transcribed after having tape recorded them prior to Morrie's death. Mitch's attitude towards Morrie is nothing less than sweet and adoring.

tense ·  Frequently shifts in tense from present to past; description of past events is relayed through a series of flash backs interspersed throughout present tense narrations.

setting (time) ·  Early-mid 1990&Otidle;s

setting (place) ·  West Newton, Massachusetts

protagonist ·  Mitch Albom (and/or Morrie Schwartz)

major conflict ·  Morrie grapples to accept his impending death from ALS and is visited each Tuesday by his former star student, Mitch, who has become disillusioned by the popular culture.

rising action ·  Mitch grows increasingly unhappy with his occupation as a journalist and sees Morrie featured on "Nightline" one night as he is watching television.

climax ·  Morrie is visited by Mitch for what will be the last time, and finally, after years of trying, gets Mitch to cry openly.

falling action ·  Mitch attends Morrie's funeral and conducts a conversation with him in his head as he had promised he would, even after his death.

themes ·  The rejection of popular cultural mores in favor of self-created values; Love or perish; Acceptance through detachment

motifs ·  Food; Reincarnation and renewal; The media

symbols ·  Pink hibiscus plant; Morrie's bed; Waves on the ocean

foreshadowing ·  One of Morrie's last aphorisms is, "When you're in bed, you're dead." On what will be his last visit to with Morrie, Mitch knows that death is fast- approaching, as Morrie has, after a long battle with ALS, moved from his study to the confines of his bed. Days later, Morrie dies in his bed.