Comparing Mitch Albom's Tuesdays With Morrie

“The truth is, once you learn how to die, you learn how to live” (Albom 82). Tuesdays with Morrie is a book and movie, which can be educational to countless generations, however both have similarities and differences that construct the genres’ characterization, relationships, and emotional moments within the plot, and themes. Plot is the term used to describe the main events of a story, such as a movie or book. Theme is the term used to describe the central idea or message of the story. In Tuesdays with Morrie, the story elements control the effectiveness of the book on generations. Characterization is how the writer reveals a character, in Tuesdays with Morrie, this tool allows an educational story about life to be told. Both Tuesdays

The book begins with the introduction of Morrie and Mitch’s story line. After this, a time jump takes place sixteen years in the future, where Mitch is a sports journalist. One night, he learns about Morrie's condition. Then he goes to visit Morrie, where they begin to reconnect after their years apart. As they talk, they decide to start meeting every Tuesday, to discuss certain topics of life. For fourteen Tuesdays they meet, where they analyze and discuss topics ranging from culture to saying good bye. Some other key events that happened in the book were the living funeral, Morrie’s perfect day, flashbacks, and Mitch crying. The living funeral was Morrie’s idea, so he could hear the speeches of his friends and family, before he died. Morrie’s perfect day was very detailed and summed up the day he wished he could have, had he not fallen ill with ALS. The flashbacks of the book ranged from Mitch and Morrie flashbacks, to Morrie and his brother. These flashbacks allow the reader to look back on the lives of Morrie and Mitch. When Morrie made Mitch cry, it was an important moment that changed the spectrum of the book for all of its readers. The movie plot had many similarities and few differences to the book plot. The similarities of the movie include the meeting of Morrie and Mitch, the living funeral, the flashbacks, Morrie’s perfect day, and Mitch crying.

The book has four major themes, which deal with accepting death, living life, regrets, and culture. Throughout the book, Morrie assessed the idea of accepting death. In Morrie’s state, accepting death is essential to his overall character. His illness has allowed him to look at death as a beautiful force of nature, instead of a destructive demon. Many characters, such as Mitch, struggle with the acceptance of death, however through Morrie’s personality, many finally accepted death in the end. Another recurring theme was living life to the fullest. In a book, such as Tuesdays with Morrie, death is an imminent force that must be taken into consideration; before the icy breath of death comes one must make the most of their life, which may include shunning the norms accepted by the American society. The third major theme of the books was regret, which is a feeling of sadness or disappointment over an event that has occurred When death is approaching quickly, such as Morrie’s, regret becomes an immediate thought. Morrie focuses on his own interpretation of society, allowing him to look past the regular American views. This helps him get past regret and live life the way he believes best suits him. Culture is the last major recurring theme throughout the book, and even other themes. Culture defines every human being, and in America the culture focuses on money and success, but