Grief In Tuesdays With Morrie

“Dying is only one thing to be sad over. Living unhappily is something else.” (Albom 14). In Tuesdays with Morrie by Micth Albom, Morrie taught Mitch that when death is accepted, one learns to live. Everyone dies, so why spend so much time feeling sad about it? When the main character, Susie, dies in The Lovely Bones, she learns how death can permeate throughout a community and cause a time of stillness. The world keeps spinning but those in grief feel as if everything has stopped. Susie’s outlook from heaven taught her and the reader that those that die do not want their loved ones to suffer and sulk in depression. This lesson is also very prominent in Tuesdays with Morrie. One cannot spend an absurd amount of time grieving. Feel those feelings,

You’re afraid of the pain, you’re afraid of the grief. You’re afraid of the vulnerability that loving entails.” (Albom 46). Morrie taught Mitch that one has to accept grief and having one’s life consumed with sad emotions is extremely unproductive. Tuesdays with Morrie is a collection of recorded conversations between Mitch Albom and his former professor, Morrie Schwartz. Morrie was previously a sociology professor who was passionate about sharing life lessons he thought were important. Morrie spoke often of death and how a person should deal with grief. He spoke about not only grieving others but also accepting one’s own death. One thing Morrie said repeatedly was “Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live.” (Albom 61). Coping with your own death is something often talked about but not understood. Morrie gave great insight on mourning and how to handle the hard truth. Morrie viewed life in a way that optimised happiness without fostering ignorance. He said that experiencing grief for a person is a result of your love for them. Love is a beautiful thing and the death of a loved one does not have to be as painful and burdening than expected.

Morrie, as an older and knowledgeable man, had a comprehensive understanding of life. Therefore, Morrie had an advantage of knowledge and grasp compared to the young community in The Lovely Bones. Morrie taught Mitch that in the face of death, one should find more meaning to life. He said that appreciating smaller things and finding beauty in everything is imperative to be happy. Susie’s family and friends in The Lovely Bones struggled to find meaning in life after her death. For years, everything revolved around Susie, who was not even there anymore. When not handled properly, grief causes depressing obsession with what was lost. The way Morrie describes his optimal process of grief shows that it can be accepted and achieved through time and a complete expression of emotions. The Lovely Bones had a chaotic and long process of grief because the majority of Susie’s loved ones were reluctant to outwardly share their emotions and accept their