Meanness In Mitch Albom's Tuesdays With Morrie

In society, people are mean. Although the great majority of people are probably selfless and kind… it seems the small minority of cruel and angry people in this world are much louder than the quiet majority. The reasons and motives of this angry group vary greatly. This topic of anger and meanness comes up in Mitch Albom’s book, Tuesdays With Morrie. In the novel, the author spends much time with a dying man named Morrie Schwartz. Morrie, being the old, dying man he is, has a lot of experience about life and what in life is important. In Mitch’s fourteen days with Morrie, they talk and discuss various life topics and, Morrie often gives advice on each topic.

On Mitch’s eleventh trip to Morrie’s, they discuss humans’ the culture of our modern

Unlike Morrie’s statement, malice is not always linked to being threatened. Ignorance, entitlement, and miscommunication are among the multiple ways people can be mean without being threatened by another.

Although research can disprove Morrie’s lesson, it only did so on a technicality. In Morrie’s quote, he states that feeling threatened is the only catalyst for meanness, but, there are a few other motives that a cruel person can have to degrade another. The first possible motive of a mean person is the fact he/she does not have a motive at all. This form of unintentional meanness as a lack of skills, knowledge and awareness. (Frank) Although this behavior is not intentional, it still can have a negative effect on another. In this very rare case, people are unaware and ignorant in basic social expectations. Susan Knowlton states that, “Some people simply don't have the same mechanisms for altruism and empathy that most of us do, and this can be a result of accident or of their nature” (Knowlton). This lack of empathy and social knowledge Knowlton describes can easily offend people without trying or meaning to. This behavior can start at anytime for anyone and is not a direct response to a threat.