Tuesdays with Morrie By Mitch Albom Chapter 12

Tuesdays with Morrie By Mitch Albom Chapter 12

Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom Summary (Question and Answer)

Chapter Twelve (Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom)

CHAPTER TWELVE – The Professor.
57 73 Morrie was just eight years old when his mother died. Why was he forced to read the telegram from the hospital, which broke the news, to his father? Morrie’s father was a Russian immigrant who came to America to escape the Russian Army. As a consequence he could not read English. Morrie was therefore forced to read the notice, sent from the hospital, out loud to his father.
58 74 Morrie’s family was very poor when he was growing up. His mother ran a candy store and the family lived behind it. After his mother’s death, how did Morrie and his younger brother try to make a little money? After their mother’s death, Morrie and his younger brother would make a nickel by washing their neighbour’s porch steps.
59 75 Soon after their mother’s death, Morrie and his younger brother were sent to stay in a large cabin in the woods shared by several families. During this stay, Morrie’s brother was diagnosed with a very serious disease. What was this? David, Morrie’s younger brother, was diagnosed with polio during their stay in the large cabin in the woods.
60 75-76 Morrie split his time between visiting a synagogue, where he prayed for his brother, and standing at the bottom of the subway steps, where the young boy tried his best to sell magazines enabling him to buy food for his family. His father was a gloomy man, but the following year a ‘saving embrace’ came into Morrie’s life. What was this? The ‘saving embrace’ which entered Morrie’s life the following year was his new step mother, Eva. The Romanian immigrant was a warm and kind woman who brought love into the young boy’s life.
61 77 What does Morrie put his love of education down to? Morrie puts his love of education down to his stepmother, Eva, who saw it as the only way out of poverty. Consequentially she would accept nothing less than academic excellence from him.
62 78 When he was a teenager, Morrie was taken by his father to the fur factory where he worked with the intention of getting the young man a job. Despite his father’s hopes, however, there was not a job available. When he left the factory, what vow did the young man make and why? When Morrie left the fur factory he vowed to never do any work which exploited another human being nor would be ‘make money off the sweat of another’. Morrie decided to make this vow after experiencing the poor working conditions in the factory and the aggressive and intimidating attitude of the floor manager who shouted at his employees.

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Tuesdays with Morrie By Mitch Albom Chapter 10

Tuesdays with Morrie By Mitch Albom Chapter 10

Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom Summary (Question and Answer)

Chapter Ten (Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom)

CHAPTER TEN – The Third Tuesday We Talk About Regrets.
50 62 On the third Tuesday, Albom turned up at Morrie’s house carrying the usual selection of food. However, on this occasion, he brought something else. What was this and what did Albom want it for? In addition to the usual selection of food, on the ‘third Tuesday’ Albom turned up at Morrie’s house with a tape recorder because, he told the old man, he wanted to have a record of their conversations. However, as Albom admits to his readers, it was more than a personal record that he wanted – he wanted to be able to share the old man’s wisdom with the world before it was too late.
51 65-66 On his way home from their meeting, Albom decided to make a list of the great questions which all people seek an answer to. Why did he have confidence that Morrie would be able to help him find an answer in a way which others could not. Albom believed that Morrie’s disease and suffering had given him an incisive clarity when considering life and divining importance making him a more suitable teacher than the ‘self-help’ industry.
52 67-68 When Albom was in his senior year at University, Morrie encouraged his student to write a thesis as part of his degree. What topic did the student and professor decide Albom should write on? After much discussion, Albom decided to write his thesis on America football and how it had become a sort of ‘religion’ within America.

 

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Tuesdays with Morrie By Mitch Albom Chapter 15

Tuesdays with Morrie By Mitch Albom Chapter 15

Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom Summary (Question and Answer)

Chapter Fifteen (Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom)

CHAPTER FIFTEEN – The Sixth Tuesday We Talk About Emotions
71 100 When Albom arrived at Morrie’s house for the sixth Tuesday, he was greeted at the front door by Charlotte, Morrie’s wife. Charlotte tells Albom that Morrie was not feeling very well that day. What other news did Charlotte give to Albom which upset him? When Albom gave Charlotte the usual food supplies that he would bring for Morrie, she gently told him that Morrie was no longer able to eat solid foods. Consequentially, they already had a great deal stored in the fried and freezer. Morrie hadn’t told Albom as the old man didn’t want to hurt his feelings.
72 103-105 On this visit, Morrie taught Albom the need for what he calls ‘detachment’. The ability to detach from a moment of emotion. How is Morrie’s principle of ‘detachment’ reconcilable with his repeated assertion that people must be open to the emotions which surround them? Morrie explains that it is only through detachment that one is able to truly experience the strength and the limits of emotion. Most people, he argues, prevent themselves from experiencing the strength of what they feel and that it is only by having the ability to detach from the moment that one can feel the strength of what they are experiencing.
73 106 After explaining the principles of detachment to Albom, Morrie was consumed by a coughing fit. When the coughing subsided, Morrie told Albom that he now knew how he wanted to die. How was this? Morrie explained that he wanted to die ‘serenely’. Yet you can’t decide the terms of your own death. This is why detachment is so important. Even if Morrie’s death was painful and hectic like his coughing fit had been, by detaching Morrie would be able to both experience the end whilst experiencing serenity.
74 108 On another occasion, Albom asked Morrie if he believed in reincarnation and, if so, what he would like to come back as. How did Morrie answer? Morrie explained that he would like to come back as a gazelle, as they are so fast and so graceful. Given Morrie’s limited mobility, this made perfect sense to Albom.

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Tuesdays with Morrie By Mitch Albom Chapter 14

Tuesdays with Morrie By Mitch Albom Chapter 14

Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom Summary (Question and Answer)

Chapter Fourteen (Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom)

CHAPTER FOURTEEN – The Fifth Tuesday We Talk About Family
66 90 By the time it was September, Albom and Morrie were forced to stop using hand held microphones during their conversations and instead they switched to a smaller, clip on microphone to record their discussions. Why was this switch necessary? With Morrie’s disease progressing quickly, he was no longer able to hold a microphone necessitating the switch to a clip on variety.
67 92 Why does Morrie think family is so important? Morrie thinks that family is so important for two reasons. First of all to supply love. Quoting Auden, Morrie tells Albom that humans must ‘love each other or perish’. Secondly, family is important to keep an eye out for each other.
68 93 Morrie’s family was very important to him, and he had raised two sons. Albom is sure that they would have both given up their lives to spend every moment with their father during his illness but Morrie forbade this. What reason did Morrie give for his decision? Morrie was adamant that his sons should not give up their lives to spend time with their father because if they did that then ‘this disease would have ruined three of us instead of one’.
69 95 Albom had two siblings, an elder sister and a younger brother. His brother was very different to Albom and had moved to Spain where he found the pace of life more conducive. After several years of living so far away from the rest of his family, he stopped all contact. Why was this and what was he going through at this time? Albom’s brother was suffering from the same rare form of cancer which had taken his uncle’s life. He decided that the fight against this disease was something which he had to do alone and consequentially cut all contact with his family in America.
70 96 Why did his younger brother’s condition make Albom feel guilty? For some inexplicable reason, Albom felt that it was his fate to contract a life threatening disease and somehow his brother was suffering from a disease intended for him.

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Tuesdays with Morrie By Mitch Albom Chapter 13

Tuesdays with Morrie By Mitch Albom Chapter 13

Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom Summary (Question and Answer)

Chapter Thirteen (Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom)

CHAPTER THIRTEEN – The Fourth Tuesday We Talk About Death.
63 80-81 On their next meeting, Morrie was keen to speak about death. He told Albom that despite the fact that everybody knew that they would one day die, nobody believed it. What did Morrie suggest would be an improvement to this mindset? Morrie suggests that it would be an improvement if, instead of denying their mortality, people instead prepared for it and thus be more involved in your own life because ‘once you learn how to die, you learn how to live’.
64 82 Why did Albom describe Morrie as a ‘religious mutt’? A mutt is a dog which is not a thoroughbred; instead it is a mixture of several different breeds. In a similar way, Morrie combined several different religions to form his own world view.
65 83 What does Morrie tell Albom that he might learn if he truly accepted that he could die at any moment? Morrie tells Albom that, if he was to accept that he could die at any time, then he would learn an important lesson and be less ambitious as a result. Rather than spending so much time on his work, Morrie tells Albom that he might start seeking more spiritual pursuits.

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Tuesdays with Morrie By Mitch Albom Chapter 17

Tuesdays with Morrie By Mitch Albom Chapter 17

Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom Summary (Question and Answer)

Chapter Seventeen (Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom)

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN – The Eighth Tuesday We Talk About Money.
83 123-125 On the seventh Tuesday, Morrie was having ‘a good day’. He was in high spirits owing to a visit he had enjoyed the evening before from a local a cappella group. Feeling enlivened by this experience, Morrie explained to Albom that many people’s main problem was that they didn’t understanding ‘value’. For Morrie, money was ultimately of very little importance and could never replace four things which were far more important. What were these? The four things which Morrie tells Albom money could never replace were love, gentleness, tenderness and camaraderie.
84 127 Morrie makes Albom feel guilty when he explains how unimportant money and status is – two things which Albom had spent much of his life pursuing. Pointedly Morrie tells Albom that it is pointless trying to impress people ‘at the top’ and ‘people at the bottom’. What reason did he give for this? Morrie explains that it is pointless trying to impress people at the top because they will still ‘look down at you’, whilst those at the bottom will ‘only envy you’.

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