Tuesdays with Morrie By Mitch Albom Chapter 16

Tuesdays with Morrie By Mitch Albom Chapter 16

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

Chapter Sixteen (Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom)

CHAPTER SIXTEEN – The Professor, Part Two.
75 109 After finishing his PhD at The University of Chicago, he started working at ‘Chestnut Lodge’. What was this institution? Chestnut Lodge was a Mental Hospital.
76 109 What was his job at Chestnut Lodge? Morrie had received a grant to observe the mental patients.
77 110 One of the patients at Chestnut Lodge used to spend her days lying on the floor, being ignored by everyone around her. Morrie became saddened by her plight and so he started to try and interact with her. After sometime, Morrie discovered what the patient was really lacking. What did she really want and need? Morrie discovered that what the woman wanted was to be noticed by someone.
78 111 Whilst working at Chestnut Lodge, Morrie learned many important lessons. One of these was about the value of money. What was this lesson? Morrie discovered that many of the patients were ultimately lonely and lacked human interaction and compassion. Many of them were also wealthy – this led Morrie to conclude that money could not make you happy. This was an important lesson that Morrie carried with him for ever more.
79 111 Morrie started lecturing at Brandeis just before the 1960s. After he arrived, the political climate in the country led to the campus becoming a hotbed of radical and revolutionary ideas. Many of the most important radical figures to attend Brandeis at this time attended Morrie’s classes and those of the sociology department more generally. Why was this? Many of the most radical students attended Morrie’s classes and were involved with the sociology department because, unlike other faculties, the sociology department didn’t just teach theory but got practically involved in the issues and were, for example, fiercely antiwar.
80 112 On one occasion, a group of black students occupied ‘Ford Hall’ on campus, draping a banner across the building which read ‘Malcolm X University’. Some members of the university were concerned that the students could be building bombs in the basement of the building but Morrie managed to diffuse the situation. How did he achieve this? Morrie managed to diffuse the situation when, by chance, he was invited into the building by a student who recognised him as a favourite member of the faculty as he walked past the occupied building. Sometime later, Morrie emerged with a list of grievances and demands from the students and presented these to the University authorities. As a result, the standoff was resolved peacefully and amicably.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN – The Seventh Tuesday We Talk About The Fear of Aging.
81 115 By the ‘Seventh Tuesday’, Morrie was showing signs of rapid deterioration. He could no longer do anything other than breath and swallow. As he had prophesised earlier on the Nightline television show, he now had to have somebody else ‘wipe his ass’. How was Morrie able to deal with this? Morrie explained to Albom that it is only culture which is responsible for making people feel ashamed of being dependent upon others. Morrie ignored this, and instead he found it possible to enjoy his dependency again, like a child might.
82 118 As their conversation continued, the pair began to discuss cultural fears of ageing. Whilst culture constantly told people that age, and signs of ageing, were undesirable, Morrie disagreed. Why was this? Morrie told Albom that he ‘embraced’ the ageing process. With age comes knowledge and experience, and Morrie believes that these two things are invaluable.

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Tuesdays with Morrie By Mitch Albom Chapter 19

Tuesdays with Morrie By Mitch Albom Chapter 19

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

Chapter Nineteen (Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom)

CHAPTER NINETEEN – The Tenth Tuesday We Talk About Marriage.
94 142-143 On the tenth Tuesday, Albom brought someone to meet Morrie. Who was this and how had this been arranged? Albom brought his wife, Janine, to meet Morrie. Morrie had wanted to meet Albom’s wife for some time and after asking to speak to her on the phone he had arranged the meeting.
95 144 Morrie told his visitors a story about when he was teaching in Detroit. He had been present at the operating theatre during an operation. What happened when the surgeon made a long and deep incision into the patient? As soon as Morrie saw the incision he immediately became queasy and he had to rush from the operating theatre before he fainted.
96 146 Morrie asked Janine to do something for him. What was this and why did he make this request? Morrie asked Janine to sing him a song. He made this request because Albom had correctly told him that Janine was a professional singer.
97 148 The group discussed common problems which people experience with marriage. How long had Charlotte and Morrie been married and how had they met? Charlotte and Morrie had been married for forty-four years. They had met as students.
98 149 Seeing how happy Charlotte and Morrie were together, Albom asked Morrie if there was any rules to knowing if a marriage would work or not. Morrie told his visitors that marriage wasn’t that simple but that he had learned five rules about marriage. What were these?

The five rules about marriage which Morrie imparted to his visitors were:

1.      The importance for mutual respect.

2.      The importance of compromise in a marriage.

3.      The importance of honest and frank communication.

4.      The importance of common values shared between partners

5.      However, most important among these is the importance of valuing marriage as an institution.
99 151 During another conversation, Morrie and Albom discussed the book of Job, a biblical narrative in which God tests one of his firmest believers by bringing ever misfortune upon him. How did Morrie feel about this narrative? Morrie told Albom that, in his opinion, ‘God over did it’.

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Tuesdays with Morrie By Mitch Albom Chapter 20

Tuesdays with Morrie By Mitch Albom Chapter 20

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

Chapter Twenty (Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom)

CHAPTER TWENTY – The Eleventh Tuesday We Talk About Our Culture.
100 152 During the eleventh Tuesday, a physical therapist interrupted the pair’s conversation. What important medical procedure did Albom learn as a consequence? Albom learned how to ‘bang loose the poison’ from Morrie’s lungs by thumping the old man on his back.
101 154 Morrie was a firm believer in the innate good of people, but even he acknowledged that people could become bad. What did Morrie believe was the cause of this? Morrie believed that people only became dangerous when they felt threatened which happens all too often as a result of the culture which surrounds them..
102 155 Morrie promoted the necessity of every individual building their own ‘little subculture’. What did Morrie mean by this? Morrie argued that it was important for people not to blindly adhere to the culture into which they are born. Instead be argues that they should build their own subculture. This didn’t mean that they should disregard every rule of their community but it did mean that they should determine the big things, like how they think, what they value, for themselves.
103 157 According to Morrie, one of the great problems in society is that people fail to recognise how similar they all are: ‘Whites and blacks, Catholics and protestants, men and women’. Morrie believed that this problem could be solved if people learnt an important secret. What was this secret? Morrie explains that society is deeply intertwined. He argues that whilst people know that at the start of their life and at the end of their life they are dependent upon others, the secret is that the same is true for the whole of their lives.
104 158 During the months in which Albom had been visiting Morrie, the ‘court case of the century’ was unfolding on television. OJ Simpson, the famous baseball player, was being tried for murder. During their Eleventh Tuesday together, the trial reached its climax when OJ Simpson was acquitted. Whilst the rest of America gathered around their television sets to witness the outcome of the proceedings, what was Morrie doing? Morrie showed little interest in television or the court case and, rather than watching the climax of the proceedings, he chose to go to the toilet.
105 159 Morrie did not think like other people. On one occasion in 1979 when Brandeis was doing especially well during a baseball game, the crowd began to chant, ‘We’re number one’. What did Morrie interrupt this chant by saying? Morrie interrupted this chant by shouting out ‘What’s wrong with being number two?’

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Tuesdays with Morrie By Mitch Albom Chapter 18

Tuesdays with Morrie By Mitch Albom Chapter 18

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

Chapter Eighteen (Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom)

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN – The Ninth Tuesday We Talk About How Loves Goes On.
85 131 Despite the difficulty in getting out of bed, why did Morrie insist upon doing so and going to his study? Morrie explained that ‘When you’re in bed, you are dead’.
86 131 By the Ninth Tuesday, Morrie had undergone a procedure in which a catheter was inserted into his penis so that he no longer had to try and urinate himself. Morrie had also received another phone call from Ted Koppelr and the people at Nightline. Why had they called? The people at Nightline told Morrie that they wanted to do a third interview but that they wanted to wait a little longer. This upset Albom, as he concluded that they wanted to wait until he was ‘at his last breath’.
87 132 How does Morrie feel about ‘Nightline’? Morrie explains to Albom that he doesn’t mind if the television show uses him for a little drama, because he is using nightline too. He is using them get his message out to thousands of people across the country.
88 133 As the pair talked, Morrie told Albom that he had been asked a very interesting question the day before they met: ‘are you afraid of being forgotten after you die?’. How did Morrie feel about this? Morrie explained to Albom that he didn’t think that he would be forgotten after he died because he has so many people who have been involved with him in intimate ways and ‘love is how you stay alive, even after you are gone’.
89 134 In the time since their last meeting, Morrie had also found the time to reflect upon what he would like to have inscribed upon his tombstone. What had be decided upon? Morrie had decided on the following inscription upon his tombstone: ‘a teacher to the last’.
90 135 Albom found his time with Morrie to be most rewarding for many reasons. One of these was the way in which Morrie made him feel significant. How did Morrie explain this? Morrie explained that he was a firm believer of being in the moment. Consequentially, when he was with Albom, he tried to focus entirely upon him and their meeting and nothing more.
91 137 Another problem, which Morrie identified with society, is that people are always in a hurry. To explain what he means and how he copes with such demands, he told Albom what he used to do when a car wanted to overtake him whilst he was driving. What did Morrie do? Morrie explained to Albom that he would raise his hand as though he was going to make a negative gesture but then wave them on and smile at them. More often than not, he explained, they would smile back at him.
92 138-139 Morrie’s own father was rather different to him. He preferred his own company. The last time that Morrie had seen his father, he had been in a morgue. How had he died? Morrie’s father had died after he had been held up by two muggers. After giving the men his wallet, he had run away before collapsing at a relative’s house and dying of a heart attack.
93 139 In what way did the death of his father prepare Morrie for his own? Morrie realised that his father had died leaving many things unsaid and undone. Morrie swore that when his own time came there would be lots of ‘holding, kissing, laughter and talking and no good-byes left unsaid’.

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Tuesdays with Morrie By Mitch Albom Chapter 22

Tuesdays with Morrie By Mitch Albom Chapter 22

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

Chapter Twenty-Two (Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom)

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO – The Twelfth Tuesday We Talk About Forgiveness.
108 164-166 During their Twelfth Tuesday together, Morrie told Albom about a man named Norman. Who was this man and why did Morrie feel bad about how their relationship came to an end. Norman was a former friend with whom Morrie had lost contact after he had failed to enquire about Charlotte’s wellbeing after a serious operation. Norman had repeatedly attempted to reconcile with Morrie but Morrie hadn’t allowed this to happen before Norman died after a battle with cancer. Morrie now felt guilty for not accepting the apology and reconciling before Norman died.
109 166 What did Morrie’s experience with Norman teach him about forgiveness? Morrie’s experience with Norman taught him that forgiving yourself was as important as forgiving other people.
110 168 During their twelfth Tuesday together, Morrie opened up to Albom like never before and told him a personal secret. What was this? Morrie told Albom that if he could have had another son, he would have liked it to have been Albom.
111 169 In another moment of honesty, Morrie told Albom where he would like to be buried. Where was this and what did Morrie hope Albom would continue to do afterwards?

Morrie told Albom that he wanted to be buried ‘not far from here. On a hill, underneath a tree, overlooking a pond. Very serene’.

 

Morrie hoped that Albom would continue to visit him there on Tuesdays and continue to talk to him and share any problems he may have.

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Tuesdays with Morrie By Mitch Albom Chapter 21

Tuesdays with Morrie By Mitch Albom Chapter 21

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

Chapter Twenty-One (Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom)

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE – The Audiovisual, Part Three
106 160 Nightline eventually returned to interview Morrie. Morrie believed that he was ‘getting to’ the show’s host, Ted Koppel. Albom agreed. What evidence does he offer for this? Albom believed that Morrie had succeeded in coaxing a little compassion out of the notoriously tough television business. As evidence, he offered the fact that Koppel now referred to Morrie as his ‘friend’ and even told the dying man that, regardless of whether he was able to do the interview for television or not, the presenter would still like to see Morrie one last time.
107 163 At the end of the interview, Koppel asked Morrie if the old man had anything specific that he would like to impart to the show’s audience. What advice did Morrie give to the thousands of people watching Nightline? When asked if he had anything to share with the audience of Nightline, Morrie gave some simple yet powerful advice: ‘Be compassionate… and take responsibility for each other… Love each other or die’.

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