As people go through life they become more aware that death is inevitable. They either live their lives scared of death or are open to embracing the inevitability of it. I try to live my life to the fullest not worrying about death, but sometimes that’s hard to do because I don’t know what happens after death. The books Tuesday’s with Morrie and The Epic of Gilgamesh have very unique protagonists that look at death in different ways. They are different because Morrie in Tuesdays with Morrie embraces dying and Gilgamesh in The Epic of Gilgamesh does everything in his power to find a way to live forever, which shows fear. Another book that focuses on a person either embracing death or fearing it occurs in the book The Picture of Dorian Gray. …show more content…
He then goes on a long journey to meet with Utanapishtim, who is the only human ever granted immortality. After this long journey he comes very close to bringing back a way to make his people youthful once again. This journey ultimately ends in failure but leads to the most important message of the book. This long journey and failure has helped him come to peace with the fact that living forever is not an obtainable goal. He then chooses to rule the City of Uruk to the best of his abilities until his death. So in short, this story begins with an incredible man who becomes afraid of death after the loss of his friend but ends up embracing that death is inevitable after his failed journey to fight immortality. This book has taught me that no matter what you do death is inevitable and instead of dwelling on how to avoid it, one should just live their life, and instead deal with death when the inevitability of it presents itself. The book Tuesdays with Morrie’s main character Morrie lives through life enjoying everything he can and making special relationships with the people around him. These special relationships make the inevitable death from his incurable disease easier to deal with. He gives life lessons to the other main character in the book. This character is Mitch Albom who was one of Morrie’s college students. One of the most important pieces of advice that Morrie gave to Mitch was
Many people learn many things in many different ways. Most learn in school or church, some learn in asking questions, but I believe the best lessons are taught from a good friend. Tuesdays With Morrie is a true story of the remarkable lessons taught by a dying professor, Morrie Schwartz, to his pupil, Mitch Albom. Morrie teaches Mitch the lessons of life, lessons such as death, fear, aging, greed, marriage, family, society, forgiveness, and a meaningful life. This is a story of a special bond of friendship that was lost for many years, but never forgotten and simply picked up again at a crucial time of both Morrie's and Mitch's lives.
Gilgamesh encounters Utnapishtim, a man who survives the great flood and receives immortality. Utnapishtim gives Gilgamesh eclectic tasks to achieve eternal life. The first task is to stay awake for seven days, which Gilgamesh is unable to accomplish. Feeling sorry, Utnapishtim tells Gilgamesh a secret that if he finds the “plant that grows under the water… [it] restores his lost youth” (31). Gilgamesh lights up and ties rocks to his feet to sink down to search for the marvelous plant. Gilgamesh finds the ultimate boon. He is overjoyed and eager to bring the plant back to his homeland to restore the youth of all the men there. The refusal of the return occurs when, he was returning home and becomes careless and bathes in a nearby well of cool water, leaving the plant unattended. A snake suddenly appears and eats the plant, restoring the snake’s youth. Gilgamesh begins to weep upon seeing that he failed in his quest for immortality. Gilgamesh returns back to his homeland, Uruk, and engraves his story on a stone for everyone to see and
The focus throughout Tuesdays with Morrie was on life. Many might see it as the story of death, but it is actually the story life. Morrie might talk a little on how he meets death, but what he is talking about is living at the end of his life. Mitch writes, “Now here we were . . . . . . Dying man talks to living man, tells him what he should know.”(Albom, 133) When a timer is placed on Morrie’s remaining days, he obtains a dying man’s perspective on what is truly important in life, and how to incorporate in life this importance. I looked for parts of the book that pertain directly to my life; I focused on this concept while reading this book. My thesis remained elusive. There wasn’t a Tuesday that jumped out at me, and then I came to the
Everyone dies in the end and people know it, but nobody believes it. If we did, we would do things differently. Morrie has a lot of opinions about death as he is a dying man and I find all of them are so true. We never count our days as almost done and always believe that we are so far from that day. We do what we are supposed to do and walk around with a meaningless life, until that day comes automatically. My primary school teacher once told me to live like there’s no tomorrow. We should treasure our time and what we have and treat our days like we can die anytime with no
‘’We all need teachers in our lives’’ Mitch said that quote to Morrie. Saying that we learn some from everybody. Morrie learns a lot before he dies because he thinks about life more. Then Mitch was always there for him.
Death is one of the most avoided topics because of the finality that comes with it and the fear of the unknown after death. However, there are quite a number of authors such as AtulGawande, Elisabeth Kubler-ross and Ira Byock who have attempted to go ahead and deal with death as a topic and other connected topics.Each of these authors have delved into one of the most revered topics that is death including related topics that come with it such as the dying process itself. Ira Byock’s Dying well: Peace and possibilities at the end of life is a book that looks at the moment prior to death when an individual is terminally sick and is at the point of death. A
Tuesdays with Morrie as a memoir simply shines light on how Morrie Schwartz impacted a former student’s life beneficially. Mitch is a young man whose life had blossomed to be fairly average. He is a married man and a journalist. Though he had not hit rock-bottom, he also
When you are unable to function without aid of someone you feel lifeless. Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom, Morrie a retired psychology professor from Brandis University is dying from ALS. A student Mitch is back for his final lesson from his old teacher. This lessons topic is the meaning of life. When faced with his known fate Morrie refused to stay in bed and was very active. He said “When you’re in bed you’re dead.”(Albom 131). I had a life experience where I was very sick and I realized his meaning of lifelessness and your dependency on others.
Throughout the book, “Tuesdays with Morrie” by Mitch Albom, the main character, mitch seems to undergo many changes. After college, he began to pursue a career in the music industry, but has reassessed his choice to have a more stable career as a news reporter. However, as work gets too overwhelming and strike outbreaks begin at his workplace, Detroit Free Press, he decides to take a break. One late night when he was skimming through television programs, he stumbled upon an interview of his old college professor, Morrie. Planning to catch up and fulfill an empty promise of how Mitch promised that he would visit Morrie after college, they start to meet on Tuesdays in order to rekindle the class about the meaning of life. Through those Tuesdays, Mitch realizes that he is not creating a fulfilling life and changes his perspective on what to value in life.
In any case, most scholars agree that death was not viewed as a positive passing before, or during the time, the epic was written. As a result, it would have been easy to see for people of the past to empathize with a written text encompassing these concerns. Furthermore, present day readers would also be able to understand why the main character in The Epic of Gilgamesh was scared to die.
The first major sign we have of Gilgamesh 's fear of dying comes when his friend Enkidu dies. At first Gilgamesh cannot even accept his death, he does not even bury the body until maggots start to appear in Enkidu. Eventually, he realizes that he too must face death one day. This fear is clearly indicated when Gilgamesh states "I am afraid of death"
Tuesdays with Morrie tells the real story of Morrie Schwartz. Morrie was a university professor who was dying of ALS (Lou Gehrig 's disease). Instead of being afraid of death, he faced it head on and decided to make the most of his time left. After seeing a Nightline episode featuring his old professor, Morrie, the author, Mitch, decides to pay his old professor a visit. Mitch is intrigued by Morrie 's attitude towards death and his life lessons, so he decides to visit Morrie again next Tuesday and record what Morrie has to say. This turns into a weekly meeting between Mitch and Morrie and eventually these meetings were turned into the book, Tuesdays with Morrie. Mitch - the author of the book and Morrie 's old student. Mitch is distracted in his life and focusing on things that Morrie feels are unimportant (work, fame, and success). Though focused on the wrong things, Mitch has a good heart and Morrie helps him find himself again “The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in.
The book Tuesdays with Morrie, written by Mitch Albom who is a sports journalist, was an international best seller in 1997. Mitch ends up seeing in the news that one of his favorite old professors was diagnosed with ALS, a terminal disease. Mitch sets out to visit Morrie
She influenced his love for books and education. His father’s consistence for Morrie to be employed inspired him to become a teacher. He influenced Mitch on his life decisions and how to live his life in a way that mattered. Morrie was a person who cared for others more than he cared for himself. He wanted to help people and he
In an effort to share the “last class” he had with his college sociology professor, Mitch Album wrote, “Tuesdays with Morrie.” This moving account of the life lessons that Morrie taught him is a beautiful tribute to a man whose compassion and love for humanity made him a favorite among those who knew him. Though stricken with the debilitating disease ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) and knowing death was swiftly approaching Morrie continued to help others until his body no longer allowed him to do so. Album uses time sequence, characterization and point of view to chronicle the experiences he had and the lessons he learned while visiting with his friend every Tuesday during that