The Ninth Tuesday We Talk About How Love Goes On
With each visit, Mitch notices Morrie sinking more and more into his chair. He asks Morrie why he will not lie in bed. Morrie's response is, “When you're in bed, you're dead.” He says "Nightline" wants to come back, but they want to wait. This infuriates Mitch, as he feels they are exploiting Morrie, wanting to show him at his absolute worst. Morrie says that it is all right, and that he wants to get his word out to millions of people and this is his platform.
Mitch can tell that Morrie is tired. He asks if they should take a break from recording their sessions. Again, Morrie refuses. The professor says it is their last thesis together and they need to get it right. The topic becomes being forgotten after death. Again, the anthropomorphism of love comes back. Morrie says if people can feel love, they will feel and remember it. “It keeps you alive, even after you're gone,” he says. He tells Mitch he wants his tombstone to read "A Teacher to the Last." Mitch approves, as this is very true of Morrie.
When speaking of love, Morrie is reminded of his own father. He did not feel much love from this cold man. In fact, his father died alone, of a heart attack after being robbed at gunpoint. Morrie was called to New York to identify the body. This helped Morrie prepare for his own death. He did not get the opportunity to say goodbye to his father or feel love, and he wanted those around him to experience these feelings before his own death.
The Tenth Tuesday We Talk About Marriage
The tenth week, on her insistence, Mitch brings his wife, Janine, to meet the professor. She had gotten to speak to him on the phone briefly, and wanted to meet the man who had captured her husband's heart. Morrie had remembered that Janine was a singer. He asked her to sing him a song. She did, and Morrie closed his eyes to focus on the notes. Maybe this reminded him of feeling the love from his stepmother when she sang to him as a child. By the time she was done, tears were streaming down Morrie's face.
On this Tuesday, they discussed marriage. Morrie says finding a loving relationship is so important, that people need a partner to take on the world with. They realize in tough times that they need someone who will do anything to help, like sit up all night with them like Charlotte does for him. Marriages are tested, and they help people figure out who they are. People need to respect each other. Again, he brings out his favorite quote: “Love each other or perish.”
The Eleventh Tuesday We Talk About Our Culture
Morrie is really struggling by the 11th week, and Mitch needs to hit his back with a solid effort to halt the cough attacks. They make a joke about it, saying the hitting is for a "B" grade Morrie gave Mitch once in school, and that Mitch had been waiting for this moment. After the situation calms down, they discuss the good in people. Morrie believes all people were good and only get mean when they are threatened. He says our culture threatens people through things like the economy. He says the answer is not to run away, but to try to change it, as he did. He says even though people all have differences, we are really the same and need to learn to work together.
The Audiovisual, Part Three
Ted Koppel and the ABC crew come back for their third and final visit. Mitch notices the simile that this is more like a goodbye than an interview. Morrie and Koppel now refer to each other as friends. Koppel asks Morrie if he is afraid now that death is near. He says no, and that he is less afraid. He knows things are getting bad, and he does not want to live this way. As Albom says, “He told Koppel he knew when it would be time to say goodbye.” As the interview wraps, Koppel asks for a final lesson. Morrie says that people need to be compassionate and take responsibility for each other. Koppel is near tears as the interview wraps, telling Morrie, “You done good.” Morrie said he hopes so, and in his first reference to God, says that he is bargaining with Him to get to be one of the angels
Analysis of The Ninth Tuesday - Audiovisual, Part Three
Morrie and Mitch start to talk about death and being forgotten when you die. The concept of love keeping you alive comes up. Morrie thinks that as long as people remember how you made them feel, they won't forget you. This anthropomorphism gives a human touch to love. He is almost saying you can be re-born each time someone remembers you, because your love is still existing on the planet.
Morrie uses concepts from the arts many times throughout his teachings on life. Having Mitch's wife sing to him soothes him. He tends to quote poetry frequently. He reads books and the newspaper. Using the arts on a daily basis keeps him happy and content, as it is something he has loved for most of his life (as he used to be a frequent dancer when he was in better physical condition). All of these things tie back to love. When people hear the quotes from the poems or hear a song Morrie loved, they will continue to remember him.
Towards the end of his life, culture continued to be an important concept for Morrie. He believes people have learned to develop a culture of greed through economic issues. For a better world, he knows people need to work together. This is evident in Morrie's care. He has his wife, nurses, his sons, and Mitch all there for him. These people have become a hospice for him, creating a culture of caring by working together to keep Morrie comfortable. This is a strong example of the culture Morrie believes everyone needs.
The third and final interview with Ted Koppel also occurs in this section. This is also foreshadowing into Morrie's impending death. The crew had wanted to come at this point to show Morrie in a poor state, which Mitch didn't think should be done. The crew and Ted knew that Morrie's life was ending, especially as the two shared a somber goodbye at the interview's conclusion. The reader becomes aware that the end is coming soon.
There were three "audiovisuals" throughout the book. These show three different stages of Morrie's ALS. By doing this, Albom divides the book into three sections of his health, showing the decline as it progressed. This imagery helps the reader understand what Morrie is going through. It is entitled "The Audiovisual" because the reader can almost see and hear Morrie's voice through the way it is written. It sheds light on the different stages of a debilitating disease.
