Tuesdays With Morrie is the true story of the remarkable lessons taught by a dying teacher to his pupil. Morrie Schwartz has been diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and has only a few months to live. Mitch Albom is a reporter who was once a student of Morrie's in college, but has slipped into the popular morals of society. One night Mitch is flipping channels at his home and he heard these words come from his TV set, "Who is Morrie Schwartz?" Mitch finds out that Morrie has been diagnosed with ALS and Mitch decides to pay his mentor a visit. Mitch flashes back to the spring of 1976 when he had his very first class with Morrie. As Mitch pulls up to Morrie's house, he is still in his world of the extrinsic, and does not know that his view of his life and the world is about to be shattered. .
Mitch slipped into the cycle of appetite shortly after his graduation from Brandeis University in 1979. The cycle of appetite is the process of desire for immediate gratification. The cycle came very much a part of Mitch's life, and he quickly faded into a product of a flawed society. .
"I was part of the media thunderstorm that now soaks out country. I was in demand." (p 16).
Mitch had lost his perspective of what was really important in his life. He slipped into the world of materialism and the cycle of appetite. .
"I started buying. I bought a house on the hill. I bought cars. .
I invested in stocks and built a portfolio. I was cranked to a fifth gear, and everything I did, I did on a deadline. I exercised like a demon. I drove my car at a breakneck speed. I made more money than I ever figured to see." (p 16).
What was suppose to be a one day visit, turned out to be a four month "class." Mitch had put his values into material objects, not feelings and love. Morrie taught Mitch not to put his values into material objects. "When we die, you can't take it with you" (p 124) This statement by Morrie sums up the main point of materialism.