Tuesdays With Morrie Symbolism

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In the novel Tuesdays With Morrie, written by Mitch Albom. The novel is about an old man, Morrie Schwartz, a professor who is dying and teaches a young man about life’s greatest lessons; they meet every Tuesday to discuss the things that are truly important in life. Several symbols are used to portray Morrie’s views on life. Important symbols used are the pink hibiscus plant, the story of the wave and Morrie’s bed. These symbols are important as they relate to the central themes of the book.

The pink hibiscus plant is used as a metaphor to show the deterioration of Morrie’s life as he slowly dies of ALS. As Morrie slowly dies, so do the leaves die and drop off the pink hibiscus plant. His body grows frail and weak, and he becomes dependent on other people to help him. "In the beginning of life, when we were infants, we need others to survive, right? And at the end of life, when you get like me, you need others to survive, right? But here's the secret: in between, we need others as well." The hibiscus plant itself also represents the idea of death and new life, and Morrie is determined for Mitch to understand this by telling him to have kids. When the leaves of a hibiscus plant get to old, they die just like people, and fall off. But new leaves, the children of the next generation, grow to replace the old ones. …show more content…
Morrie tells Mitch a story about a wave on the ocean that is afraid of crashing into the shore because he will be no more, but another wave tells him not to worry because he is not just a wave, he’s part of the ocean. “You’re not a wave, you’re part of the ocean”. Morrie believes that we are more than just human beings, that after this life we will become part of something much
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