Tuesdays with Morrie: The Fifth Tuesday Summary & Analysis

It's back-to-school week in Boston, and for the first time in 35 years, Morrie isn't teaching. Mitch thinks of football players who finally retire and have to deal with their first Sunday at home, watching the game instead of playing. He says he's found it's better to leave these players alone during their old seasons. For taping his conversations with Morrie, Mitch has by this point switched to clip-on microphones because Morrie is too weak to hold a microphone for any length of time. However, because Morrie is wearing loose shirts, Mitch has to constantly adjust the microphone. Morrie craves physical affection more than ever, so he enjoys the closeness brought by the microphone. Morrie is weak and wheezy.

The topic for the day is family, and Morrie motions to photos in his study of his family, saying his family is all around him. He says that he believes, especially now that he's sick, that family is the ultimate foundation and of the utmost importance. Morrie quotes his favorite poet, Auden, as saying "love each other or perish." Morrie expands, saying that if he were divorced or didn't have children, living with ALS would be much harder, because although friends would come visit, it wouldn't be the same as having someone who won't leave, and has an eye on you all the time. Morrie calls this spiritual security, and says that is what he missed when his mother died, and nothing but family can provide that kind of security.

Mitch wonders, if he were ill like Morrie but had no family, if the emptiness would be unbearable. Mitch mentions Morrie's sons, who are, like Morrie, extremely loving and affectionate, but whom Morrie instructed to not stop their lives to take care of him, showing respect for their autonomous lives. Morrie says that when people ask about having children or not, he never tells them what to choose, but just tells them instead that there's no experience like having children because of the deep bond between parent and child. When Mitch asks Morrie if he'd have children again, Morrie replies that he'd definitely do it again, despite the pain he experiences knowing he's going to die and leave them. At that, Morrie begins to cry.

Morrie then asks Mitch about his own family, and Mitch confirms that he has an older sister and a younger brother, both of whom were at his graduation 16 years ago. Mitch pauses as he remembers taking pictures at graduation, and suddenly goes quiet.

Mitch steps out of his conversation with Morrie to tell the reader about his brother, Peter. Peter was a dramatic child and wanted to be an actor or a singer when he grew up. While Mitch was a perfect student and child, Peter broke rules and experimented with alcohol and drugs, although he remained the family favorite. He moved to Europe after high school, and when he visited, Mitch felt stiff and conservative in comparison.

After the death of his uncle,Mitch always believed that he was destined to die an awful and untimely death as well. However, the same rare form of pancreatic cancer that killed his uncle struck Peter instead. Mitch battled the thought that it was supposed to be him, not Peter, as Peter fought cancer in Spain and Europe with the help of an experimental drug. After five years of treatment, Peter went into remission.

Peter didn't want any support from his family, insisting that he needed to deal with the cancer himself. Mitch felt immense guilt for not helping like he felt he should be, and also anger because Peter wouldn't allow him to help anyway. To deal with the guilt and anger, Mitch worked, because it made him feel in control of something. Mitch muses that possibly, Morrie was aware of Mitch's emotions regarding Peter, and allowed Mitch to help and be with Morrie in the way that Peter wouldn't allow.

Mitch recounts a childhood memory of sledding with Peter. They hit ice as they sled down the hill, and notice a car and try to steer away from it, but the sled is unresponsive. They jump off and roll, sure the car is going to hit them. It doesn't, and the two are exhilarated by this brush with death.