There are many different types of narrative techniques in Tuesdays with Morrie, including foreshadowing, flashback, similes, metaphors, and setting.
From the beginning of the book, Albom makes it clear that this is a book about the death of his beloved professor. There are various examples of foreshadowing that signal the deterioration of Morrie's health and the speed at which death is approaching. When Ted Koppel returns for his third interview, Morrie's decline is evident:
Before they started, Koppel asked about the disease's progression.
“How bad is it, Morrie?”
Morrie weakly lifted a hand, halfway up his belly. This was as far as he could go.
Koppel had his answer.
This foreshadows that Morrie's physical challenges will soon overtake his steadily weakening body.
Albom also uses flashbacks , such as the time when he recalls Morrie's childhood. His mother had died when he was only eight years old, and...
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his brother had been diagnosed with polio shortly thereafter. His relationship with his father became cold and detached as a result of the family's struggles.
Albom also uses literary techniques like similes. Consider this description of Morrie early in the book:
In his graduation day robe, he looks like a cross between a biblical prophet and a Christmas elf.
This comparison is effective because it both conveys vivid imagery depicting Morrie's unique appearance and because it captures the humorous perspective of Morrie himself.
Metaphors are also used as Morrie conveys his most important life lessons. He uses this one to describe how he feels caught between worlds at times:
People see me as a bridge. I'm not as alive as I used to be, but I'm not yet dead. I'm sort of . . . in-between.
The setting is also a crucial narrative technique. Mitch is invited to share Morrie's final days within the intimacy of Morrie's home. He is therefore able to witness in a very detailed way how Morrie loses all sense of independence. The setting also affords Mitch with the opportunity to share a particularly poignant final meeting with his former professor:
He spoke in short bursts, inhaling air, exhaling words. His voice was thin and raspy. He smelled of ointment.
“You . . . are a good soul.” A good soul.
“Touched me . . .” he whispered. He moved my hands to his heart. “Here.”
It felt as if I had a pit in my throat. Coach? “Ahh?”
I don't know how to say good-bye.
He patted my hand weakly, keeping it on his chest. “This . . . is how we say . . . good-bye . . .”
He breathed softly, in and out, I could feel his ribcage rise and fall. Then he looked right at me.
“Love . . . you,” he rasped. I love you, too, Coach.
There are many other narrative techniques you could examine in this book, including tone, theme, symbolism, and imagery. These techniques work together to characterize Morrie as a wise yet eccentric man who has an uncanny insight into the human experience. The reader connects with Morrie's story because of the stylistic devices Albom employs to connect them with the storytelling process itself.
I am linking the eNotes study guide below as you continue to consider the way these techniques influence the reading experience.
What are some narrative techniques in Tuesdays with Morrie?
Mitch Albom uses a variety of narrative techniques in his 1997 bestselling memoir, Tuesdays with Morrie. There are portions of Tuesdays With Morrie that are related from a third-person perspective, such as when the author is relating events of Morrie Schwartz's earlier life. The majority of the narration in the memoir is first-person and in the voice of Mitch Albom. The narrative is interspersed with flashbacks, some of which recall the time that Mitch Albom spent as an undergraduate studying with Schwartz.
Albom also makes heavy use of conversations between himself and Schwartz, his former sociology professor at Brandeis University. This is possible because Albom made audiotapes of their Tuesday sessions. Albom makes use of a time-honored model observable in the conversations between teacher and pupil, such as the exchanges between Plato and Socrates or any historical guru of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, or Sikhism and students of their spiritual teaching. Albom and Schwartz met over a series of sixteen or so Tuesdays, when Albom would travel to Massachusetts to visit his teacher. The memoir is also informed by some of Schwartz's lectures and consists largely of advice on how to live a successful life. The observations of a man who knows that his life is coming to an end resonated deeply with readers.