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The Natural World and Morrie's Hibiscus
Morrie's love of dance is directly tied to his conception of freedom. Dance is a way for him to gain freedom from a culture he doesn't find useful, as when Mitch describes him at the Harvard Square dance nights on Wednesdays. In the group of mostly students, Morrie would dance to whatever music was playing without a care in the world for how he looked. As Morrie's health and his ability for movement decline through his battle with ALS, Mitch describes his hand movements and his thoughts in terms of dance. Dance in this way represents emotional and intellectual freedom. Morrie never loses his capacity to feel emotions or engage in intellectual inquiry, and those capacities become the way in which Morrie finds freedom when physical dance is no longer available to him.
Dance Quotes in Tuesdays with Morrie
The Tuesdays with Morrie quotes below all refer to the symbol of Dance. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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The Tenth Tuesday
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As my wife's loving voice filled the room, a crescent smile appeared on his face. And while his body was stiff as a sandbag, you could almost see him dancing inside it.
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The Thirteenth Tuesday
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Then I'd go for a walk, in a garden with some trees, watch their colors, watch the birds, take in the nature that I haven't seen in so long now.
In the evening, we'd all go together to a restaurant with some great pasta, maybe some duck—I love duck—and then we'd dance the rest of the night. I'd dance with all the wonderful dance partners out there, until I was exhausted.
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Dance Symbol Timeline in Tuesdays with Morrie
The timeline below shows where the symbol Dance appears in Tuesdays with Morrie. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
The Syllabus
...he knows that something bad is coming before that, when he has to give up dancing. The text moves backwards in time to describe how Morrie always loved to dance, to...
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Morrie develops athsma in his sixties, which forces him to stop dancing. One day while on a walk along the river, he begins choking and is rushed...
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Taking Attendance
...with new ideas, starting community service projects, and until he was confined to a wheelchair, dancing. Mitch knows that Morrie believes that finding meaning in life is accomplished by becoming part...
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The Seventh Tuesday: We Talk About the Fear of Aging
...people. Morrie admits he does, but mostly for the fact that they can move and dance, and he practices detachment to deal with the envy. Morrie coughs, and Mitch asks if...
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The Tenth Tuesday: We Talk About Marriage
...sing. Mitch notes that despite the stiffness of Morrie’s body, he can almost see Morrie dancing inside to Janine’s song. When she finishes, Morrie is brought to tears.
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The Thirteenth Tuesday: We Talk About the Perfect Day
...in the evening they'd go to a restaurant with good pasta and duck, and he'd dance with everyone, and then he'd go to sleep. Mitch finds this so simple and average,...
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Conclusion
...get on a plane and visit Morrie, before Morrie gets ALS and can no longer dance. Mitch says he knows he can't do this, but if Morrie taught him anything, it's...
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