Life and Death
The theme of life and death relates to Morrie's state, and his legacy. Morrie says in his conversations with Albom that being so close to death is what made him live life to the fullest. His closeness to death is what made him appreciate the little life he had, Morrie saying it gave him "a chance to say goodbye to everyone". Morrie says that a common theme in the culture is that instead of looking to the day we die, we instead ignore it, focusing on menial activities until it approaches. Morries says that a better method would be to live life as if you could die at any time, and to live the moment to it's fullest, and to ask yourself if you're prepared for that day. Morrie also says that even when he is dead, he is still partially alive, saying that the love and memories he gives are what will live on. During this time Albom and Morrie also look into ideas on what death means to other cultures. Most go along the basic idea that we are all part of a large source of energy, and that we are all reborn. After Morrie's death, Albom walks to his grave, hearing Morrie's voice in his head as if they were having a conversation, before realizing that it was a Tuesday.
Love
Love is easily one of the most prominent themes of Tuesdays with Morrie. In the story, Morrie says that the only way he feels alive in his condition was giving and receiving love from others. Morrie receives it from a variety of methods, be it physical contact or conversation. He shows his belief by the aphorism "love each other or die", and during a conversation with the young Albom, where in a conversation about problems caused by a tension of opposites, he responds, "Love wins. Love always wins.". Morrie is inspired to show love to others due to his own childhood experiences, where he lacked any from his father, and the love shown my his stepmother, Eva. This led him to vow he would show it to his family, who stuck by him during the disease all the way into his death bed. He also teaches the present Albom about this, who had begun to lose the ability to do so, despite being friends with Morrie during his college life. He is taught that the culture doesn't give it, and re-establishes the bond they once had. Eventually they reach the point where Albom believes him to be the father he never had, and learns to devote more time to others instead, such as his wife, instead of working through his entire life.
Rejection of Culture
Morrie constantly reminds Mitch that the culture is part of the reason why people lack any happiness. Mitch himself was involved in such, believing money to be power, working every day of his life. Morrie berates Albom on this, saying that love and family are top priority. He says that the culture makes one believe that "more is good", when it isn't, and assumes that they do so to attempt to replace love, which they are unable to do, Morrie himself buying little to nothing since his contraction of ALS yet feeling fulfilled. He says to instead give your own time and respect and to keep an open heart, status getting you nowhere. He also believes that the culture is too focused on physical appearances and youth, reflecting unfulfilled lives, and that aging should be accepted as growth, as well as the fact that death is immenent. Most importantly, he says the culture lacks love. Morrie says this when his behind needed to be wiped, saying that the culture encourages independence by making people always feel threatened, when there is nothing wrong with depending on others, reminding him of the unconditional love shown by parents. He also says this when Albom talks about how marriages and families today never work, people being apprehensive about commitment. When Albom asks why Morrie doesn't just move to another location, Morrie says that every culture has its own individual issues. Morrie instead opts to reject the cultural value, creating his own sub-culture, believing that physical appearance or dependency is nothing to be ashamed of, and that everyone is the same, and thus we should love each other equally.