Themes
Acceptance Through Detatchment
Morrie often talks about detaching himself from his experience by letting his feelings take him over. He does this mostly when he suffers from violent coughing spells. Morrie bases this theory of detachment on a Buddhist philosophy. He feels that no one should cling to anything, because everything is impermanent. Through detaching himself, he is able to remove himself from his surroundings into his own consciousness. This way he is able to gain perspective in uncomfortable and stressful situations. His goal is to experience the feeling wholly, then recognize what it is, and then detach himself from that emotion for a moment.
Rejection of Culture
Morrie often shows Mitch how our pop-culture makes you believe in all the wrong things and how we should focus on what is important to us. Morrie sees pop-culture as a dictator under which we must suffer. Morrie says that our culture has programmed people to believe that more is good, and the more you have, the better you are. He was able to create his own set of culture and values supported by on love, acceptance and communication.
Symbolism
Hibiscus Plant
As Morrie's body withers away, so does the hibiscus plant sitting on his window sill. The plants pink leaves fall off as Morrie becomes more dependent on others. The closer Morrie is to death, the closer the plant is to death.
"When you're in bed, you're dead"
Morrie has made an aphorism that states, "when you're in bed, you're dead. This is exactly what happened to Morrie. He always preferred his chair where he could be surrounded by people and talk to people. When he is transported to his bed because his body no longer has the strength to hold him in a sitting position, Morrie loses his ability to interact with others. He once told Ted Koppel that this is how he gives to people, and once he can no longer give, he has lost a large part of himself.