35 “I‟m an independent person, so my inclination was to fight all of this – being
helped from the car, having someone else dress me. I felt a little ashamed, because our culture tells us we should be ashamed if we can‟t wipe our own
behind.” Albom 115-116 Morrie feels ashamed because the culture tells that if someone cannot do
something for himself, it destroys his dignity which causes a sense of being ashamed.
Thus, the culture they share violates Morrie‟s freedom for the individual, in this case,
violates Morrie‟s dignity as a human. In conclusion, American people share the value of freedom for the individual.
This value supports American people to voice their mind and idea about anything. However, this value sometimes is violated and thus violates
someone‟s dignity.
6. Individualism Value
As Morrie‟s legs become stiff because of the disease, he has to use a cane for
walking. Besides, he needs to use a beaker to urinate since he is not able to go to the bathroom anymore by himself. Also, he needs someone to hold the beaker while he
fills it. Mitch, then, thinks that most of people would be embarrassed by these limitations, especially at Morrie‟s age Albom 11. Mitch thinks it that way because
American people have individualism value. The value underlies people to have an emotional effect that is self-reliance Stewart 70-71. Regarding this value, American
people are also described to get used to self-help, “America had become a Persian
bazaar of self-help ” Albom 65.
Because of his terminal disease, Morrie has a fear of his disease. What he most afraid of the disease is that when someone has to wipe his bottom. When that
time comes, he feels bothered about this. Mitch wonders why and Morrie says that it is because the ultimate sign of dependency,
“Because it‟s the ultimate sign of
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
36 dependency. Someone
wiping your bottom” Albom 49. This limitation makes Morrie feels that he cannot rely on himself anymore and Morrie feels bothered of it.
Morrie‟s behavior is related to Stewart 70-71 who states that the value of self- reliance is emotionally perceived by American people.
The self-reliance motivates people to look for autonomy, self-actualization and personal growth. Affected by this value, Morrie feels that he does not have
autonomy and cannot actualize himself anymore. Also, he feels ashamed of his dependency,
“I‟m an independent person, so my inclination was to fight all of this – being helped from the car, having someone else dress me. I felt a little ashamed,
because our culture tells us we should be ashamed if we can‟t wipe our own behind”
Albom 115-116. From the evidences presented above, it can be inferred that American people
share the individualism value. This value leads American people to have emotional effect namely self-reliance. The self-reliance represents the independence that a man
has. When someone cannot do anything for himself and has to depend on other people to help him, he becomes a dependent person and he will be ashamed of it.
7. Value of Measurable Achievement
