43 “Here‟s what I mean by building your own little subculture,” Morrie said. “I
don‟t mean you disregard every rule of your community. I don‟t go around naked, for example. I don‟t run through red lights. The little things, I can
obey. But the big things – how we think, what we value – those you must
choose yourself. You can‟t let anyone – or any society – determine those for
you.” Albom 154-155 From the evidence presented above, it can be concluded that Morrie does not
agree with how the society shows the value of individual success. Thus, he has a view that people should have their own culture where they can determine by themselves
what they think and what they value for reaching individual success. People may become ambitious in reaching individual success. According to
Morrie, when someone starts thinking about his own death, he will not be ambitious. He will have time to prepare his death by listening
to “the bird on his shoulder” so that he can do the best things in his life. Morrie tells Mitch about this issue,
“Well, the truth is, if you really listen to that bird on your shoulder, if you accept that you
can die at any time – then you might not be as ambitious as you are” Albom 83.
Morrie has been doing this preparation of death so that he realizes what he really needs in his life and makes the best of it.
Through his speech about the value of individual success, it can be concluded that Morrie is a brave
person. He has decided not to believe in the prevailing culture in the society and has built his
own “little subculture”. Besides, he has courage to determine what he thinks and values by himself. Morrie also thinks that preparing
death is a way to be not ambitious so that we can do our best in our lives.
4. Value on Working
One of American values is value on working. This value has been valued highly by American people Fichter 309. However, Morrie has his own personal
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44 views. Suffering from ALS disease, Morrie feels the need to be surrounded by his
family who will always watch out for him. Morrie calls this feeling with spiritual security. This spiritual security will only be obtained from family, not from money,
fame, and even from work Albom 92. In Morrie‟s society, many people are sunk into their works and so does Mitch.
He does four or five media jobs in England. Also, he spends eight hours a day on a computer, sending his reports to the States. Besides reporting to mass media, Mitch
does TV pieces as well and travels to London with a crew. He also reports in the radio every morning and afternoon. Mitch himself thinks his work is too heavily loaded and
he has put everything else aside for his work Albom 43. However, he is not satisfied yet Albom 34. He, then, remembers what Morrie says that many people have
meaningless lives. They seem half-asleep because they are chasing the wrong things. To Morrie, the best way to make our lives meaningful is by devoting ourselves to
love others, devoting ourselves to our community around us, and devoting ourselves to create something that gives us purpose and meaning.
“So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they‟re busy doing things they think are important. This is because
they‟re chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around
you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and
meaning.” Albom 43 Morrie‟s views on value on working emphasize on devoting self to others and
on creating something that gives people purpose and meaning. He does not agree with working all the time and putting everything aside just as Mitch has been doing so far.
Moreover, working cannot bring about the spiritual security that Morrie needs in his dying condition.
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45 Through his speech, Morrie shows that he is a deep-thought person. He has
concluded that the society has meaningless lives because they chase the wrong things. To Morrie, the way to get a meaningful life is by devoting ourselves to love others, to
our community around us, and to create something that gives us purpose and meaning.
5. Value of Freedom for the Individual
