this world is temporary. Morrie stresses that one must accept death and aging, because both are inevitable, and live a life stand on love, acceptance, and human
goodness, in a way that uphold ethical values. They continuously met every Tuesdays until Morrie had passed away after
the fourteenth meeting. Mitch records his discussions with Morrie on tape so that he may compile notes to write a book, Tuesdays with Morrie, a project which he
refers to as his thesis.
1.2 Objective of the Study
The objective of the study is to find out Morrie’s view of life based on Buddhist philosophy. By doing this study I want to analyze Morrie’s character
and the influence of Buddhist philosophies in Morrie’s view of life as seen in Morrie himself as the main character of Mitch Albom’s Tuesdays with Morrie.
1.3 Problem Formulation
In this thesis, I formulate three problems: 1.
How is Morrie described in the novel? 2.
What is Morrie”s view of life based on Buddhist philosophy as reflected in the novel?
1.4 Benefit of the Study
I hope the result of this study can help us to see that life is not merely about wealth, fame, and people should try to live their lives and life would be
more enjoyed and understood more. We can also learn how Morrie give contribution to one another, even on the brink of death. We can also learn from
Morrie’s sincerity and his compassion for life and for love in order to enjoy life to the fullest.
The novel implicitly imply the teaching-learning process as seen in Morrie and Mitch’s meetings every Tuesday and their relationship as student and lecturer
as if they were back in college can give us example of a good teaching learning process. We also learn to give a sharp analysis because literature is not simply a
black or white situation; instead, there are many gray areas.
1.5 Definition of Terms
In order to avoid misunderstanding, there are several words needs to define.
Death
Websters New World, Medical Dictionary, 3rd Edition 35 defines death
as:
1. The end of life. The cessation of life. These common definitions of death ultimately depend upon the definition of life, upon which there is no
consensus. 2. The permanent cessation of all vital bodily functions. This definition depends upon the definition of vital bodily functions. See:
Vital bodily functions. 3. The common law standard for determining death is the cessation of all vital functions, traditionally demonstrated by an
absence of spontaneous respiratory and cardiac functions.
In this study death is defined as the end of life where the all vital bodily function stops working.
Philosophy
Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 5th edition 867 defined philosophy as: “1. a the search for knowledge and understanding of the nature
and meaning of the universe and of human life. b a particular set or system of belief resulting from the search for knowledge”. In this study philosophy is
defined as a set of beliefs treated as an attitude guidance principle toward life.
Buddhism
According to Wikipedia http:en.wikipedia.orgwikiBuddhism, Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices considered by most to be a religion
and is based on the teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as The Buddha the Awakened One, who was born in what is today Nepal. He
lived and taught in the northeastern region of the Indian subcontinent and most likely died around 400 BC. Acoording to Kandy, Buddha or enlightened one,
Knower or awakened one is the honorific name given to the Indian wise. Gotama, who discovered and proclaimed to the world the Law of Deliverance, known to
the West by the name of Buddhism. He was born in the 6th century B.C, at Kapilavatthu, as the son of the king who ruled the Sakya country, a principality
situated in the border area of modern Nepal. His persona1 name was Siddhattha, and his clan name Gotama
In his 29
th
he renounced the release of his princely life and his royal career, and became a homeless ascetic in order to find a way out of what he had
early recognized as a world of suffering. After a six year’s quest, spent under various religious teachers and in a period of fruitless self-mortification, he finally
attained to perfect enlightenment samm -sambodhi, then he spent forty years of
tireless preaching and finally he died in the age of 80. This law of deliverance is now called Buddhism. In the study Buddhist philosophies will be used to define
and analyze Morrie’s view of life.
Detachment
Detachment, according to the Buddhist’s Tipitaka, Sutta Pitaka, Samyutta Nikaya, Sagatha Vagga, Devaputta-samyutta, Uttara Sutta in the book The Word
of The Buddha detachment is defined for the drop of the worlds bait and look for peace 24.
Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 5th edition 316 defines detachment as: “1. a the state of being not influenced by other people. b a lack
of emotion.2. a group of soldiers, ships, etc sent away from a larger group, esp to do special duties”.
In this study detachment refers to the process of separation one to the earthly material. Detached does not mean that we cannot enjoy anything or enjoy
being with anyone, rather it refers to the fact that clinging very strongly to anything or anyone causes us problems. We become dependent on that object or
person. We have to learn to accept that we cannot always have what we want and everything we have is impermanent.
8
CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
