Character Analysis
Morrie is Peekay's best friend at the Prince of Wales School. He's also Jewish, and therefore an outsider among all the Christian gentlemen, and uses this position to his advantage as best he can. He very strongly feels the weight of his ancestral heritage, and doesn't miss a chance to talk about what it's like to be a Jew among Christians:
Me, I've got the whole diaspora, Morris Soloman Levy, you can't get more kosher than that; kings and priests, not bad insurance for a kid whose parents escaped being rounded up by the SS by pretending they were Roman Catholics. (16.11)
Like most of Peekay's friends, he is important because of what he teaches Peekay, which in this case is how to make dough off of his classmates. Peekay is an oddball at the school too, which helps him bond with Morrie. Morrie is a genius at gambling and sets Peekay up with plenty of money to pay for boxing lessons through their scams.