"Puzzle to kindle old appetites and energies"

Chabon starts off The Final Solution with the old man spotting a boy with an unusual parrot outside. Something about the image of the boy and the parrot "charmed him, or aroused his sense" (Chabon, 1). Although it seems like the old man is, well, nothing but an old man, I think he exudes so much passion. When he sees the anomaly of the boy and the parrot, he is filled with emotions and a surge of memories. Even through the subtly of his actions throughout the novel, you can tell that the old man had and still has a passion for problem solving. It is very admirable that people can be so passionate about things. As I was reading, I was wondering what I would be passionate about in my old age. What would trigger my old self to get super excited about something again? Even through his meticulous care of the bees, he is very involved. Anything this old man does, he does to the fullest. Even when Chabon describes the old man as old and sedentary, the sudden spark of questions that rush through his head after seeing the young boy made me really see how passionate and active he was during his youth. I wonder what my "puzzle to kindle old appetites and energies" will be (6). I really wish I had something I could be so excited about that I would drop everything in order to solve or perform this passion. This made me think back to Sarah Jillling's self actualization workshop.

Overall, reading Chabon's The Final Solution has been very enjoyable. I love his style of writing so far and it is really easy to get caught up in the story. Then trying to write this blog post, I was trying to think what we would talk about in class. I hadn't thought about it much while I was reading it but there are many different sides of how the parrot was stolen. It is hard to tell who's story we can even believe. I also feel like the mute boy holds a lot of power in this novel. He has heard the parrot's jumble of numbers constantly and has quietly listened in on many conversations. Although silent, he may hold a lot of power. To be honest I got very caught up in the plot and Chabon's style of writing to analyze or question any of the things in the novel so far.