Finders Keepers

When Morris’s parole officer, McFarland, speaks with him, Morris is slipping deeper into his obsession with the notebook. McFarland takes the opportunity to remind Morris that he can either be a “sheep,” following the rules of his parole and staying free, or he can be a “wolf” and cause trouble, adding that Morris is “too old to howl and much too old to run” (247). Soon after this conversation, Morris identifies himself as a “wolf,” and the wolf becomes a motif in the text. Morris consciously decides to embrace what he sees as the single-minded qualities of a wolf, using whatever dangerous and violent methods are necessary to get the notebooks back. This illustrates the theme of The Dangers of Obsession, as Morris ignores McFarland’s warnings and embraces his obsession over Rothstein’s notebooks.

Pete also compares Morris to a wolf. For instance, when Morris calls him after their first encounter at the bookstore, he asks Pete, “And who am I, exactly?” Pete thinks, “The wolf […]. You’re the big bad wolf” (358). Further, as Morris comes down to the basement where Pete is helping Tina, Pete thinks how they are “two little piggies in the basement and the big bad wolf upstairs […] and us without a house made of straw, let alone one made of bricks” (397). This allusion to the story “The Three Little Pigs” characterizes Morris as an angry, violent “wolf” who is bent on destroying anything in his path—including the lives of Pete and Tina—to get the notebooks back. It is important to mention that, while these depictions of wolves are in line with popular superstitions, they do not align with current research on the species.