44 pages • 1 hour read
Stephen KingFinders Keepers
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2015A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
The Dangers of Obsession
Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses the source text’s depictions of murder and rape.
The pursuit of Rothstein’s notebooks—which become the object of obsession for both Morris and Pete throughout the novel—illustrate The Dangers of Obsession. Morris embodies obsession carried to its furthest point, prioritized over everything else, including the self. Pete, on the other hand, ultimately illustrates the importance of letting go of the obsession in favor of more important, universal values such as family.
Morris’s obsession with Rothstein and his writing have already taken over his life by the beginning of the novel, as he decides to rob Rothstein in order to read the rest of his writing and to punish Rothstein for writing Jimmy Gold differently than Morris would have. Throughout the novel, after 35 years in prison, Morris’s obsession with Jimmy Gold and Rothstein’s writing, and by extension the notebooks, grows. When he discovers the notebooks are missing, he loses all sense of proportionality, even willing to murder children and sacrifice his freedom to secure the notebooks. His journey reveals the danger that comes with obsessing over something to the point that it takes over your life, as Morris is unwilling to step away even to preserve his own life: “He goes to his knees in front of the notebooks like a religious zealot in front of a blazing altar,” catching fire but “continu[ing] to root his way into the bonfire, trying to get at any unburned notebooks” (405-06). The metaphor comparing Morris to a “religious zealot” at an altar emphasizes just how deep Morris’s obsession runs. He worships Rothstein’s writing as one would a religious text, and as they go up in flames, he sacrifices his own life trying to save them.
Morris’s obsession serves as a cautionary tale for Pete, who develops his own obsession with the notebooks. Although they share many characteristics—discovery of the power of literature, inability to write literature of their own, enthrallment with Rothstein and, by extension, Jimmy Gold—ultimately, they are different because Pete recognizes that his family is more important that the notebooks. This breaks the notebooks’ hold over him and allows him to save Tina and himself. Pete’s apology to Hodges in the Epilogue reinforces this difference. He acknowledges that his obsession with keeping the notebooks stopped him from seeking Hodges’s help earlier. Pete is troubled by the fact that he abandoned his seriously injured mother in pursuit of the notebooks. When he compares himself to Morris, however, Hodges tells him that “If that were true, you never would have gone to the Rec prepared to burn them” (422). Ultimately, Pete’s willingness to let go of his obsession keeps him rooted in the real world and allows him and his sister to escape. On the other hand, Morris, never able to do this, perishes.
The Relationship Between Author and Readers
Much of Finders Keepers explores The Relationship Between Author and Readers through Pete and, in particular, Morris’s relationship to the notebooks. Morris displays a proprietary, jealous attitude toward Rothstein. Pete, on the other hand, learns that literature belongs to no one, which helps free him from the obsession.
Morris’s proprietary attitude toward Rothstein’s house becomes clear in his anger during their conversation. Morris becomes increasingly angry at the way that Jimmy Gold was written and Rothstein’s unwillingness to apologize: “You created one of the greatest characters in American literature, then shit on him […] A man who could do that don’t deserve to live” (12). This suggests that Morris feels it is the duty of the author to make the readers happy and their wishes when it comes to their characters and stories. However, for Rothstein, this is untrue. He refuses to defend himself to Morris and realizing that he is going to die, says, “You know what, kid? It’s guys like you who give reading a bad name” (14). Here, Rothstein recognizes that Morris is unable to enjoy a story for what it is, rather wishing to enforce his own ideas upon it. Because Morris feels unable to write satisfactorily, his frustration over Rothstein’s control becomes a dangerous obsession. Morris allows the trilogy to become more real than the real world around him.
One tool King uses throughout the text to convey this theme is irony. On his journey to get back the notebooks, Morris regularly refers to both Andy and Pete as “thieves,” believing that they have stolen the notebooks from him. At one point, he notes that “he didn’t think he could be any angrier with [Pete], but he was wrong. Jimmy Gold would like it, I bet, the thief had said, and what right did he have to reference John Rothstein’s work? Rothstein’s work was his” (396). These thoughts convey the dangerous way that Morris thinks of his relationship—as a reader—with Rothstein, the writer: He believes that he is the sole owner of Rothstein’s work, both the unpublished notebooks and the published trilogy.
Pete, on the other hand, ultimately proves to be a counterpoint to Morris. He decides that he doesn’t want to keep the notebooks for himself, hoping to send them to a publication that will share them with the rest of the world. He understands that Rothstein’s stories don’t belong to anyone—not even Rothstein. This realization helps pave the way for him to let go of the notebooks in favor of saving his sister, because he understands that the notebooks never belonged to him. Pete contemplates burning the notebooks, upset that Morris murdered Rothstein because he “dared to follow a character who went in a direction [Morris] didn’t like? […] He did it out of his own core belief: that the writing was somehow more important than the writer” (403). Pete’s thought summarizes the novel’s cautionary tale: Although literature is important, it is also important to remember a person wrote that literature for their own reasons. King reminds readers that it is important to enjoy literature for what it is and not take it too seriously. Pete’s article for The New Yorker on the notebooks is a subtle suggestion to obsessive readers that they can always give writing a try.
How Literature Shapes Lives
Literature is an important part of both Morris and Pete’s lives. Both read the Gold trilogy their sophomore year of high school, and it made them both realize how powerful and meaningful literature can be. Literature ultimately holds differing importance in their lives. Morris’s love of literature ultimately eclipses all other concerns and human connections. In contrast, Pete’s enriches his life and experience but never becomes so important to him that he prioritizes it over other people.
Morris takes literature extremely seriously, demonstrating throughout the novel that he values it over everything else, including human life. King describes Morris’s reaction the first time he read the Gold trilogy: “For readers, one of life’s most electrifying discoveries is that they are readers—not just capable of doing it (which Morris already knew), but in love with it. Hopelessly. Head over heels” (136). This language suggests an all-encompassing love, like that of a soul mate or child. Further, in prison, Morris leans on his love of literature, as “books were escape. Books were freedom” (150). However, it is this leaning on literature that leads Morris down his destructive path. For example, his feud with his mother over the Gold trilogy sets off the drinking binge that results in his imprisonment.
Conversely, although Pete becomes enamored with Rothstein’s work, he is also able to control his obsession, recognizing that the people in his life are more important than any piece of fiction, as illustrated by the fact that Pete is willing to burn the notebooks to save his sister. The theme of literature’s impact connects the three themes of Finders Keepers together. Morris’s obsession with Rothstein’s work illustrates both The Dangers of Obsession because he is unable to separate it from the real, important parts of his life, causing him to become overwhelmed with obsession and sacrifice his own life. Similarly, Rothstein’s work is so impactful that Morris blows The Relationship Between Author and Readers out of proportion, blurring the lines between the literature and the author and leading him to murder Rothstein.
Related Titles
By Stephen King
