The Progressing Obsession

On page 98, Squarzoni is staring at a blade of grass swaying gently in the wind. His face is extremely focused – his eyes are squinting at it and his lips are pursed. The reader finds out that he is thinking about a fleeting moment. All moments are inevitably fleeting. They end and usher in a parade of moments, all to end, until there are none left to be had. We have memories. What we take from these memories defines who we are as people. Although moments are fleeting and microcosmic, they make us who we are.

On page 111, Squarzoni is distraught. His beard is shaggy and unkempt. His cheeks appear to be sunken in. His eyes are sleepless. As he pushes his plate towards his wife, we find out just how far his obsession went. He cannot sleep. He does not eat his food – instead, he uses it to make metaphors about climate change. His wife’s face takes me aback. If I were her, I would be distraught watching this issue taking my husband’s mind away, leaving only a tormented soul in its wake. She does not look worried. In fact, she seems amused, loving, and understanding. She sees his obsession as passion – it is probably one of the reasons why she fell in love with him.

The plate metaphor is frightening though. We are blindly pushing, pushing, and inevitably we will fall. We have no way of knowing when.

On page 115, we see again how far Squarzoni’s obsession has gone. He is even thinking about climate change when bathing. He compares the running water to the gulf stream. On page 123, he is hiking and simultaneously obsessing over climate change.

The illustration on page 125 was reminiscent of Genesis – I am glad we did all that research on climate change. I have a better understanding of climate change and can appreciate the subtle nuances because of it.

I find page 130 extremely ironic. The scientist says that the scientific community is trying not to be too alarmist about climate change. Meanwhile, Squarzoni is running around like a chicken without its head over it. Interesting.