The Memoir Early Bird By Rodney Rothman Essay - 1323 Words

The memoir Early Bird, written by Rodney Rothman, is an intriguing story of Rothman’s journey into a retirement home as a middle adult. His intention in visiting and observing the retirement home is to get an inside look at what retirement is like and what he has to look forward to later in life. Throughout his time spent at Century Village, Rothman experiences what it is to be retired, to live with an elderly generation, and is able to witness and record many oddities that lay in aging. His record in his memoir reveals to the public some common themes seen in the elderly generation, but it also reveals some deviations from the norm. Looking at the characters Margaret, Alan and Buddy and Abe, Jimmy, and Vance as well as the community in general, it is possible to observe some distinct characteristics that follow the expected predictions of retirement societies and other characteristics that deviate from the expected course of these communities. Margaret is the first woman of C entury Hills that Rothman comes into contact with. She happens to be the one who opens up her apartment to allow Rothman to actually come to Century Hills to visit the retirement facility. Besides having this utilitarian importance, Margaret serves to demonstrate one of the more apparent observations seen in many elderly populations across the world. This observation is that many of the human senses decrease in quality. These senses include hearing, vision, smell, taste and touch. Some of the medical