Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in They Both Die at the End, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Mortality, Life, and Meaning
Human Connection and Social Media
Choices and Consequences
Friendship and Chosen Family
Business, Ethics, and Dehumanization
Summary
Analysis
The firefighters manage to put the fire out. Mateo is hungry, but he doesn’t feel like he can waste his End Day eating when he and Rufus almost died. He sits next to Rufus and watches people talk to the police. Mateo decides to leave the postcards on the ground—he can’t write when there are dead Deckers all around.
Dying seems more real to Mateo too, which is why he can’t fathom eating. Doing so seems far less important compared to everything else he could be doing, like savoring his last hours with Rufus and continuing to build their friendship.
Themes
