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
It starts to rain again, so Mateo and Rufus hide under a pet store awning and look at puppies as they decide what to do. Mateo suggests they ride the train back and forth so they can see the city, and Rufus jumps on the idea. On the train, Rufus suggests they play a game called Traveler that he used to play with Olivia: they’ll make up stories about other passengers. Rufus points to a woman in scrubs and quietly says that she’s going home to nap, blast pop music, and then discover that her favorite bar is closed. Mateo continues the story: the woman will go back home to watch cable and connect with her friends. Mateo nods to a girl in headphones, drawing on a tablet, and says that she got the tablet to play games but discovered a drawing app.
Puppies, like Penny, allude to hope for the future, as they’re at the beginning of their lives. Meanwhile, playing Traveler allows Mateo and Rufus to get to know each other through storytelling. Making up these stories is also an exercise in choices and consequences, as they have to decide together what happens when a person learns that their favorite bar is closed, for instance. The choice to say that the woman is going to connect with friends speaks to Mateo’s belief that connecting with others, even just online, is extremely important and meaningful.
Themes
Rufus and Mateo continue the game. They make up stories for a rain-soaked businessman, a woman with a suitcase, and NYU students with their lives ahead of them. Then, Rufus switches the game to make up stories about himself and Mateo: at one stop, he asks if this is where they spontaneously got their gym memberships after a concert. They discuss getting their tattoos. Rufus got a bike tire, and Mateo got a male seahorse. At the next stop, Rufus says that this is where he works—when he’s not traveling and reviewing resorts. Mateo looks at his wrist, where his tattoo should be, and they talk about the future. Mateo marvels at how incredible this imaginary future friendship feels. He leaves the mystery book on the seat for someone to find and says that there’s something he wants to do. Mateo and Rufus avoid two girls getting on as they get off the train.
Talking about their shared future like this gives Rufus and Mateo the opportunity to talk about the kind of people they want to be. As they get to know each other better and as they talk about how close they are as imaginary adults, Mateo becomes acutely aware of how little time he has. He has to recognize all the things he’ll never be able to do—but instead of making him sad, it makes Mateo want to reach out and help others. Leaving the book is a way for Mateo to pay forward the happiness and connectedness he feels right now.
Themes
