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
Mateo adjusts his settings so only 16 to 18-year-olds can contact him. He gets a message from a girl named Zoe, but he ignores her when he sees a profile for a kid named Rufus pop up. Mateo has always liked the name. Rufus is Cuban American, bisexual, and wants to “do it up” and go out right. Rufus seems like he might be suicidal, but his photo is warm and inviting, so Mateo messages him. Rufus compliments Mateo’s hat, which thrills Mateo because Rufus is already connecting to who Mateo wants to be. They discuss the fact that Mateo hasn’t left the house since receiving his Death-Cast call. Mateo explains that it seems stupid to leave when someone or something will kill him, and some Last Friends supposedly have the cure to death in their pants. Rufus says that he reported Philly, and he suggests that they video chat. Mateo is scared and confused, but he answers the call.
Connecting over their respective profile photos helps Mateo and Rufus see each other in a different light; Mateo has no idea that Rufus beat someone, while Rufus can’t tell that Mateo only dreams of being carefree. They can live different lives in photos and convey those lives to others. Reporting Philly is a way for Rufus to make Last Friend better for everyone. However, this also shows that it falls to users to police the environment. Again, the app is failing in important ways, since Deckers clearly have more important things to worry about.
Themes
Mateo feels exposed and a bit threatened. Rufus apologizes for the video chat; he just wants to know that he can trust Mateo. He explains why he wants a Last Friend instead of his real friends: he watched his parents and sister die, and he doesn’t want his friends to feel the guilt he now feels. Mateo says he understands. Rufus says that if they’re going to be Last Friends, Mateo has to leave his apartment. He says that he didn’t want to live for a while, but his family showed him that it’s better to live wishing for death than to die wishing to live. Mateo agrees, but he says that Rufus has to pick him up. Rufus agrees, and they hang up. Mateo is worried about what kind of a person Rufus might be, but he reasons that it doesn’t matter too much—they both die at the end, anyway.
Now that Mateo knows he’s going to die, his choices seem far less meaningful. This shows that at least in this moment, he’s giving up control of what happens in his life. While it’s possible to argue that this isn’t a bad thing—Mateo’s choices have value, whether he makes them now or whether he made them years ago—giving up in this moment suggests that Mateo doesn’t feel like his life means that much anymore. Devaluing himself like this is a way to protect himself from what could end up being a disappointing encounter.
Themes
