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 wakes up feeling like he can’t die. He doesn’t check the clock as he puts his glasses on, kisses Rufus, and checks that Rufus is still alive. Mateo knows that Rufus will kill him for leaving the bed, but he wants to introduce Rufus to Dad and to make tea. He puts the kettle on the stove and switches the burner on. His heart sinks. He knows death is coming, but the blaze still surprises him.
Making tea for Rufus is something kind and selfless—and yet, it’s implied that the is what kills Mateo. In this sense, Mateo dies living for everyone else, just as he had put on his headstone. Hopefully, Sean won’t dwell on the fact that the stove blew up because he didn’t fix it—it wasn’t something he could predict.
Themes
