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
Rufus explains that he and his “boys” call themselves the Plutos. They’re all in a foster home they call Pluto because their families either died or checked out— they’re just like Pluto, which got demoted from a planet to a dwarf planet. Rufus has been at Pluto for four months. Malcolm’s parents died when he was 13, while Tagoe’s parents ran off. Rufus knew that Pluto wouldn’t be home for long; he was going to college with Tagoe soon. He feels better with Malcolm and Tagoe around. Rufus stops in front of a church where he and Aimee first hung out. She’d played classical music for him, like Olivia used to play. Rufus wants to take a picture of the stained glass windows, but figures that it won’t matter since all his Instagram photos are black and white.
Even though Rufus’s description of his foster home is cursory, it’s telling that he, Malcolm, and Tagoe all banded together and have formed such a strong bond in this short time. They’re friends, but in many ways, they’re also family members. None of them have blood family around to offer support anymore, but the support they get from one another isn’t any less meaningful just because they’re not related. The desire to post to Instagram, meanwhile, suggests that Rufus also has a robust social media community.
Themes
Rufus calls Aimee, even though she said she needed space. He watches a priest escorting a crying woman into the church; she reminds Rufus of his mom. Aimee doesn’t pick up, but she calls Rufus when he texts her about his Death-Cast call. She’s curious why Rufus is out so late on a Monday night, but Rufus doesn’t want to answer. Aimee cries and tries to convince Rufus to stay put—lots of Deckers die walking home—but he says he’s going to Pluto and hangs up. He vows to tell Aimee his side of things before Peck can. Hopefully, Peck won’t call the police, or Rufus might spend his End Day in jail or be killed by a cop. He tells the Plutos that he wants them to throw him a funeral—he wants them to remember him as their friend, not the monster he was earlier.
Rufus already seems ashamed of his actions, given that he doesn’t fess up to what he did to Peck. He still wants to impress Aimee and keep her as part of his community—and her emotional reaction suggests that Rufus isn’t misreading their relationship. The idea that Rufus wants people to remember him as a friend and not a monster again shows that Rufus understands he has choices regarding how people see him. Beating Peck up didn’t help—but now, he has the opportunity to make the case that he’s more than that “monster.”
Themes
