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’s last Instagram photo is the one of him and Mateo, with Rufus wearing Mateo’s glasses. He’s thankful that Mateo made him post in color. Rufus refuses to stay in bed and decides to honor Mateo’s last wish by visiting Dad. Rufus marches into the room, where Dad is still in a coma. Rufus takes a seat, introduces himself, and says that Mateo was very brave—Mateo died as the person he always wanted to be. Rufus scrolls through all the photos he took today and explains them all for Dad. He plays the video of Mateo singing “Your Song.” Rufus notices that the heart monitor doesn’t respond, which is heartbreaking. He wonders if being in a coma is even worse than dying young.
Deciding on this photo as his last one shows that Rufus now fully understands the power of love, friendship, and connection—he wants his friends to remember him as a happy person in love. The video of Mateo playing and singing is another way for Rufus to keep Mateo alive for the time being, but it’s significant that Rufus doesn’t say anything about sending the video to others. While the selfie is something that Rufus wants to broadcast to the world, it seems that Mateo’s singing was something intimate that Rufus is going to take to the grave.
Themes
Rufus picks up the photo of Dad and Mateo on Mateo’s birthday. He wishes he’d known Mateo longer, and he reads the note on the back. Rufus digs out the drawing he did at the diner this morning and writes a note to Dad on it. He tells Dad his Instagram username and says that Mateo was brave on his End Day. Rufus leaves the note with the photo and then leaves the hospital. Twenty minutes later, Rufus, exhausted and shaking, walks to Althea Park. He imagines Death stalking him, and he misses his family and Mateo. He hopes that there’s an afterlife and that Mateo will make it easy to find him. Rufus decides that if he finds his family first, he’ll hug them and then find Mateo. He puts on headphones and watches Mateo sing to him again. Rufus crosses the street without anyone to hold him back.
Rufus focuses on the afterlife in part because he’s dying alone. By believing that he’s going to see his family and Mateo again soon, he’s able to move through the world and at least pretend to be the brave person he’s been all day. It’s implied that Rufus may die crossing the street (potentially due to Victor hitting him with his car as he speeds to Althea). The fact that Rufus spent his last hour with Dad indicates how much Rufus loves Mateo, even after such a short time. Their connection helped them both become the people they wanted to be, and they both helped each other achieve their goals as they faced down their final day. Though Rufus is scared, he can now face death knowing that he did everything he could.
Themes
