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 knows it sounds creepy, but he has to take a photo of Mateo sleeping. He thinks being on a train with a kid who’s holding a Lego house, on his way to visit his mother’s headstone, is Instagram-worthy. A moment after Rufus takes the picture, the lights come back on and the train moves. Mateo’s face starts to shift and twitch. Rufus wonders if Mateo is epileptic, but then Mateo starts repeating, “No,” over and over. He’s having a nightmare, so Rufus wakes him up.
Capturing this tender moment is a way for Rufus to record the trajectory of his friendship with Mateo. It also allows him to focus on the trust that he and Mateo are building—sleeping on a train like this requires some level of trust, especially on the day that one knows they’re going to die.
Themes
