Nametags
The nametags that all the service personnel in the novel wear broadly represent the human desire for connection. As Mateo and Rufus move through the city on their last day, they both take care to…
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Photos
Photographs, both print and digital, symbolize life. Rufus thinks of his End Day Instagram photos as a way to shout it to the world that he lived, in color and on his terms, even as…
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Mateo’s Birth
Mateo’s birth symbolizes the connectedness of life and death, as Mateo’s mother died giving birth to him. When confronted with his own End Day, Mateo thinks a lot about his birth—both the tender…
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