Death, Meaning, and Legacy Theme Analysis

Throughout The Immortalists, death is at the forefront of the Gold family’s lives, particularly after a fortune teller provides each of the four Gold children with their exact date of death. Yet the fortune teller simply raises awareness of what all humans know to be true: every person’s time on earth is limited. As the book’s characters grapple with their mortality, the book suggests that finding meaning in life lies not in trying to stave off death, but rather in leaving a legacy that will allow one’s impact to be felt beyond death.

Varya, for instance, aspires to leave a legacy through her career, finding meaning in the idea that she might have an impact on future generations. Varya, who lives the longest of the four Gold children, becomes a scientist. She works on a research project that aims to increase the human lifespan. It is unlikely that the impact of Varya’s research will be felt in her lifetime, but she views this work as “her contribution to the world” and finds meaning in it because of the impact that it will have on people beyond her lifetime. Even after Varya stops working on the research project, she turns to teaching. She finds teaching “invigorating,” because she relishes getting “all those upturned faces” interested in her line of work. Not only does she find meaning in her contribution to research, but also in the legacy of ensuring future generations will carry out her work as well.

The novel emphasizes that children can meaningfully carry on the characters’ legacies because children contribute to the world following their parents’ deaths and in some cases build on their parents’ work. Saul, the Gold siblings’ father, is very concerned with his legacy. Saul inherited Gold’s Tailor and Dressmaking from his parents, and he hopes to pass it on to Simon. Saul teaches Simon about clothing from the time Simon is a child, “bounc[ing] Simon on one knee as he demonstrate[s] how to cut patterns and sew samples.” Following Saul’s death, Simon recognizes that for his mother (Gertie) and Saul’s business partner (Arthur), he represents the hope of continuing the tailor shop. Thus, Simon is intended to serve as a legacy in two ways: carrying on both his father’s genes and the family business. Ruby, Klara’s daughter, fulfills the same purpose—carrying on her family’s work and her mother’s genes. Klara dies when Ruby is just a baby, but when Ruby gets to her preteen years, Klara’s husband Raj teaches Klara’s magic act to Ruby. Raj says that in doing so, he’s trying to honor Klara’s memory and continue the legacy of a show that gave people so much joy. Varya acknowledges this legacy when she sees Ruby perform. She observes how comfortable Ruby looks onstage and thinks, “Oh, Klara […] If you could see your child.” Ruby continues Klara’s legacy, both by carrying on Klara’s genetics past her death and by building on the work that Klara loved so much. Varya has a child when she is 27 years old, following an affair with a professor at her graduate school. She considers getting an abortion, but decides instead to give the baby up for adoption. When Varya is 53, her child, Luke—now 26—seeks her out to ask about her decision. She tells him that she decided not to have an abortion because she was very cut off from the world and hoped Luke would engage in life more fully than she did. Varya found meaning in the idea that her child would build on her life, contributing to the world in a way in which she did not.

By contrast, Daniel’s wife, Mira, cannot have children and doesn’t want to adopt, and Daniel mourns the fact that he will never be a father. Additionally, when Daniel is 48, he is on the verge of losing his job as a military doctor. The prospect of this throws him into despair, as he thinks, “Without a job, who would he be?” While the other characters value the legacies of their work and children, Daniel’s inability to have either one leaves him feeling that his life may not have meaning. Daniel’s death after a violent confrontation can be seen as a manifestation of the dead-end of meaning in which he had found himself.

Through the stories of the Gold children, the novel explores the carious ways that meaning and legacies can be pursued, how legacies can be both a burden and a release, and how a sense of thwarted meaning or legacy can be debilitating.