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Rufus, 4:24 p.m.
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
Officer Andrade didn’t receive his Death-Cast call and isn’t dying today, but as a police officer, he fears dying every night. He lost his partner, Graham, two months ago. Andrade thinks of Graham when he looks at the foster kids in the holding cell, upset because their brother is a Decker. He hasn’t been looking for Rufus, since he doesn’t think Rufus will cause trouble like the Decker who killed Graham. Graham insisted on going to work and saving lives. They were pursuing a Decker who signed up for Bangers, an online challenge where Deckers kill themselves in unique ways. The families of the Decker with the most popular death get money. Graham died while trying to prevent a Decker from riding his motorcycle off a bridge. Andrade wants to focus on getting the channel shut down, and so he lets the boys go. If Rufus is still alive, they should be with him.
The foster kids are presumably Malcolm and Tagoe. Officer Andrade makes the case that social media can do horrible things in some cases—Bangers a horrifying concept, and it personally deprived Andrade of a person he loved. In effect, Andrade understands that while social media might have its upsides and its downsides, what’s most important is giving people opportunities to live and to love. Letting Malcolm and Tagoe go free does this, as does working to get Bangers taken down. Last Friend does this too—though people abuse it, it still brings people like Rufus and Mateo together.
Themes
