In the book “They Both Die at the End,” Author Adam Silvera creates a devastating alternate world, with extremely compassionate and driven characters. The book is about two teen boys who both know they are dying at the end of the day, and decide to spend their last day together. One of the characters I’m focusing on is Mateo Torrez, who is one of the main characters that spends his “end day” with friend/love interest Rufus Emeterio.
From the start of the book it is evidently clear that Mateo is an introvert and suffers from a sort of social anxiety, as he only stays in his apartment, and has two friends, one of them being his father. As the book progresses we see him emerge out of his comfort zone, courtesy of Rufus who pushes him to new limits. I think Mateo is an exceptional character to write about, because we see exactly the type of confidence that can take years to build up, only built up into one day.
I think the concept of this book as a whole is extremely fascinating, because only in a setting like this (when you know you’re going to die), does this push Mateo to be this new version of himself. Even in the beginning of the book, Mateo talks about how he regrets all the time he spent indoors, and he recollects on all the opportunities he missed out on.
Some things we see from Mateo, is that he is extremely kind and shows humility towards everyone. In the book he ends up taking $2000 out of his account and gives his friend $400 of it, and also gives a homeless man money as well. These small acts of kindness are things that Mateo is naturally prone to do, but just hasn’t because of his social anxiety. Another thing we see Mateo do, is become more social. He ends up meeting Rufus through an app, and was nervous to leave his house to meet him, but he did.
Rufus is the exact opposite of Mateo. He’s outgoing and sort of rebellious. He pushes Mateo to ride his bike with him, play a silly playground game, and go to a party for deckers (people who are also dying the same day). Because of Rufus, this pushes Mateo to sing Karaoke with him, and later kiss him after they perform the song. Mateo is a great character, because he is extremely kind, and charitable. Once given the opportunity he can emerge out of his comfort zone to show a new version of himself that he definitely doesn’t regret.
Hi Samantha!
ReplyDeleteI got so excited when I saw this, because I love this book and I love Mateo's character! Your analysis of his character was really well done, and I especially liked the part when you said that he built up this confidence in one day, when for many people it can take years. I think you did a great job explaining how Mateo broke out of his shell in such a short amount of time, and how you pointed out that he was always a good person and had the potential to do great things, but his anxiety held him back until (literally) the day he died.