Death, Subjectivity, and Ideology in Adam Silvera’s Young Adult Novel They Both Die at the End

Abstract

In this thesis I examine American author Adam Silvera’s Young Adult (YA) novel They Both Die at The End (2017). I analyse the role of death in the narrative, for it is represented as profoundly defining and affecting the American society and its people. I analyse the representation of death and its presence in the society of the narrative through a Marxist methodology, especially Louis Althusser’s critique of capitalism and theory on ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses (ISA). I also refer to other scholars utilising Althusser’s theory in relevant contexts.

Another method for analysing death in this thesis is through YA literary theory, referring to death’s relevancy in YA literature. For the YA component of this thesis the work of YA literary scholar Roberta Trites is particularly important, but I also refer to several other YA literary scholars. Relevant for the analysis is the concept of subjectivity, to which I largely refer in the context of YA literature, but mainly define according to the works of Judith Butler and Paul Smith. The analysis focuses on the subjectivities of the two main characters Mateo and Rufus.

The analysis demonstrates that in the novel the representations of death are utilised as an ideology in the society by the ruling power Death-Cast and the various ISAs I have been able to identify, which function according to capitalist conventions. Death-Cast and the ISAs interpellate the people into the death ethos of the society. Additionally, the analysis of death and YA subjectivities shows that the novel is analogous to representations of death in the larger YA framework, especially regarding how the protagonists respond to their mortality. Similarly analogous with established YA themes are the representations of subjectivities configured within institutions, and the favourable attitudes towards romantic relationships over sexual ones.

The analysis also shows that death is adjacent with queer subjectivities and queer relationships in the narrative. I believe further research regarding death’s role in contemporary queer YA literature would be beneficial.