“Since the day the book launched, I’ve been tagged in dozens of memorial posts made by people who know me well enough to care but not well enough to know that I’m not really dead.”

The text takes a critical tone toward many aspects of modern publishing, especially the role of social media in eroding boundaries between the public and individuals thrust into the spotlight by a book’s success. The ubiquity of social media exponentially increases the number of people intruding on the lives of these figures. This quote demonstrates the shallow and performative nature of many of these connections, helping to introduce the theme of The Tension Between Personal Grief and Public Performance. Rather than honoring Beth, the posts make her feel insignificant.

“He’s always been a fan of Thoreau, […] You know, ‘Resign yourself to the influence of the earth.’”

The subtext of Jo’s observation about her father develops Rob’s character by associating him with the values espoused by Henry David Thoreau, the 19th-century writer and philosopher. Thoreau’s quote in Walden (1854) about resigning oneself to the influence of the earth urges readers to connect with nature and accept its natural cycles, including life and death. The passage also speaks to Jo’s characterization, as she struggles to accept the death of her sister and responds by trying to control everything around her. Her character arc involves learning that she can’t change what happened. Instead, she must resign herself to the realities of death and grief and find ways to move forward.