Rites of Passage

One of the primary themes of the novel is the rite of passage of death. The final rite of passage that a human being faces is that of dying. Each person also faces death with different approaches. In George's situation, he seems to know that he is dying at some points of the novel. At other parts of the novel, George is so delirious from dying that he doesn't seem to know what is happening, let alone that he is dying.

Not only does George have to deal with his impending death, but his family does as well. For most of the members of the family that are surrounding George on his deathbed, they are handling the situation the best that they can. For example, George's daughters try to keep him from dehydrating by giving their father water with the pink sponges on a stick. While...