Death

Death is a central and recurring theme of the novel. Clay is preoccupied with death and images of death. Both Clay and his friends, however, seem to perceive images of death as a form of entertainment, no different from watching television. When a dead body is discovered in an alley, word is spread round and groups of youth go to look at the body as a curiosity. None of the characters, including Clay, seem to have any emotional response to death, and none of them consider contacting the police about the body.

Death becomes pure entertainment for Clay and his friends when they watch a "snuff" film, in which real people are killed before a camera. Again, Clay and his friends find these images intriguing and fascinating, and exhibit no human emotion whatsoever regarding the suffering and death of real human beings. Other images of death appear throughout...