Death is always lurking around the corner in The Revenant. It could come from a sudden bear attack. It could come from an assault by the Arikara tribe. It could even come from a poor choice of a meal (pro-tip: never eat green bone marrow). As a result, the characters we meet on the frontier have some seriously mixed-up feelings about death. Whether displayed by a tender moment between two brothers in the face of certain death or by compassion shown to a dying Native American woman, the inescapable awareness of mortality drives the actions of the novel's motley crew.
Questions About Mortality
- How is Glass able to survive? Is his endurance more mental or physical?
- In what ways do the Cattoire brothers' deaths illustrate the frontiersmen's fear of mortality?
- Why does Glass prefer pyres to graves?
- Should Glass have killed Fitzgerald? Why or why not?