Having the chance to say goodbye before you die is an incredible opportunity, but isn't that time better spent actually living?
-- Mateo (Part 1: Death-Cast)

Importance: Mateo questioning the significance of Death-Cast is an important theme throughout the novel. Although he believes he should be grateful for the technology, Mateo cannot help but question whether Death-Cast is ultimately a good invention. This is a question that Silvera ultimately makes the reader grapple with as well - is advance in technology that Death-Cast creates a good or bad thing? More explicitly, is it a good thing to know when you will die? For Mateo, he questions whether the time Deckers take in planning their goodbyes and fretting over how to spend their End Day--the reader sees Mateo doing this very thing at the beginning of the novel--is ultimately better spent living without worry and fear. Mateo's inner battle with the nature of Death-Cast follows him throughout...