Why Is It Important To Me

Question 5 “ ‘Leave it,’ he said. ‘It was just a crazy idea I had. It’s not important.’
‘It is important,’ she said. ‘It’s important to me.’ She raised her head. ‘I can get one for you by the time you come back,’ she said. ‘I’ll do that, even if I have to get it made. I know that isn’t quite what you want. But would that do?’
‘That’s mighty kind of you,’ he said huskily. ‘I could tell her you were bringing it along with you.’
‘I could do that,’ she said. ‘But anyway, I’ll have it with me when we meet again.’
‘You might have to bring it a long way,’ he said.
‘Don’t worry, Dwight. I’ll have it with me when we meet.’ In the dark alcove, he took her in his arms and kissed her. ‘That’s for the promise,’ he said softly, ‘and for everything else. Sharon wouldn’t mind me doing this. It’s from us both.’” Chapter 5, p. 186
I enjoyed this passage because it shows that even while the world meets its end, humans will still show compassion. Another reason I like this quote; it shows how Dwight still loves his family even though they certainly have died.
“He sat in the back seat of the car fingering the little rod as they drove out into the suburbs, looking at the streets and houses that they passed in the grey light of the winter day.
Very soon, perhaps in a month’s time, there would be no one here, no living creatures but the cats and dogs that had been granted a short reprieve. Soon they too would be gone; summers and winters would pass by and these houses and these streets would know them. Presently, as time passed, the radioactivity would pass also; with a cobalt half-life of about five years these streets and houses would be habitable again in twenty years at the latest, and probably sooner than that. The human race was to be wiped out and the world made clean again for wiser occupants without undue delay. Well, probably that made sense.” Chapter 8, pp.
276-277 I Liked this passage as well because Dwight talks about how the Earth will return to its original beauty. The idea of an Earth with no pollution, evil, war, and hatred, an unadulterated Earth, seems rather pleasant to me.

Question 6 The most important theme in this book: “live everyday like you will die tomorrow.” This theme trumps all others because of its total relevance to the story. Schute proclaims in this quote and throughout the book, that life only lasts so long and humans have no way of knowing when their deaths will come “The trouble always has been that you're never ready, because you don't know when it's coming.” This quote summarizes the theme very well. It shows how if a person does not live their life to the fullest, they may feel regret when it all comes down to it. The author brings this theme out in a variety of ways. He gives the story a plot of certain death at an uncertain time. This allows him to set up the theme in a way he could not have in a happy story. He shows the characters remorse over the things that they had not done. He also shows the different reactions to certain death by showing denial and embrace of it. For example Peter and his wife show denial by planning gardens to plant for a later date. While other characters like John’s mom accept their fate and take the suicide pills before the fallout even comes.