Scythe

Content Warning: Both the novel and this guide contain references to suicide, abuse, and violent death.

When Citra begins her apprenticeship with Curie, Curie asks her to observe people who seem “stagnant,” or ready to be finished with life. She sees it in the way they walk or in their tattered and scuffed clothes. She sees it in their eyes when there is no energy left. These are the people Curie chooses to glean, but their apparent disinterest in existence is more than a justification for targeting them; rather, it is key to the malaise that the novel associates with immortality.

Curie’s journal reveals more of her thoughts on stagnation. Without the pressure of impending death, humans feel less urgency to strive and struggle. There are fewer reasons to pursue education or art or to save money, at least in any given time frame; if one can expect hundreds of years of life, procrastination becomes easier to justify. Progress for its own sake and learning for the joy of learning have therefore been vanquished just as death has. The novel further suggests that immortality has had a corrosive effect on morality and interpersonal bonds. Even the highly compassionate Citra once killed a girl out of jealousy and spite, and while she felt guilty about it afterward, Curie notes that few would; with revival a possibility in most cases, there are few consequences for violence and even murder, but this does not mean that such behaviors are right.