Autonomy and Control in the Dying Process: A Theme Analysis of The Celebrants
Defining the Thematic Claim: Autonomy as a Final Act of Selfhood
In The Celebrants, Steven Rowley examines how a terminally ill person fights to retain agency over the final chapters of their life. The novel’s central claim is that autonomy in dying is not merely about making medical decisions—it is about controlling the narrative of one’s death, the disposition of one’s belongings, and the legacy left for loved ones. Yet the book complicates this claim by showing that such control is never absolute. It is constantly negotiated against the fears, desires, and interventions of the people who love the dying person. For Jordan Vargas, the protagonist facing a recurrence of cancer, the struggle for autonomy becomes a struggle to define himself as a subject rather than a patient, a person rather than a collection of symptoms. The epigraph from Joanne Harris—“Life is what you celebrate. All of it. Even its end”—frames this theme as a call to embrace the end as part of life, but the novel reveals how difficult that embrace is when the body and the will are at odds.
Tracing the Theme Across the Plot
The Diagnosis: Loss of Control and the Urge to Reclaim It
In the novel’s second chapter, Jordan and Jordy sit in the blindingly white waiting room of Memorial Sloan Kettering, learning that Jordan’s cancer has returned after four years, ten months, and three days—just short of the five-year mark that would have meant remission. The precise countdown underscores Jordan’s obsessive awareness of time, a time he can no longer control. Jordy tries to steer the moment toward distraction, suggesting dinner at the Carlyle, but Jordan resists. Instead, he asks why Alec occupies such a large space in their lives, a question that points toward the pact and the communal rituals that will later define his death. When Jordy answers that Alec embodies their younger selves, Jordan acknowledges that he does not believe in an afterlife but pictures himself with twenty-two-year-old Alec in heaven. This is a quiet assertion of control: he is imagining his own death scene, choosing the company he will keep in a nonexistent eternity. His whispered confession that he does not want to go reveals the vulnerability beneath the bravado, but even that admission is a choice—he decides when and how to share it.
The Ouija Board and the Refusal of Big Sur: Controlling the Afterlife and the Legacy
In May, as Jordan’s weight drops and he is always cold, the couple sits by the fire drinking a 2006 Haut-Brion. Jordy suggests a trip to Positano, and Jordan agrees, but when Jordy pushes for Big Sur—the site of the pact’s living funerals—Jordan resists. He instead admits he wants to return to Bogotá, Colombia, where his parents originated. This choice is significant: Big Sur represents the communal, ritualized control of the pact, while Bogotá represents his personal origin story. Jordan wants to see where his life began before he confronts where it ends. His gift to Jordy—a Ouija board in a Happy Birthday bag—is a darkly comic attempt to control communication after death. He says it will let them continue conversations after he is gone, but Jordy is not amused and slams the bedroom door. The gift reveals Jordan’s desire to script even the afterlife, but it also shows the limits of that desire: Jordy refuses to participate in the fantasy. The scene underscores that autonomy is not unilateral; it requires the cooperation of others, and that cooperation is not guaranteed.
Sorting Belongings: The Fight Over Material Legacy
In the fourth chapter, Jordan stands in his closet doorway waving a fistful of belts, asking Jordy which ones he will want. Jordy is dismissive, unable to fake enthusiasm for the task. Jordan insists, saying, “I want to have some say in all of this.” He fears his family will be “locusts” who take everything, and he wants to control who gets what. This is a direct assertion of autonomy over his material legacy. Jordy, however, sees the exercise as pointless and painful, and he tries to redirect Jordan to rest. The argument escalates until Jordan admits he is tired but insists on continuing. He even references his ECOG Performance Status—a clinical scale from zero (fully active) to five (dead)—and rates himself a three, capable of only limited self-care. This clinical self-assessment is another form of control: he is using medical language to define his own decline. Yet the scene ends with Jordy leading him to bed, a gentle surrender of control that Jordan accepts, suggesting that autonomy sometimes means allowing others to care for you.
The Martini and the Decision to Stop Treatment: The Ultimate Assertion of Agency
The most dramatic expression of the theme occurs in the sixth chapter, at Joe Allen’s, where the couple had dined on their wedding night. Jordan orders a martini despite Jordy’s gentle objections, and when Jordy stops him from ordering another, an argument erupts. Jordan announces, “I’m going to discontinue my treatment.” This is the ultimate act of autonomy: a decision about his own body and medical care. Jordy challenges him, suggesting he trigger the pact and attend his own funeral, but Jordan retorts that it only matters how it makes him feel, not how it makes anyone else. He then makes a series of requests: that Jordy keep swimming, stay in touch with his parents, and eventually settle down with someone new. These requests are a way of scripting Jordy’s future, extending his control beyond his own death. Jordy responds sarcastically, and the argument deepens. Jordan, drunk, briefly hallucinates that the bartender is Alec, and then he opens his phone and begins texting Naomi, Craig, Marielle, and Jordy, apparently activating the pact. This action is ambiguous: is he asserting control by choosing the moment and method of his farewell, or is he capitulating to Jordy’s challenge? The novel leaves it open, suggesting that autonomy and surrender are not always opposites.
Character and Symbol Connections
Jordan is the primary vehicle for the theme. His arc moves from resisting the pact to eventually triggering it, from wanting to control every detail to accepting the communal ritual. Jordy serves as the counterpoint, representing the desire to preserve Jordan’s life and to protect him from the very decisions that assert his autonomy. The pact itself—the agreement among five friends to throw living funerals for one another—is a symbol of communal control over death. It is a way for friends to have a say in how they are remembered, but Jordan resists it because it means being seen in his current state, which he calls “pity.” The group text chain is the mechanism for activating the pact, a modern tool for summoning the community. The Ouija board symbolizes Jordan’s attempt to control communication beyond death, while swimming represents life and vitality; Jordan’s request that Jordy keep swimming is a directive to continue living fully. Big Sur, the site of the pact’s rituals, stands in contrast to Bogotá, Jordan’s origin, highlighting the tension between communal and personal narratives of identity.
Complexity and Contradiction
The novel refuses a simple celebration of autonomy. Jordan’s desire for control often alienates the very people he loves. The Ouija board gift drives Jordy away; the argument over the martini nearly breaks them. Jordan’s insistence on sorting his belongings is emotionally exhausting for both of them. Yet the novel also shows that autonomy is relational. Jordan cannot control his death alone; he needs Jordy to carry out his requests, and he needs the pact to give him a proper farewell. The epigraph suggests that celebrating the end is a form of control, but the novel reveals that celebration requires community. Jordan’s eventual activation of the pact may be an admission that he cannot script his own ending entirely—he must let others participate. The contradiction is that true autonomy might lie in surrendering some control, in allowing others to shape the narrative alongside him. This is a mature and nuanced view of dying, one that acknowledges the limits of individual will in the face of mortality.
Study Questions and Answers
1. How does Jordan’s resistance to Big Sur reflect his struggle for autonomy?
Jordan resists Big Sur because it represents the pact’s communal ritual, which would force him to be seen in his weakened state and to surrender control of his narrative to friends. Instead, he chooses Bogotá, his origin, as a way to reclaim his personal story. This resistance shows that autonomy for Jordan means controlling where and how his death is framed, not just the medical decisions.
2. What does the Ouija board reveal about Jordan’s understanding of control after death?
The Ouija board is Jordan’s attempt to extend his agency beyond death, to continue conversations with Jordy. It reveals his desire to script even the afterlife, but Jordy’s rejection shows that such control is impossible without the cooperation of the living. The gift is both a joke and a genuine wish, highlighting the tension between humor and desperation in Jordan’s approach.
3. In the argument at Joe Allen’s, how does Jordan’s decision to stop treatment function as an assertion of autonomy?
By announcing he will discontinue treatment, Jordan takes control of his medical care, rejecting the role of passive patient. He argues that the decision should be based on how it makes him feel, not on others’ expectations. This is the most direct expression of bodily autonomy in the novel, but it also triggers a conflict with Jordy, showing that such decisions are never made in isolation.
4. How does the novel complicate the idea that autonomy is purely individual?
The novel shows that Jordan’s autonomy is always negotiated against Jordy’s fears and the pact’s communal expectations. Jordan cannot fully control his legacy without Jordy’s cooperation, as seen in his requests for Jordy to keep swimming and settle down. The activation of the pact suggests that Jordan ultimately accepts that his death will be shaped by others, complicating the notion of individual control.
5. What role does the epigraph play in framing the theme?
The epigraph—“Life is what you celebrate. All of it. Even its end”—sets up the idea that the end of life is part of life and should be honored. It frames autonomy not as a rejection of death but as an embrace of it. The novel tests this idea by showing how difficult that embrace is, but Jordan’s eventual participation in the pact suggests that celebrating the end is a way of reclaiming control over it, even if that control is shared.