Tracker

In Chapter 4 when John’s grandmother begins crying about her husband’s impending death, John’s grandfather says that “what’s happening to me happens to every single human being on the face of this earth” (31). This sentiment—that death is the great equalizer and the most natural thing in the world—is woven throughout the novel. Through John’s grandfather, the deer John has killed in the past, and the comparison of how humans and animals kill, Tracker explores how the manner of death matters even though it doesn’t change the outcome.

John’s experience of his grandfather’s illness shows how a slow death can impact both the dying person and those around them. John spends the entire book coming to terms with his grandfather’s cancer and eventual death, finally resolving that there’s nothing he can do to change it and learning how to accept it. John’s journey to acceptance illustrates how grief does not begin with death; rather grief comes with the knowledge of death and can occur even when someone is still alive. Conversely, John’s grandfather is alive for the entire book, but there are points when his loved ones act as if he is already gone, which frustrates him. While the death of John’s grandfather is inevitable even without the cancer, the disease brings the reality of death closer, but not so close that the loss is absolute. Neither he nor his loved ones know exactly when he will die—only that he will soon—and this partial knowledge makes the death feel more powerful and frightening to the characters, even though it’s the same death all beings experience.

The deer John has hunted in the past represent an immediate form of death that places John in a position of control. Using a rifle is second nature to John, and he lines up shots and prepares to fire without conscious thought, suggesting the death of a hunted creature is equally automatic. This process of repetitive action keeps the death from feeling significant because it is just one part of a series—aim, fire, kill, and retrieve the meat. John only realizes how significant these deaths were when he is confronted with his grandfather’s impending death, which leads him to separate the death of the animal from the overall hunting process. Though John’s family hunts for sustenance, rather than for sport alone, John’s new appreciation for the changes caused by the death of an individual increases his respect for all life.

In addition to exploring the effects of different types of death, Tracker also explores the different ways a life may be taken. While following the doe, John sees a wolf, which makes him consider how wolves and humans hunt differently. John prides himself on his rifle skills, which ensure a clean death for the deer. By contrast, John thinks that wolves kill messily—tearing into their prey with abandon and leaving a carcass destroyed. Faced with his grandfather’s death, however, John questions the value he gives to “clean” and “messy” deaths. He reasons that wolves don’t kill messily on purpose and the end result of a “clean” or “messy” death is still the same. This realization helps John reconcile his ambivalent feelings of fear and denial regarding his grandfather’s terminal illness. By the end of the novel, John better understands that the inevitability of death does not eliminate the meaning of a person or creature’s final moments, but the universality of death can offer a framework for accepting death as a natural part of life.