Borrowed Time, Borrowed World, and Borrowed Eyes with which to Sorrow it

Also important to consider is the decision of the author to end the Man’s life, and the decision of the man to let the boy live on after he passed. The first decision is likely related to the fact that the boy has been losing dependence on the man, in a spiritual/mental sense. He has been discovering for himself the ways of the civilized/old world—and is understanding the roles of these forces within the context of the new world he lives in, and has thus been bogged down by the presence of the man who insists they live in the past. The death of the man is thus symbolic of the complete end to the world that once was, with the son carrying on as one who has been shaped by the past but also appreciates the truth of the bleak future. The  man thus decides to let the son live, since he is unable to cut down  his only living progeny, and what might be the only hope left in the world. His insistence that the son will survive, and that he will be lucky, suggests that the man remains optimistic even in his last breaths.