Seven Guitars

“I was just thinking the same thing! He make it where you want to die just to have somebody talk over you like that.” 

After Floyd’s funeral, Red demonstrates that one aspect of the anxiety that most of the characters feel about death is concern about how they will be remembered. Floyd was striving for greatness and wanted much more than well-articulated kind words at his funeral. But Red expresses relief at the thought of being summed up by a preacher who can make his life sound full and meaningful.

“The Bible say some things ain’t for you to know. It say you know neither the day nor the hour when death come.” 

As the characters grapple with the idea that death can arrive at any moment, Vera tries to accept this possibility by ascribing it to a part of a larger plan. Floyd’s death is sudden and purposeless, and Vera wants to infuse it with meaning, even if that meaning is only known to God.

“I believe every man knows something, but most times they don’t pay attention to it.” 

Red shares the mildly comforting idea that death doesn’t come without warning, but the warning is often cryptic or overlooked. This predicts the sign that Floyd sees and overlooks, when Hedley kills the rooster, foreshadowing how he will kill Floyd. Despite Hedley’s escalating behavior, when Hedley attacks Floyd, Floyd walks away and turns his back. Hedley surprises him because although Floyd claims that he’s willing to risk everything, as the characters demonstrate, it’s human nature to reject the idea of one’s own inevitable death.