The Hitchhiker

In “The Hitchhiker,” the titular character is a personification of Death who follows Adams across America. The hitchhiker’s unflagging pursuit of Adams represents the central theme of Fletcher’s play: that death is the natural, unavoidable conclusion of the human experience, and there is no sense in trying to outrun fate.

Adams first encounters the hitchhiker at the moment of his death, when he swerves to avoid hitting the man and causes the accident that ends his life. This moment plays into the idea that avoiding Death is pointless. In trying to do just that, Adams seals his fate and ensures that the hitchhiker will follow him for the rest of his trip.

Although relentless in his attempts to meet Adams, the hitchhiker is also calm and amiable. He never runs, yells, or displays aggression. He is in no rush to catch Adams out because Adams’s flight is futile. When the hitchhiker appears across a set of train tracks, Adams decides that the man is trying to lure him to his death, but he’s mistaken—having died on the Brooklyn bridge, he has no life left to lose. Death has already won their cat-and-mouse game and is only waiting for Adams to resign and willingly depart the world of the living.