The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot

“When people say ‘terminal,’ I think of the airport. I picture a wide check-in area with a high ceiling and glass walls, the staff in matching uniforms waiting to take my name and flight information, waiting to ask me if I packed my bags myself, if I’m traveling alone.”

The extended metaphor likening a terminal illness to an airport terminal shows Lenni’s playfulness with words and her vivid imagination. Lenni’s focus on the other meaning of the word “terminal” reflects her desire to avoid thinking about her death even when others see it as imminent. As the novel continues, the experiences and friendships she gains help her overcome her fear of death.

“‘The answer I have, the only one I have,’ he said, ‘is that you are dying because you are dying. Not because of God’s deciding to punish you and not because He is neglecting you, but simply because you are. It is a part of your story as much as you are.’”

Lenni deeply values honesty and trust, so Arthur’s sincere answer to her difficult question lays the foundation for a strong friendship between the characters. Arthur’s view that death is an essential “part of [her] story” connects to the novel’s theme of stories and helps make death less frightening.

“It was comforting to know that someone else was in trouble too. [...] And that’s exactly how I felt when Margot chose to break the silence by leaning toward me and whispering, ‘I’m dying too.’”

Lenni finds a kindred spirit in Margot. Their mutual experience of living with a terminal illness makes Lenni and Margot’s relationship even stronger than Lenni’s connection to Father Arthur because the two patients share a distinct reality that others can’t understand without living it themselves.