How High We Go in the Dark

The rituals surrounding death become increasingly elaborate in the plague and post-plague era, much of them driven by commodification and desperation. The novel explores three new death rituals: elegy hotels, bodies being turned into ice sculptures, and communal urns. Accenting these rituals are the cemetery skyscrapers, which once housed the living and now house the dead.

Death rituals in the novel are complex, reflecting both the need of individuals to channel their mourning and the capitalist push to commodify needs. People explore new ways to say goodbye through extended memorials, art, and new forms of connectivity. However, capitalism complicates much of this grief because the rituals require payment. At Dennis’s hotel, different suites are worth different amounts of money, lending a clear classist undertone to farewell procedures. Visitors must pay to visit the urns containing the remains of their departed loved ones in cemetery towers, and advertisements surround the visitors as they do so. These moments raise questions about the intersection of mourning and money—a critique of modern society and the expenses related to death rituals today.