Please be aware that this is regarding the ending of the book.
The final sequence with Cyrus and Zee is obviously very surreal and reads similarly to the dream sequences scattered throughout the rest of the book. Naturally this causes readers to branch off with their own interpretations of what happened. I believe that this is the author's intent and that definitive answers are not necessarily the point here, but one detail stood out to me as a potential sign.
The passage in question takes place when Cyrus is sitting on the park bench after reading Orkideh's obituary.
"Let me be done, he thought, this time in words, his mother's letter still glowing on the screen in his hands. He closed his eyes, said it again out loud: "Let me be done."
When he opened his eyes, he was still alone on the park bench. Planted there, the city's motion around him felt like a broken video clip, like the same fifteen seconds were just playing over and over on loop, yellow taxicabs and bits of snow moving along the horizon, then hard-resetting to their original position. The wind smelled faintly of almonds. In his pocket, his phone was vibrating. He pulled it out, saw "ZEE NOVAK" was calling him. Quickly, he answered:"
The text states that Cyrus's phone is in his hand, the screen glowing. Then Cyrus asks to be done. When he opens his eyes, we have the "broken video clip" description of his surroundings. Then Zee calls him, but the phone is no longer in his hand with the screen on, it's in his pocket.
Did Cyrus simply put his phone in his away while he was sitting there and Akbar doesn't mention it? Is it a continuity error where Akbar forgot the phone was in Cyrus's hand already? Or is it a purposefully subtle hint that something changed in that moment after Cyrus bluntly spoke aloud his desire to be done?
I fully accept that I could be overthinking this. In the discussions I've sifted through, I've seen plenty of debate whether Cyrus dies, whether Zee is dead too, or if they are alive and simply in love. I have not seen anyone else mention this thing with the phone, it's potential meaning, or lack therof.
Please share thoughts!
by cwhagedorn