Father-son relationships
George and Peter love each other and both try to do everything possible to protect each other. However, wishing is not enough. Readers have a chance to see a classic problem of misunderstanding, when both parties assume too much and never speak openly or listen to each other. To cast aside mythology and historical references, we will get a story about the importance of a father figure in a life of a teenage boy.
Teacher-student relationship
George Caldwell was a good teacher, who knew the subject perfectly and was clever enough to explain the material in a funny and witty way. Surprisingly enough, his students were not interested in the things he taught. Who needed general science? That was absolutely useless information for them. Although his students misbehaved during their lessons, they were always happy to chat with him after classes. According to Peter, they sucked energy out of him, asking him for a piece of advice or just wasting his time on aimless chatting. This is example of a strange kind of friendship between a teacher and students, who consider themselves to be enemies during the lessons, but communicate amicably as soon as the lessons end.
Death
All characters in this story have different views on death. For George Caldwell, it is the only one solution of his emotional and physical torment. For Pop Kramer, it is something that shouldn’t be hurried up. For Peter, it is just evidence that he is not good enough for his father to want to live. However, the theme of death is one of the most important in the story
Self-sacrifice
George also believes that his death might help both his wife and his son. According to one version of a myth about Chiron, he sacrifices his life for Prometheus. George thinks that he is a burden, which prevents the rest of his family from a happy life, and doesn’t believe that he has enough strengths to work on their mutual happiness. His suicide is more like self-sacrifice for the others' sake
