In Chapter 4 when John’s grandmother begins crying about her husband’s impending death, John’s grandfather says that “what’s happening to me happens to every single human being on the face of this earth” (31). This sentiment—that death is the great equalizer and the most natural thing in the world—is woven throughout the novel. Through John’s grandfather, the deer John has killed in the past, and the comparison of how humans and animals kill, Tracker explores how the manner of death matters even though it doesn’t change the outcome.

John’s experience of his grandfather’s illness shows how a slow death can impact both the dying person and those around them. John spends the entire book coming to terms with his grandfather’s cancer and eventual death, finally resolving that there’s nothing he can do to change it and learning how to accept it. John’s journey to acceptance illustrates how grief does not begin with death; rather grief comes with the knowledge of death and can occur even when someone is still alive. Conversely, John’s grandfather is alive for the entire book, but there are points when his loved ones act as if he is already gone, which frustrates him.