It is a cry of frustration and grief that might have come from a child, someone who is not reconciled to mortality. What Thomas really wants his father to do is keep living, and since that is impossible the son blames his father for accepting death, as though he could make it go away if he really wanted to. I never thought it a realistic or mature point of view and the advice is less than useful, but the grief and rage are real.
I see old age and degenerative illness as nature's way of making death easier; it would be too hard to let go when we are young and fully engaged with life. But let go we will, sooner or later, ready or not.
I hope to go more gently than I came.
Carol
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