We Are the Ants explores the value of human life. This theme appears in the first chapter when Henry is given the option to prevent the destruction of Earth and the human race. Henry is immediately unsure if he wants to save humans from the pain humans experience and inflict. For Henry, human life is defined by struggle, shame, doubt, pain, and oppression. Henry is young but has already endured many hardships. His nihilism about human life is important because it informs his character development and the necessary plot developments that help Henry learn the value of human life.

Henry’s nihilism is informed by his boyfriend Jesse’s death by suicide. Jesse left no note and had given Henry no indication that he was struggling with serious depression. Therefore, Jesse’s death feels meaningless. The tragedy of not having Jesse in the world with Henry, robbing Henry of the joy and love he felt within their relationship, is heightened by the way Jesse died. Henry figures that if there is no meaning behind Jesse’s death, then there is no meaning to life. This is an age-old human problem. Human beings have long wondered what death and life signify and how to understand their roles in their own lives.