Anyone could be hit by a truck, or choke on a piece of food. It's just that they know it, and we don't. I presume that in mainstream contemporary fiction, AIDS has been dealt with fairly extensively. But Hoban has done the reverse. We all do this.
Death happens to other people.
So here we have Jonathan Fitch, dealing with his two deaths, the one theoretical but known, the other definite but unknown. And his reactions help us examine our own attitudes toward death. He was also in formal attire and almost invisible in his attendance. Except for the hands.