The most important symbolism in this book is not a razor that personifies his fear of growing old or his fear of the effects of the years on his face in the mirror, it is death itself. The first hint of death Faber encounters in the book comes from the dead animals that litter the ground around him as he goes to visit Joachim. Dead animals are almost always torn to pieces by scavengers, called zopilotes. The Zopilotes were wherever death lingered. They were even outside Joachim's house after his death, unable to enter because the door was closed. He began to hate seeing these birds, understandably. His avoidance of death and aging was mocked by these birds who seemed to be everywhere. Once he left Mexico, death never stopped bothering poor Walter Faber. By pure coincidence he had met his old professor while in Paris, Professor O. Faber had had an affair with Professor O's wife when she was very young, she died shortly afterwards. With the old memory of Professor O's dead wife and Faber not recognizing Professor O because he had aged so much that he looked like a completely different man. This had undoubtedly brought back to Faber the fear of growing old and dying. In the end, Faber's daughter Sabeth was apparently bitten by a snake and fell six feet off a ledge trying to run for help. Even after Faber's strenuous attempts to take her to the hospital and feel relieved