Death, captured in the image of the corpse-eating maggot, is the hero of mankind's drama. In one sense, the poem points out that all lives end in death and are therefore rather meaningless. In another sense, man's drama, his death included, is but a play for angels to watch. Death is not so full of meaning that we should worry about it. Further, if death is the "hero" of the play, it is connected with the force that motivates all other experiences.