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Here’s the full quote you’re referencing:

“No matter how much you’ve been warned, Death always comes without knocking. Why now? is the cry. Why so soon? It’s the cry of a child being called home at dusk, it’s the universal protest against Time. Just remember, dear Friends: What am I living for and what am I dying for are the same question.”

— The Year of the Flood (2009) 

This passage captures Atwood’s meditative exploration of death as an unexpected visitor—one that exposes our unfinished stories and stirs both grief and contemplation. Like a child called in at dusk, we ask “Why now?”—the universal human protest against time’s unforgiving advance.

Would you like more context from The Year of the Flood, or other Atwood quotes examining mortality, time, or existential longing?