“How can you connect in an age where strangers, landlords, lovers, your own blood cells betray?”

Roger, backed by the company, sings one of the central questions of the musical, which is how people can connect with each other when they can’t trust anyone or anything, including their own bodies. In particular, Roger is afraid because his girlfriend, who would have been his partner in dealing with HIV/AIDS, died instead, leaving him alone and terrified to establish a new connection that might cause the same pain to someone else. His experience with addiction and HIV/AIDS will be a source of commonality in establishing his relationship with Mimi, but he will still end up pushing her away. Song Title: “Rent”

“I’m nineteen—but I’m old for my age. I’m just born to be bad.”

Mimi doesn’t reveal that at 19, she is old for her age because she is facing her own mortality, and her current age may be old within her lifespan. Unlike Roger, Mimi doesn’t shy away from connection, but she isn’t willing to spend any time waiting for it. While Roger seems to characterize himself as a danger to others, Mimi has decided that she is “born to be bad,” suggesting that she defined herself morally by her addiction and HIV/AIDS and decided to take what she wants without worrying about consequences. Song Title: “Light My Candle”