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In the beginning of "The Diary of an Immortal" Steven comes across pills that allow him to become immortal. I couldn't help, but wonder is he selfish for taking these pills and prolonging his own life? He returns home to find that his father is slowly dying and shares with him what he has decided to do. Should he have shared these with his father to prolong his life? Is he selfish for not doing so? What do you think?

I think Steven has seen some horrors in his life that he is afraid of missing out. I'm not sure if I would call him selfish for this reason. As for his father, I would think that if his father would have wanted the pills, he most likely would have said something since it seems like these two are closely bonded. But, I don't think his father wanted to live forever. So, I don't think I would call him selfish.

He did try to share the pills with his love toward the end, so he was definitely willing to share.

As I continued reading I did notice that he tried to share them with her.

I don't think he was selfish to start taking the pills. I think he did what many would do, have the curiosity to do something different. When he was with his dad, he was still so new to what was happening in his own life, plus he wouldn't know what the effects would be. A cure or live life immortal as you were when you started taking the pills, which would have met living with cancer forever.

This is a great question. It made me stop and think.

Upon reflection, I do not find Steven's decision to take the pills selfish. My heart actually broke a little for him when he decided to do so. I think it's hard for any of us to imagine his feelings unless we've been present during the horrors of war. And, aside from trying to share the pills in the latter part of the book, he always seemed to weigh his actions within the context of knowing that he was taking the pills, and assuming they would work as described.

It was clear that Steven's father did not wish to take the pills. I didn't find Steven selfish.

Steven offered the pills to his father, after he sees how fast can Steven's hand heal the cut he did in his hand. His father tells him, "Perhaps fate brought these pills to you. In that case no one has the right to take them away." and then he adds, "Who knows? Maybe though you I can really live forever" and Steve thinks that he would never forget those words.
Steven wasn't selfish, it was his father's choice.

I never somehow thought of Steven as selfish. I don't think his father wanted to prolong his existence.
On the other hand, when he takes the pills for the first time, I felt that it was slightly coward of him, seeing all the death and destruction, and trying to escape it using a pill.

I think Steven wasn't trying to be selfish. He did not have a problem sharing, and it might have been selfish if he'd forced his father to take the pills to keep him alive.

I don't know. I think that he did it because he thought that it was the right thing to do at that time.