"The Dead- exhibits the fewest existential qualities of all four works studied, however I feel there are still two points worth mentioning. In the same manner as Holden existentially defines himself through his actions, I believe that Gabriel's deeds in "The Dead- cause him to also exhibit existentialism. Firstly, Joyce has written Gabriel as an autobiographical character and displays his own intellectual arrogance and hatred of it through him; Gabriel makes a conscious decision to edit his post dinner speech to downplay this arrogance even though the change was probably imperceptible to all other than himself. This could been seen to a certain degree as intellectual vanity, but really he has just tried to change his own perception of himself and refocus his personality by no external means but via a mental action that has made him believe he is no longer as arrogant as before. Secondly, at the end of the work when Gabriel experiences his Joycian epiphany, it is necessary for him reappraise his whole life and existence, as a consequence of this his personality must be evolving and he is therefore a product of existence. .
In "The Bell Jar- Esther is faced with numerous possibilities regarding her future aspirations. She sees them as the branches on a fig tree, and imagines "starving to death- because she can't make up her mind which of the figs to choose. She "wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest-. This is symbolic of her reluctance to commit to any one life choice, she feels paralysed because if she were to choose one path for herself the others would be cut off to her. Esther knows that the path she chooses will define her as a person and her indecision displays her unwillingness to be labelled and defined. In addition, Esther's attitude is comparable with that of Holden's, the existential individualism and independence he displays is also present in Esther; unusually for her time she controls and uses men to her own ends, and has little time for glamour she just wants be artistic.
