Exploring Existential Angst and the Loss of Individual Identity in Willy Loman from Death of a Salesman and Jay Gatsby from The Great Gatsby

Abstract

Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman and Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby are two of the literary works that masterfully delineate the existential anxiety of their protagonists: Willy Loman and Jay Gatsby. This paper attempts to delve deep into the characters- Willy Loman and Jay Gatsby with a view to exploring the existential angst that Willy Loman of Death of a Salesman and Jay Gatsby of The Great Gatsby goes through. Existential angst refers to a profound feeling of anxiety, fear, or unease that stems from reflecting on the meaning or purpose of life, one’s existence, and the unavoidable nature of death. Both Willy Loman and Jay Gatsby grapple with the relentless worship of the American Dream and the pursuit of success, ultimately leading to the decay of their true selves. Primary data for conducting this research have been collected from the texts- Death of a Salesman and The Great Gatsby, whereas secondary data have been collected from different articles, research papers, and different online sources. The content analysis method is used to analyze the data collected from different sources. Willy Loman, a traveling salesman, seems obsessed with achieving his version of the American dream, but unfortunately, he can never fulfill his dream. Jay Gatsby, on the other hand, is a wealthy, ambitious, and idealistic man. Although Gatsby had always desired wealth, his primary motivation for amassing his fortune was his love for Daisy Buchanan, whom he met as a young military officer in 1917 before leaving to fight in World War I. Both the men appear to be awfully lost in the anxiety of their existence. This paper seeks to unearth the unstable mental condition, the loss of individual identity, and the deep-rooted existential anxiety of the two characters, Willy Loman and Jay Gatsby.