Jack Gladney's Fear In Living Alone

Jack Gladney’s fears develop to the point where they completely engulf his better judgement to demonstrate how even the most rational of people can allow their fears to overshadow their lives. Jack Gladney throughout the novel is constantly apprehensive about the idea of the end of existence. He almost longs for it to cease to exist because of the belief that "death is what makes life incomplete" (284). Prohibiting him from living, death is viewed by Jack as the interruption of an existence. While comprehending that the majority of men will never voluntarily choose to leave Earth and his or her own surroundings, Gladney believes that his “deepest regret [will be] death. The only thing to face is death. This is all [he] think about. There's only one issue… [He] want[s] to live."(283). Gladney’s fears are constant thoughts in the back of his mind influencing every decision he makes whether that is intentional or not. The …show more content…
Faced with the unknown, we can pretend it isn't there" (285), but Gladney knowing when he is bound to die is forced to confront his demons. Jack's hysteria over the end of existence is proportionally greater to others simply because he already knows he is bound to die. Gladney allows this paranoia, this dread, this terror, to halt the rest of his life. This in turn clouds his judgement and compels him to turn from “the dier” into “the killer”. As a result from this certainty of his demise, Gladney wills himself to kill another human being just to feel as though he's postponed his own death. Murray Siskind, plants the idea "to gain life-credit. The more people you kill, the more credit you store up" (137). Jack’s shooing of Willie Mink is considered to be seen as a momentary lapse in judgement because of jealously, but is truly the sprawling grasp of fear as it slowly takes over an entire being. The rationality, the better judgement, the morality of Jack Gladney, were overwhelmed by paranoia, changing his persona into one of impulse, and