An analysis of James Thurber's short story "Unicorn in the Garden" using an existentialist approach.

<Tab/>"Unicorn in the Garden" by James Thurber is a classic example of the existentialist philosophy of choice and subjectivity, as shown by the characterization of the man, his wife, the police and the psychiatrist. <Tab/>As the story opens we find a man sitting at home eating breakfast with his wife upstairs asleep. The man, who chooses to glory in his existence by rising and eating, …

…own. The man is clearly a subject of his own reality. When asked whether he told his wife if he saw a unicorn, however, the man is forced to confront the center of his wife's destructiveness. By conceding to her what she previously desired (the negation of the unicorn and its existence) the husband is once again blessed with the vision of life, whereas his wife returns to the sleepy death from whence she came.