Existential anxiety, which takes the form of Frank’s mid-life crisis, is one of the novel’s primary themes. The book is specifically interested in the forms it takes, the responses people craft towards it, and the ways people can overcome it. Frank’s anxiety stems from an intuitive realization that his life, in the grand scheme of things, is ultimately meaningless. In response to this, he crafts a strategy that puts stoicism at the forefront. As an example, he says, “I’m briefly bemused by Joe’s belief that I’m a man who believes life’s leading someplace. I have thought that way other times in life, but one of the fundamental easements of the Existence Period is not letting whether it is or whether it isn’t worry you” (49). Frank believes that how his life will turn out is out of his control; therefore, it is not worth the worry and stress of trying to figure it out. This seems as though he has figured out a means by which he can keep his existential anxiety in check.

However, the incident with Paul getting hurt exposes the flaws in Frank’s approach. While it appears in the passage above that Frank is able to accept the nature of his existence in a reasonable manner, what he really does is detach himself from the reality of it—specifically, the emotional investment in others that his life requires.