The emergence of ontological abandonment on a micro level is seen in the play The hairy monkey by Eugene O'Neill. The story centers on Yank, a stoker on a luxury liner. Although Yank is the lowest human being within the ship's milieu, he has faith in the world and in himself. The ship couldn't sail without him—and therefore he is better and more important than anyone else. He assumes this view is self-evident, and that everyone shares it.

His peace of mind is cruelly shattered by an idealistic rich woman who has decided she wants to know how the stokers live. But when she actually encounters Yank, she is shocked by his appearance and calls him a "hairy ape." Yank had managed to feel necessary to the system, and thus superior to the other components. This young woman's brief burst of idealism makes him truly feel for the first time how much he is looked down upon. Yank collapses and goes off the rails. He encounters violent anarchism and crime. Ultimately, the loss of his ontological security causes him to lose his humanity as well. He ends his existence as an ape among other apes in the zoo.[1]

[1] Eugene O'Neill, The Hairy Ape and Other Plays, Jonathan Cape, London 1923.