The appearance and behavior of people have long been themes in literary works. Among contemporary writers, Sadeq Hedayat holds a prominent place. This study examines the portrayal of the purgatorial man and the ruined man in the stories “Abji Khanum” and “Sage Velgard.” The research draws on existentialist theory as well as the culture‑and‑personality school. Based on the content of Hedayat’s stories, the study employs the method of content analysis along with documentary research using library, archival, and online sources. The transitional period from tradition to modernity influenced the formation and direction of characters in Hedayat’s stories. Hedayat’s preoccupation with death has its roots in his childhood, and the ideas of existentialist thinkers such as Sartre, as well as writers like Kafka, Nietzsche, and Khayyam, also influenced the creation of his works. In these stories, confused and alienated individuals, figures caught in a purgatorial and ruined state, are shaped by the political, cultural, and social conditions of this transitional period. For them, there is no escape, and the shadow of death looms over their lives. The protagonists submit to the circumstances that govern them and accept their fate without attempting to break free from those conditions.