Page 10 - Digital Cornice Grade 10

Title: American Psycho
Author: Bret Easton Ellis
Genre: Satirical Horror
Publication: 1991 devoid of emotion except disgust and jealousy. When
Pages: 399 he gets bored of his nouveau-riche lifestyle, he moves
to murder. At first his kills seem in a way subdued, like
occasional outbursts that are far apart and not of much
American Psycho
is a dark satire
based in 1980’s Manhattan at the height of wall risk. His first major kill is Paul Owens.
street. The book is written from the perspective of
He openly describes his need to kill and rambles on
Patrick Bateman- the villain protagonist who is rich,
attractive, intelligent, charming and successful. All about his twisted thoughts to multiple people but
they’re so consumed within themselves that his
desirable qualities within the confines of high society-
and he just so happens to be a psychopath. The book confessions go unnoticed. But Bateman is an
unreliable narrator. It can’t be known for sure whether
revolves around Bateman’s internal monologue and his
interactions with the people around him. It’s noticeable his interjections in conversations were things that
happened in reality or only figments of his
from the start his astounding obsession with how he is
perceived. For pages and pages, he rambles on about imagination. The lack of reaction from his girlfriend
when he asks her for permission to bring an AK-47 to
an extensive skincare routine that allows him to look
as perfect as he does, his expensive suits, his top-of- a friend’s wedding points to the latter. A recurring line
throughout the book is “I have to return some
the-line stereo equipment, everything from restaurants
videotapes”, perhaps the most iconic as it were, is
to bedsheets. There is a specific event involving
business cards that perfectly encapsulates his something Bateman says when he needs to get out of
an unwanted situation. He uses it after breaking up
desperation in a hysterical manner. Patrick dislikes a
coworker by the name of Paul Owens, because Owens with his girlfriend when she begins to sob, and he
becomes uncomfortable that the entire restaurant has
represents what Bateman wants to be. He has a
slightly better apartment, better haircut, bigger project its eyes on the couple. Of course, he doesn’t actually
need to return videotapes. It’s simply a way to say
at work, gets reservations at restaurants Bateman
can’t. Just how vexed he gets at the sight of Paul “goodbye” with the advantage of letting people know
that he has a VHS player for the videotapes in the first
Owens’ business card being admired more by his peers
than his own is ridiculous place. Ultimately, he goes berserk and starts describing
things that are impossible and that can only be
described as hallucinations. He goes on a killing spree,
As one reads on, Bateman’s misery becomes painfully
shoots at a police vehicle and apparently gets to his
obvious. He’s surrounded by people identical to himself
and is incredibly self-conscious. Nevertheless, he puts office without getting caught where he makes a phone
call to his lawyer confessing all his crimes. Now there
himself on a pedestal and seems to think of everyone
else as inconveniences, things that are in his way. is a lot to be considered in this part, because it’s
unbelievable that he’d be able to escape the police by
Bateman’s preoccupation with the acquisition of
outrageously unnecessary objects could be a comment foot after doing something like that. The narrative
really becomes strange at this point since it appears his
about especially American consumerist culture. Patrick
Bateman views people in the same regard, as material descriptions are inaccurate. A very strong example of
this is when he switches from describing an action in
possessions to be discarded and moved on from. The
way he views others as beneath himself is the root of the first person to the third person mid-sentence:
his downfall as it feeds his misery over time and
eventually makes him