After reading the first third of the novel, I had a brief sense of regret for choosing to read this book for this project. I thought that the novel was not demonstrating Patrick Bateman to be an interesting or complex enough character for me to truly be engaged in it. However, I was pleasantly surprised by just how much the second third of the novel proved why American Psycho is such an iconic book. There are so many things that I can talk about in this section of the novel, but the overlying constant is the fact that Bateman is losing his mind. There are so many differences between the first and second third of the novel with respect to Bateman's narration, thoughts, and actions that demonstrate his increased delirium. Just to give a clear contrast, here is a scene from the movie that shows how put-together Bateman was previously:
From the second third of the novel, there are so many fantastic examples that I could talk about where Bateman loses his composure, status, and resilience. Instead of writing about all the prime examples of these instances, I will analyse my favourite chapter that thoroughly illustrates Bateman's fall from sanity, loss of sense of social status, and isolation.
Loss of Sanity
The chapter is called "A Glimpse of a Thursday Afternoon" and it starts and ends mid sentence, and everything in between is made up entirely of just a handful of very long run-on sentences. Since the passage begins and ends mi sentence, there is not quite a beginning and an end to Bateman's episode of craziness, making it, truly, a "glimpse" into his strange experience. The writing style distinguishes this chapter from any other, since the run on sentences effectively indicate the incoherent state of Bateman's mind. However, I have also noticed that, compared to the first third of the novel, Bateman's general syntax is less sophisticated and concise overall. Although the passage itself looks tediously long, it actually goes by fairly quickly, due to the lack of punctuation. This effect gives off the impression that Bateman's mind is frantically racing, that he is unable to stop to take a breath or calm down. This impression is reinforced when he is constantly moving, either "rush[ing] up and down the aisles" of Lafayette (a store) or "stuck in the revolving door for five full spins". The chapter starts with Bateman having "a major-league anxiety attack" where, to deal with this, he takes "all three" Nuprin that he has. Intending to take depressants, Bateman actually takes a drug that is used for physical pain, which will not affect his mental condition at all, so this is the first clue that his mental state is in a downward spiral. Furthermore, imagery is used to further demonstrate Bateman's insanity as he is "sweating and moaning and pushing people out of the way, foam pouring out of my mouth". In public, Bateman appears to be animalistic or savage, as if he has a disease (like rabies), which makes him seem dangerous to the public. Especially in the context of his delirium, Bateman is dangerous not only because he is a psychopath, but also because he is losing control of his humanness. Going along with the savage imagery, Bateman eventually proceeds to "start stuffing handfuls of the ham into my mouth, scooping the lukewarm pink meat out of the can, getting it stuck beneath my nails" in the lobby of his apartment building. The diction in this citation alludes to even more barbaric imagery, where the meat is "pink", the colour of raw meat, and he is dirtily eating with his hands. In all, Bateman's loss of sanity is reflected mainly in the syntax and savage imagery.
Loss of Sense of Social Class
One of the main characteristics of Bateman is his classist way of valuing others, where he perceives himself to be intrinsically better than anyone else who has less money or status than he. Interestingly, in this passage, Bateman proves that he is not so different from the "bums" he terrorizes on the streets when he demonstrates that he is not as sophisticated as he presents himself to be. Bateman physically changes when he is wearing a "cheap Matsuda jacket" and "the sun [is melting] the moose on my head and it [is mingling] with the sweat pouring down my face" until he is "suddenly ravenous and I [am running] my hand through my hair and [licking] greedily at the palm," which symbolically reflects his change in social class. In addition, he parallels the "bums" that he loves to intimidate. After shoplifting a canned ham (which in and of itself juxtaposes his character), he eventually proceeds to be "ignoring the beggar, the beggar ignoring me". When Bateman presents himself as rich and sophisticated, beggars normally approach him for money but in this moment, Bateman and the beggars blend in with each other. Although this chapter effectively demonstrates Bateman's loss of sense of social class, the most effective illustration of this is in the recurring symbol of Les Misérables when he "[kisses] the drawing of Eponine's lovely face, her lips, leaving brown steaks of bile smeared across her soft, unassuming face". Bateman's affection to the symbol of a character redeemed of greed is indicative of his similarity with his change of social status. Everything considered, this chapter reflects Bateman's deterioration of social status through the use of parallelism and symbolism.
Mystery and Isolation
Finally, this passage touches on the recurring theme of the mystery of the reality or credibility of the story. Throughout the novel, no one ever acknowledges Bateman's psychopathic tendencies, no matter how obviously he exposes them, which makes me feel a sense of isolation for him. (More examples of these instances are explored in this previous blog post.) Specifically to this chapter, it is clear that, as Bateman is acting insanely, no one is paying attention to him. The reference in the passage to Madonna's single where she sings, "life is a mystery, everyone must stand alone" perfectly encapsulates the mystery of Bateman's credibility in the story and the fact that "no one pays attention, they don't even pretend to not pay attention". Everyone's ignorance of Bateman explains why he would feel alone in his "mysterious" life, since no one ever shows that they care about him or his psychopathy. In fact, Bateman's loneliness is one of his vulnerabilities, as demonstrated at the end of the second third of the novel where he fantasizes about "running around Central Park on a cool spring afternoon with Jean, laughing, holding hands." (Easton Ellis, 266). The final portion of the passage proves this discrepancy from reality, where Bateman's colleague speaks normally to him on the street despite his delirious behaviour. This example of dramatic irony thus demonstrates the theme of the mystery of the reality of the story and demonstrates Bateman's isolation in his insanity.
I find it interesting that Bateman, whose role model was Donald Trump, the businessman back in the 80s (when the novel takes place), parallels Donald Trump, the president now (when I'm reading this novel). Since he is such a controversial topic, there are many articles that explore the idea that the US president is, like Bateman, losing his mind, too. Obviously, the author could never have anticipated this parallelism, but this is just an interesting similarity that should be explored in a future blog post.
Below is the full passage that is being referenced:
From the second third of the novel, there are so many fantastic examples that I could talk about where Bateman loses his composure, status, and resilience. Instead of writing about all the prime examples of these instances, I will analyse my favourite chapter that thoroughly illustrates Bateman's fall from sanity, loss of sense of social status, and isolation.
 |
| The drug that Bateman takes |
The chapter is called "A Glimpse of a Thursday Afternoon" and it starts and ends mid sentence, and everything in between is made up entirely of just a handful of very long run-on sentences. Since the passage begins and ends mi sentence, there is not quite a beginning and an end to Bateman's episode of craziness, making it, truly, a "glimpse" into his strange experience. The writing style distinguishes this chapter from any other, since the run on sentences effectively indicate the incoherent state of Bateman's mind. However, I have also noticed that, compared to the first third of the novel, Bateman's general syntax is less sophisticated and concise overall. Although the passage itself looks tediously long, it actually goes by fairly quickly, due to the lack of punctuation. This effect gives off the impression that Bateman's mind is frantically racing, that he is unable to stop to take a breath or calm down. This impression is reinforced when he is constantly moving, either "rush[ing] up and down the aisles" of Lafayette (a store) or "stuck in the revolving door for five full spins". The chapter starts with Bateman having "a major-league anxiety attack" where, to deal with this, he takes "all three" Nuprin that he has. Intending to take depressants, Bateman actually takes a drug that is used for physical pain, which will not affect his mental condition at all, so this is the first clue that his mental state is in a downward spiral. Furthermore, imagery is used to further demonstrate Bateman's insanity as he is "sweating and moaning and pushing people out of the way, foam pouring out of my mouth". In public, Bateman appears to be animalistic or savage, as if he has a disease (like rabies), which makes him seem dangerous to the public. Especially in the context of his delirium, Bateman is dangerous not only because he is a psychopath, but also because he is losing control of his humanness. Going along with the savage imagery, Bateman eventually proceeds to "start stuffing handfuls of the ham into my mouth, scooping the lukewarm pink meat out of the can, getting it stuck beneath my nails" in the lobby of his apartment building. The diction in this citation alludes to even more barbaric imagery, where the meat is "pink", the colour of raw meat, and he is dirtily eating with his hands. In all, Bateman's loss of sanity is reflected mainly in the syntax and savage imagery.
Loss of Sense of Social Class
 |
| Poster of Eponine from Les Miserables |
One of the main characteristics of Bateman is his classist way of valuing others, where he perceives himself to be intrinsically better than anyone else who has less money or status than he. Interestingly, in this passage, Bateman proves that he is not so different from the "bums" he terrorizes on the streets when he demonstrates that he is not as sophisticated as he presents himself to be. Bateman physically changes when he is wearing a "cheap Matsuda jacket" and "the sun [is melting] the moose on my head and it [is mingling] with the sweat pouring down my face" until he is "suddenly ravenous and I [am running] my hand through my hair and [licking] greedily at the palm," which symbolically reflects his change in social class. In addition, he parallels the "bums" that he loves to intimidate. After shoplifting a canned ham (which in and of itself juxtaposes his character), he eventually proceeds to be "ignoring the beggar, the beggar ignoring me". When Bateman presents himself as rich and sophisticated, beggars normally approach him for money but in this moment, Bateman and the beggars blend in with each other. Although this chapter effectively demonstrates Bateman's loss of sense of social class, the most effective illustration of this is in the recurring symbol of Les Misérables when he "[kisses] the drawing of Eponine's lovely face, her lips, leaving brown steaks of bile smeared across her soft, unassuming face". Bateman's affection to the symbol of a character redeemed of greed is indicative of his similarity with his change of social status. Everything considered, this chapter reflects Bateman's deterioration of social status through the use of parallelism and symbolism.
Mystery and Isolation
 |
| Madonna |
I find it interesting that Bateman, whose role model was Donald Trump, the businessman back in the 80s (when the novel takes place), parallels Donald Trump, the president now (when I'm reading this novel). Since he is such a controversial topic, there are many articles that explore the idea that the US president is, like Bateman, losing his mind, too. Obviously, the author could never have anticipated this parallelism, but this is just an interesting similarity that should be explored in a future blog post.
Below is the full passage that is being referenced:
Sources
Ellis, Bret Easton. American Psycho. 1st ed., New York, Vintage Books, 1991,.
Hi Lauren I was very engaged in your analysis of Patrick Bateman's deteriorating mental state. I agree that Patrick becomes more complex as the novel goes on, and it's shame that that complexity comes at the cost of so many innocent New Yorkers.
ReplyDeleteI think that Patrick Bateman's transformation in the second third of "American Psycho" can be represented by the Alignment System. The Alignment System was invented in 1974 to represent the various classes in the board game "Dungeons and Dragons"; since then the system has been used to categorize pop culture characters from tv shows, movies, and literature. For more information on the system, please follow the following link: http://easydamus.com/alignment.html.
I think that the second third of "American Psycho" shows Patrick Bateman's gradual degradation; Bateman goes from being lawful evil to chaotic evil. Lawful evil is sometimes considered "the most dangerous alignment because it represents methodical, intentional, and frequently successful evil". Chaotic evil on the other hand is unstructured chaos; it's "the destruction not only of beauty and life but also of the order on which beauty and life depend on".
When Patrick Bateman tells Daisy (a one night stand), "I think I'm losing it" (Easton Ellis, 214), Patrick Bateman is confessing how he has gradual been broken down. As you so eloquently explained - Patrick Bateman is no longer a cold and calculating psychopath, he has instead become a vile creature seemingly unable to control his own actions. He is no longer lawful, he is chaotic (but he's still evil).