American Psycho(-analysis)

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 res...

Bret Easton Ellis' American Psycho is a story told by the psychopath himself, Patrick Bateman, about his double life as a wealthy Wall Street banker and violent serial killer. The novel gives deep insight into how a psychopath like Bateman thinks during his social interactions and his violent crimes. After having read a third of the novel, the complexity to his psychopathic nature was revealed which demonstrated to me that psychopaths are not always simply born apathetic and inherently evil, but instead can be surrounded by factors that drive them to behave this way. Since he is surrounded by an exclusive elite social circle that is driven by materialistic values, Patrick Bateman learns from his environment that the only way to maintain his status in his elite world is to be aggressive and apathetic. Their overarching materialistic values relate to their sense of dominance, status, and identity and ultimately define Bateman's motivations for his psychopathic thoughts and act...