Caitlin Wasielewski

American Psycho

In Bret Easton Ellis novel, American Psycho, we get a glimpse into the wealthy

and lavish life of a young Manhattan businessman, Patrick Bateman. Bateman spends

his days working out, eating at the newest restaurants, and buying stylish and

expensive suits. But of course, Patrick is no ordinary Wall Street executive. True to the

novels name, we find out that Mr. Bateman has a devilish hobby - murder and torture.

American Psycho is a novel about the highly materialistic and ruthless aspects of a

capitalist society and the emptiness that comes from existing within that culture.

American Psycho takes place in the world of affluent young people who enjoy a

luxurious lifestyle thanks to their well paying corporate jobs. It was from this culture of

young professionals with too much money that the term yuppie was coined in the

1980s. The novel is told from Batemans perspective in a stream-of-consciousness

narrative as he describes, in excessive detail and a flat tone, his daily life, from his

multitude of routines to his nights out with colleagues. Bateman entertains a loveless

relationship with a fellow yuppie, Evelyn, whos only concern is with getting facials and

getting married. He also spends much of his time with his co-workers at the hottest

restaurants, bars, and nightclubs trading fashion advice, scoping out hardbodies, or

snorting cocaine. Bateman and his friends constantly argue over the identities of people

they see at clubs or parties, and Bateman himself is often mistaken for someone else.

Throughout the novel, Bateman describes the designer of every article of clothing he

sees and there are chapters in which Bateman critiques the discography of popular 80s

artists.
 Batemans first act of violence is directed at a bum; He stabs him, among other

things, and maims his dog. After this, we sees glimpses of Patricks mental instability

when he frantically wanders around the city foaming at the mouth. Patrick kills another

queer man and his dog, then harms prostitutes after sex. There is a shift in Batemans

violent behavior once he decides to kill a co-worker he is envious of. He axes Paul

Owen, a popular and prominent man, to death in his own apartment and after this,

Bateman begins to devolve and his crimes begin to escalate.

As Patricks killing spree progresses, his murders become increasingly torturous

and sadistic. He continues to rape, mutilate, and occasionally cannibalize his victims.

He even experiments with cooking his victims and participates in necrophilic activities.

Bateman often mentions his homicidal extracurriculars to his co-workers who dont take

him seriously. He begins experiencing hallucinations as he loses his grip on sanity and it

all culminates in a shooting spree during which he kills many people on the street and

has to run from the cops. In all the commotion, Patrick escapes and decides to call his

attorney and confess to all his crimes on the answering machine.

Later, Bateman decides to return to Paul Owens, where he had murdered a few

girls and stashed their bodies. When he enters the apartment, however, he discovers

that it is completely spotless and up for sale. Instead of the stench of rotting flesh, there

is an overpowering flowery smell. After being confronted by the real estate agent,

Patrick leaves.

At the end of the novel, Bateman comes face to face with his lawyer and asks

about the message he left on the machine. The lawyer, Carnes, mistakes Bateman for

another colleague and thinks that the message was nothing more than an amusing joke.
Carnes says that Patrick Bateman is too much of a coward to have committed the

crimes and also reveals that he had dinner with Paul Owen twice in London. Finally, the

novel ends with Bateman and his co-workers enjoying a vapid conversation and the

image of a sign reading This is not an exit.

In American Psycho, we can see the highly superficial and materialistic nature of

this society in how Bateman describes people he sees and what others are concerned

with. The first chapter sets the stage for this idea throughout the book. Bateman and his

colleague, Tim Price, are in the back of a cab heading to a dinner party at Batemans

girlfriends house. Price is ranting and counting bums, for whom he has a particular

distaste. Bateman describes the designers of what Price is wearing, even down to the

model of phone he owns. Price rants about the crime and filth of the city, is rude to their

cab driver, and teases a bum. At the brownstone, Evelyn and Courtney are wearing the

same designer outfit and fretting about the meal that they did not cook. The dinner

conversation is banal until they start talking about problems facing the world when

Bateman goes on a spiel: Well, we have to end apartheid for one. And slow down the

nuclear arms race, stop terrorism and world hunger. Ensure a strong national defense,

prevent the spread of communism in Central America, work for a Middle East peace

settlement, prevent U.S. military involvement overseas. We have to ensure that America

is a respected world power. Now thats not to belittle our domestic problems, which are

equally important, if not more As Bateman rattles off sensible and progressive ideas

about problems that need to be addressed, the table grows increasingly more

uncomfortable. This moment is a prime example of how superficial and shallow the

people in this yuppie community are. They would rather discuss what flavor of sorbet to
have or how to wear a vest than spend time talking about meaningful issues and ideas;

This is true throughout the novel. Ellis tries to show the reader a society in which the

surface [is] the only thing. (Bret Easton Ellis Answers Critics of 'American Psycho',

1991)

There are many scenes in the novel which convey the bourgeois and frivolous

characteristics of this culture. In the second chapter, Patrick describes his morning

routine in one continuous block of text. He starts by describing the interior of his large

apartment and its expensive decor. He gets out of bed and notices the puffiness of his

face: After I change into Ralph Lauren monogrammed boxer shorts and a Fair Isle

sweater and slide into silk polka-dot Enrico Hidolin slippers I tie a plastic ice pack

around my face and commence with the mornings stretching exercises. Then Patrick

walks us through his beauty routine, informing us of each product and how its applied.

Finally, we learn about Patricks very sensible and healthy breakfast and the exact cut

and style of his suit. This chapter shows the reader how concerned with image Patrick

is. He cares very much about his appearance, especially his hair, and how the world

perceives him.

Another scene is an exchange of business cards among Bateman and his co-

workers. Bateman decides to show his colleagues his new business card during a

dinner and one by one the others show off their cards too. Its obvious that Patrick

wanted to one-up his friends but finds himself jealous and upset when their business

cards seem to be more tasteful than his: A brief spasm of jealousy courses through me

when I notice the elegance of the color and the classy type Even I have to admit its

magnificent Suddenly the restaurant seems far away, hushed, the noise distant, a
meaningless hum, compared to this card I am unexpectedly depressed that I started

this. Its almost comical that Bateman could get so upset over something as trivial as a

business card but in a world where your image is everything, a small piece of paper with

your name on it can say a lot about you. I imagine that the cards would not really look

all that different, yet Bateman notices the miniscule differences that make one card look

nicer than the others.

Lastly, there is a chapter where Patrick has lunch with a colleague who has just

returned from the Bahamas. When Patrick inquires about the trip, the man, Armstrong,

addresses him by the wrong name and begins to rattle off useless facts, such as the

climate and sightseeing. As Armstrong continues his monotonous spiel, Bateman allows

his mind to wander until he decides to interrupt: My life is a living hell, I mention off the

cuff And there are many more people I, uh, want to want to, well I guess murder. I

say this emphasizing the last world, staring straight into Armstrongs face. Of course,

Armstrong, unfazed, continues to talk about what airlines fly to the islands. Throughout

the novel, Bateman makes many more attempts to tell people about his murderous

desires but they are always ignored or brushed off. This depresses Bateman.

As Patrick moves through the novel, his crimes grow progressively more and

more violent and complex as he loses touch with sanity. In his first act of violence, he

experiences a rush afterwards and we can assume that he spends the rest of the novel

chasing that rush. Bateman mutilates a bum by stabbing him in the eyes and stomach

then describes how he feels after: I feel heady, ravenous, pumped up, as if Id just

worked out and endorphins are flooding my nervous system, or just embraced that first

line of cocaine, inhaled that first puff of a fine cigar, sipped that first glass of Cristal.
Later, after a vacation in the Hamptons with Evelyn, Patrick has a moment of self

reflection: There wasnt a clear, identifiable emotion within me, except for greed and,

possibly, total disgust. I had all the characteristics of a human being - flesh, blood, skin,

hair - but my depersonalization was so intense, had gone so deep, that the normal

ability to feel compassion had been eradicated, the victim of a slow, purposeful erasure.

I was simply imitating reality Something horrible was happening and yet I couldnt

figure out why - I couldnt put my finger on it. From these two moments, one from the

beginning of the novel and the other from the latter half, we see that Patrick is very

detached from his life and he feels empty inside. It seems that killing and torturing

people is the only way he can experience feelings of pleasure.

The high value placed on image and appearance, in a society where the surface

reigns supreme, allows Bateman to dissociate from his actions. We see an

acknowledgement of wrongdoing toward the end of the novel once he has really gone

off the rails. In this particular scene, Bateman is trying to make a sort of meatloaf out of

a girls mutilated body. As he grinds her bone, fat and flesh into patties, he reflects: and

though it does sporadically penetrate how unacceptable some of what Im doing actually

is, I just remind myself that this thing, this girl, this meat, is nothing, is shit. With this

thought, we see that Bateman acknowledges how insane and cruel his actions are, but

we also see that he is able to justify them. Within this society, he has decided that if all

you present to the world is a perfect, pretty picture, you are nothing. Without your

appearance, facade, or image, there is nothing. Everyone has been reduced to their

status because that is all they care about. Bateman has learned that people contain

nothing under their guise of wealth and success.

 American Psycho is a satirical novel about the superficial, vicious, and consumer

driven world of the 1980s. Patrick Bateman is a typical wall street yuppie whos sold his

soul in the name of greed and success. The world around him, the extremely shallow

and avaricious society he exists within, has taught him that everything is a commodity,

even people. He commits heinous acts of violence in order to feel anything and

although he knows what hes doing is wrong, he continues to do it anyway. Although this

novel receives a lot of harsh criticism, I believe that it does a great job of conveying its

message. The graphic and vulgar scenes are especially off-putting, but they grab the

reader and force them to keep reading; They are vital to the message and theme of the

story. Bateman is living his American Dream, even if its all in his head.