“Imitating Reality”: An Analysis of “American Psycho”

• Main Author: Sadraddin Mahiddin, Sana
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: Stockholms universitet, Engelska institutionen 2020
• Subjects: American Psycho; Postmodernism; Narratology; serial killers; Specific Languages; Studier av enskilda språk
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-182219

This paper analyzes Bret Easton Ellis’ American Psycho (1991), and more specifically, the protagonist-narrator Patrick Bateman. He is analyzed through the theoretical framework known as narratology, and more specifically, the designation of “unreliable narrator,” in order to analyze the interplay between the character and the postmodernist society of which he is a product. This paper also uses the critical approach of close reading as a method. Close reading will be used in order to analyze Bateman and his narration. This essay will argue that in American Psycho, the protagonist-narrator Bateman’s loss of control over reality is described as arising because of how postmodern society works to fit people into a mould and remove individuality. Bateman displays the excesses of the 1980s, and he conforms to the expectations of postmodern society, which emphasizes consumerism and trends but no substance. He lives in a postmodern society that highlights materialism, consumerism, and reality versus hyperreality. He tries to find his identity, away from superficiality and wealth, but fails. He takes out his frustration on people who are in a lower social class than him, and he murders and tortures his victims as a result. Bateman does not only live like someone out of a magazine, but he also copies serial killers, but: he has no real identity or even original method of murder. Bateman takes on an identity as a serial killer and imitates their crimes. He finds himself torn between the postmodern reality and the reality he creates in his mind.