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While at times genuinely appalling, American Psycho is nevertheless a strikingly intelligent novel that is, at its heart, a bleak, dark comedy on the power of money. A savage representation of the destruction caused by a single man’s following of every impulse, the book is centred on the insane character of Patrick Bateman. An intelligent, sophisticated and apparently highly civilized Wall Street executive, Bateman is also a self-proclaimed serial killer. Unusually told from the murder’s perspective, the novel’s stream-of-consciousness narrative chronicles roughly two years of Bateman’s double life as successful businessman and psychopath.
A bleak, funny and brilliant novel of massive and horrific impact.
Spending excessive amounts of time perfecting his own appearance, obsessed with fashion and social standing and constantly attempting to rise above his colleges, the main character perfectly embodies the bland, senseless and decadent yuppie culture of the 1980s; the only thing differentiating Bateman from those around him are the frequent acts of torture, rape and murder he commits. Despite his increasingly desperate allusions to these acts, however, his intimations are continuously ignored or disbelieved by the self-obsessed people around him. Thus deprived of the unique trait and the recognition he so desperately desires, eventually Bateman despairs of ever convincing anyone of his actions. Indeed, readers themselves are uncertain as to whether the atrocities described occur in reality or merely within Bateman’s mind: there is evidence to suggest either possibility throughout the novel and the conclusion is left deliberately ambiguous.
One of the most chilling elements of the novel is that the reason for Bateman’s obsession with violence is never explained. There is, however, a considerable amount of humour within the work, for example in Ellis’ parody of ’80s culture; neither trash television, answering-machine culture or people who see labels rather than products are spared. The disparity between the reality of Bateman’s inhumanity and the dark, twisted way in which he thinks to the way he is perceived by his friends and colleges also results in some hilarious passages throughout the novel. However despite occasional humour, in relation to Bateman, the reader is never permitted to lose sight of him as anything other than a monster.
Ultimately, American Psycho is a bleak, funny and brilliant novel of massive and horrific impact, an extreme black comedy that is a landmark work of fiction. Arguably crossing the line of social acceptability, and alternating between the shockingly banal, the hilarious and the macabre, it nevertheless remains a vital and important work of satire on a par with Smith’s Modest Proposal or Anthony Burgess’ Clockwork Orange, and is an essential read of the darker side of society and human nature.
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