A Journey into the Realm of Human Destructiveness in Bret Easton Ellis’s American Psycho
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Date
2017-06
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Abstract
This dissertation explores the complexity of human’s psyche and its destructiveness in Bret
Easton Ellis's novel American Psycho. The selected novel , which belongs to the serial killer
genre, offers the reader an opportunity to enter into the world of psychopathic serial killers
through the novel's anti-hero Patrick Bateman; the echo of human destructiveness. The novel
reveals numerous realistic facts about American society and culture at the end of the twentieth
century which were characterized by the collapse of ethics and values. The novelist aims at
criticizing the consumerist culture that resulted in people’s preoccupation with superficial
matters, loss of identity, and the decay of ethics. Eventually, such conditions drove them to
deviant behaviors such as violent crimes. Hence, in addition to the twisted nature of human
psyche, we can argue that this kind of culture paved the way for the emergence of the
remorseless serial killer Patrick Bateman. The novel of American Psycho is studied both
thematically and stylistically. Indeed, literature is one of the best means to deepen our
understanding of human psyche and cultures and that takes us beyond our limited personal
experiences. Therefore, due to the fact that literary works cannot be fully appreciated without
reference to their historical contexts, the first chapter of this study is devoted to the sociohistorical
context that frames Ellis’s selected novel. This chapter demonstrates that several
facts about the author’s life experiences and the American yuppies have oriented his literary
production. Besides, the thematic study is presented in the second chapter of this dissertation;
it is split up into two main sections to emphasize that human beings are complex creatures
with good and bad aspects; however, when societies encourage the bad aspects, they can be
turned into evil monsters. Last, the third chapter captures the complex architecture of violence
and brutality that were presented in a narrative production.
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