American Psycho

A Clockwork Orange and American Psycho are both used as texts by their authors to satirically comment on their different societies, Burgess writing as a warning of the chaos the social revolution of the 1950’s and ‘60s might bring, while Ellis is commenting on the commercialism of the incredibly capitalist 1980’s, and how humanism has almost been abandoned because of this.
Both Burgess and Ellis’s satirical commentary of their societies is evident through the characters of their violent psychotic narrators. Unlike Burgess’ social outcast Alex, Ellis presents a complete conformist, compulsively fixed on the fashion and materialism of people around him as opposed to a human connection. Bateman presents the height of society in the 1980’s and
the epitome of the American dream that ‘society can’t afford to lose’, from his job on wall street to his friendship circle, despite the reliability of the narrator being most certainly questionable, as well the character being an established ‘relentless’ ‘lethal’ psychopath this provides insight that Ellis is showing the heartlessness of the 1980’s American society through the ‘psychotic’ but charming ‘illusion’ of Patrick Bateman.
Alex however, represents the new emerged rebellious youth of the 1960’s.
These youth sought to dissociate themselves with the values of the generation before them, which had caused a huge income gap and high political tensions in the cold war. Very often these youths abandoned the values of materialism and wealth, an attitude that is shown in Alex from the outset of the book ‘But as they say, money isn’t everything,’. This counter-culture turned into a social revolution throughout much of the western world. Alex certainly represents the ‘moral panic’ of the youth thought of in this era, as generally people thought the new teenagers were escaping social control and would cause havoc in society, as Alex and his ‘gang’ do as he is regularly seen ‘avoiding school’ and searching for ‘ultra violence’ late at night, luring ‘innocent’ girls back to his flat to be drugged and raped. Bateman’s values however contrast greatly to that of Alex, in fact where Alex represents those rebelling from society Bateman certainly shows to do the opposite and spends much time blending in to society with his ceaseless routines of returning video tapes, and dining in high society restaurants, Ellis commits much time to emphasising Bateman’s routine and ‘masking’ himself in society through the ‘idea of a Patrick Bateman’. Ellis has discussed his conformity saying he wanted to create ‘someone who was very emblematic of the period’. Therefore, it should be said that unlike Alex, Bateman’s motivation for
murder comes not from the idea of rebelling from society but instead from a psychopathic need to kill. Bateman admits to this through his internal monologue and emphasises his ‘need to engage in homicidal behaviour’ ‘cannot be corrected’ but ye he still needs to ‘fulfil his needs’. A need that certainly climaxes with Patrick Bateman, kidnapping and raping a young girl, torturing her with acid, power tools and a rat forced into her vagina as well as a being forced to watch a video of another victim ‘bleed from every orifice’. Therefore, the fact that such a violent and psychotic character, who simply wears a ‘mask of sanity’, can exists in the high society of New York and fits in so well, shows that Ellis’ violent character is used to satirise 1980’s society, as it has now become hollow and superficial. Patrick Bateman being ‘emblematic of the period’ shows just how Ellis satirise society as all though he has ‘all the characteristics of a human being according to Bateman he has not a single ‘identifiable emotion’ except for ‘green and disgust’. As a result, Bateman replaces his hollowness with ‘blood lust’. This, therefore shows how Ellis is satirising the highly materialistic and commercial society of the 1980’s and demonstrating how it is much like Bateman is a soulless and murderous creation taking advantage of those ‘weaker’ in society.