Preview

Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2065 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas
Throughout my semester in Topics in Contemporary Literature, I have read a lot of works by a lot of different writers. Given the array of material that has been covered, I also have been introduced to a slew of new ideas and amazing characters. Two prime examples of this can be found within Barry Hannah’s “Ray,” and Hunter S. Thompson’s “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.” Both of the aforementioned characters are extremely complex, even though they may seem superficial, and both are the main focuses within the text. On one end there is Ray, who is a character that indulges in womanizing, fighting, and is often driven by pure lust and impulse. On the other end there is Raoul Duke, which is a fake identity that is taken by one of the main characters …show more content…
After reading up on my psychology notes I came to realize that the one key thing that the two characters have in common is that it seems that they both exhibit the characteristics of a person that is suffering from Antisocial Personality Disorder. Antisocial Personality Disorder is characterized by all of the following: Failure to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behaviors as indicated by repeatedly performing acts that are grounds for arrest; Deceitfulness, as indicated by repeated lying, use of aliases, or conning others for personal profit or pleasure; Impulsivity or failure to plan ahead; Reckless disregard for safety of self or others; Lack of remorse; Irritability and aggressiveness, as indicated by repeated physical fights or assaults. Raoul Duke and his attorney fail to conform to social norms as they carouse around Las Vegas high off of an assortment of drugs, and they also are exhibiting reckless disregard for the safety of themselves and others by being under the influence while operating a motor vehicle. Their entire trip to Las Vegas is on impulse and they definitely did not plan ahead. “Raoul Duke” is in fact an alias, which plays into yet another aspect of the characteristics of a person that is suffering from Antisocial Personality Disorder. On the other end of the spectrum, Ray exhibits a lack of remorse after killing the eighty year old man, and a lack of remorse for his promiscuity. He also at times appears to be aggressive which leads him to get into a scuffle after he screams “I come from the Navy and I know how to kill in a fight! One of you is going to get it” (Pg.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Any story has the potential of becoming a classic novel that is read and loved by thousands, but the dimension that makes or breaks these stories lies directly within the characters involved. In Arthur Miller’s playwright, The Crucible, a plethora of distinct personalities are introduced, and it’s the unique interaction and histories between these people that expedites the entire story. Likewise, in the novels Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, and The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the narration of the tale is told from the perspective of characters that are distinct from any others involved. Nick Carraway possess the eyes through which readers experience The Great Gatsby, and though Carraway is a relevant figure throughout…

    • 261 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Characters change throughout the course of many books. Some may change physically and some may change emotionally. Other characters may change the reader’s thoughts of a character. Dallas Winston can be an example of that. Dallas Winston can be called many things. Some call him a hood, others can call him a hero. Throughout S.E. Hinton’s novel The Outsiders, Dallas Winston faces problems that change a reader’s perspective on him.…

    • 392 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The protagonist of a text acts upon other characters within the novel and help express themes and ideas through these collaborations. In One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey the protagonist, Randle Patrick McMurphy, comes into the psychiatric ward that manipulates patients to conform to their rules where he is the black sheep of them all. He constantly challenges Nurse Ratched, the caretaker of the patients, in an effort to help them in his own way. Kesey illustrates the dangers of the empowerment and control that result in both the triumph and defeat by pitching the strengths and weaknesses of the central and minor characters in the text, using diction and characterization to allow the audience to understand that when individuals are faced with extreme challenges in a stifling environment the consequences can be tragic.…

    • 663 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Car

    • 357 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Focus: characterization: how has the writer’s development of characters helped to make clear the significance of the theme?…

    • 357 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Creating complex and unique characters is the author's chance to bring to life a worthy piece of literature.…

    • 935 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Fahrenheit

    • 1156 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Ray Bradbury is a master of characterization techniques. He uses his expertise, such as indirect characterization, in the creation of Fahrenheit 451. In addition to learning about the explicit qualities of Bradbury’s characters, readers receive deeper insight as we carefully read his stories. In Fahrenheit 451, we learn more indirect information about the protagonist, Guy Montag, through the words used to introduce this character. We have a clear view of Montag’s thoughts and feelings that lead him into his own transformation.…

    • 1156 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    12 Angry Men

    • 1023 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The most persuasive pieces in favor of the defense was that the old man wouldn’t have taken fifteen seconds to get to his front door from his bedroom. Especially because of the stroke he got the year before that caused something to his left leg. Another piece of evidence was that the woman didn’t have her glasses on when she ‘saw’ the murder being committed. While for the prosecution, the most persuasive evidence was that the boy was not able to remember the movies that he saw that night and no one recognize him where he went.…

    • 1023 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Dr. Strangelove

    • 667 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Throughout Dr. Strangelove, there are examples of a variety of leaders and leadership styles or lack thereof. A majority of the characters in this movie obviously have a difficult time being effective leaders.…

    • 667 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Shining

    • 1035 Words
    • 5 Pages

    “All cruelty springs from weakness” (Lucius Annaeus Seneca). So is true for Stephen King’s character Jack Torrence in The Shining. Jack’s character is weak and flawed and because of this he is unsuccessful at being strong. On the other hand, Danny, Jack’s son, is very innocent but very strong in character, which helps him to defeat the evil that lives in the Overlook hotel. Although there natures are very different, they both have many of the same traits, such as empathy, courage, and maturity. But where Danny uses those traits to help him in his journey, Jack’s weaknesses make his traits flawed, irrelevant, and lead to his downfall and death. Jack and Danny show that what we do with our weaknesses defines our character.…

    • 1035 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    12 Angry Men

    • 286 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Twelve Angry Men was created in 1957 and directed by Sidney Lumet. The is basically about a dissenting juror in a murder trial who slowly manages to convince the others that the case they're examining is not as obviously clear as it seemed in court. The defense and the prosecution have rested and the jury is filing into the jury room to decide if a young Spanish American is guilty or innocent of murdering his father. It begins as an open and shut case of murder, but soon becomes a mini drama of each of the jurors' prejudices and preconceptions about the trial, the accused, and each other. A critical aspect of Justice is revealed in this film. This very intense film illustrates how the American court system protects individual rights through objective law, but at the same time glorifies heroic individualism through Juror # 8, Henry Fonda. Typecast as another liberal, he is a truth-seeking hero, who doubts the obvious. Throughout the movie, he stresses the idea of "reasonable doubt", and slowly chips away at the jury, who represent an all white male society, exposing the prejudices and preconceptions that directly influence the other jurors' snap judgments. So Henry wants to talk the case out. He's not 100% sure that the guy is guilty. He isn't ready to exert the group coercive power against this boy. He needs full proof, as to why they should consider him guilty. So, after the jury files back into the room, the film shows the only shot of the defendant in the murder trial, an 18-year-old Hispanic boy who is accused of stabbing his father to death late one…

    • 286 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    12 Angry Men

    • 332 Words
    • 2 Pages

    5. In an interview Lahiri has commented that at the heart of her short stories is “...the dilemma, the difficulty and often the impossibility of communicating emotional pain of affliction to others as well as to ourselves.”…

    • 332 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    12 Angry Men

    • 751 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Topic 2: In Twelve Angry Men, does Reginald Rose reassure or undermine the audience’s faith in the jury system as a means of achieving justice?…

    • 751 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    12 Angry Men

    • 1046 Words
    • 5 Pages

    7. Courage “…is when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what.”…

    • 1046 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    12 Angry Men

    • 892 Words
    • 4 Pages

    3. “I’m going to kill you,” and the kid screamed it out at the top of his lungs. Don’t tell me he didn’t mean it. Anybody says a thing like that the way he said it, they mean it.…

    • 892 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    12 Angry Men

    • 381 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In group settings, people will often comply with the opinions of other group members regardless of personal beliefs, and are not likely to voice their true opinion unless someone else does before them. This statement reflects social influence, which is described as interpersonal processes that change members’ thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Social influence plays a huge role in the film that we watched, and explains much of what went on amongst the 12 jury men. This statement also demonstrates conformity, which is the tendency to agree with other people’s decisions, and do what other people do. This can further go into the social identity theory, which states that people are motivated to establish and maintain their self-esteem. In certain situations, people will conform in order to keep themselves from standing out in a negative way. As Asch’s conformity study shows, a single person generally has a small chance of resisting the influence of the majority. However, in 12 Angry Men, the minority was able to transform the majority decision.…

    • 381 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays