Main Characters In Las Vegas

1. Describe the setting, including the place and setting.
The book takes place mainly in Las Vegas, in 1971. It takes place in the deserts of Vegas during their journey from Los Angeles to Vegas. It also has places in Los Angeles such as the Beverly Hills Hotel during exposition or flashback sequences.
2. Main characters- Who are they? How are they involved? What do they look like?
The main characters are Raoul Duke and his attorney, Dr. Gonzo. Raoul is a sports journalist that was sent to Vegas to cover the Mint 400 race. He is someone who doesn’t really care about the law as he uses drugs and drinks a lot while on his journey, and this sometimes lands him in situations where he has to figure out a way to avoid getting in trouble. He is
a care free person who wears Acapulco shirts, sunglasses and a sun hat. Dr. Gonzo is Raoul’s attorney who is just as carefree as Raoul is. He is described as a fat foreigner by Raoul and he simply accompanies Raoul in case he gets tangled in some legal problems.
3. Initial incident in the beginning of the story that started the action. How does the conflict start?
The initial incident is when Raoul is told by Lacerda about a story he is tasked with covering. He was asked to cover the Mint 400 race in Las Vegas. From there, he has to travel to Vegas where he starts hallucinating and having troubles getting his story. His conflict is trying to get his job done and cover the story, but when the race ended and he has no story, he starts panicking and tries to escape until his attorney sends him a telegram saying that he has another story to cover.
4. Describe the plot so far.
Raoul is a sports journalist who was tasked with covering the Mint 400 race in Las Vegas.
His attorney, Dr. Gonzo, accompanies him on his travel from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. On the way, they do many drugs and drink lots of alcohol, pick up a hitchhiker and hallucinate like crazy before arriving at their hotel. After the race started, Raoul leaves before the race ends because he is bored and high, so he decides to go to a bar. The next day, he wakes up to realize that his attorney has abandoned him and has gone back to Los Angeles. Raoul tries to run away as he has no story and head back to Los Angeles without paying for the hotel. He then receives a telegram from Dr. Gonzo about a new story he is tasked with covering, the National District Attorney’s Conference on Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. He still thinks about running away, until he is caught by police officer for speeding and sees the hitchhiker again, when he starts panicking about being caught for driving while drunk and high. However, he changes his mind after he calls Dr. Gonzo who assures him he’s not going to get in trouble with anyone. He decides to return to Vegas and meet his attorney again at the Flamingo Hotel to cover this new
story.
Reflection
I enjoy the book so far. It is funny to see Raoul’s experience with the drugs and his various hallucinations as well as when he freaks out for no apparent reason, such as when he thinks he sees giant lizards or when he thinks he about to get caught and sent to jail by his two “personal enemies”; the hitchhiker and the cop that caught him speeding. It’s also funny to see how Dr. Gonzo is affected by the drugs as well as he is just very outlandish and loud. It is also interesting to see the type of character Raoul is, as he is just a carefree guy who does drugs and drinks alcohol without caring too much about the consequences, but at the same time, he freaks out for unnecessary reasons. I like the characters, their state of mind while they are under the influence of the drugs and the over exaggeration of certain things. What I don’t like about the story is how at some points, it gets really confusing during parts where the characters are high and it makes it hard for me to understand what is going on. I also don’t like how the main character’s name and time period are said somewhere in the middle of the first half. I prefer having the setting and characters established near the beginning of the story as opposed a quarter into the book. I also don’t understand some of the drug references which kind of makes it hard for me to follow what is happening. The characters are very humorous. Raoul and Dr. Gonzo have some interesting experiences when they are hallucinating or have weird demands, such as when Dr. Gonzo keeps yelling at Raoul to give him the radio while he is in the bathtub, or when Raoul suggests they do more drugs after they’ve already been drunk and high. They definitely are not normal law abiding citizens, but they are interesting characters. They would be someone who I wouldn’t want to hang around with necessarily, but whose stories I enjoy listening.
Predictions
1.
What do you think will happen next?
I think that Raoul will arrive at the conference to see his attorney, and he will again somehow manage to not get the story because he will have the same after effect from the drugs Dr. Gonzo had while he was yelling at Raoul in the bathtub. And through this experience, he again fails to get the story.
2. What do you think will happen by the end of the story?
I think after the fail at the conference, Raoul is being pursued by the police for doing drugs and alcohol after the other attorneys report him and he decides to just relax and ride his car out somewhere until he gets caught someday. I think that he will just stop worrying about the police and being paranoid about his hallucinations and simply start laughing as he rides off
somewhere.