I at first found it surprising that this book was written in first person perspective, because early in the text the only hint of a first person narration comes around 6 pages in, as the main character Patrick Bateman responds to a question by the first character mentioned, Tim Price. This confused me, as at first I felt that Price was the central character (I had to check the blurb to think otherwise) and therefore I paid closer attention to Price’s narrative voice. The reason for this concentration on Price occurred to me as I was debating the significance of Price’s character, and I slowly began to see the connections between Patrick Bateman and Tim Price. It seems to me that Price is what Bateman wants to be seen as, and he seems he model himself in Price’s image.
As the narrator provides us with what they would like us to see, it is quite fitting that Price would be represented as the lead character initially; I feel Bateman’s character would typically want the reader to feel this. On page three Tim Price says, “I’m resourceful, I’m creative, I’m young, unscrupulous, highly motivated, highly skilled. In essence what I’m saying is society cannot afford to lose me. I’m an asset.” Bateman, seemingly listening in awe, does not respond or even offer narrative of his own. I believe that this ties in with Bateman’s presence in society, as he has to seek a model to learn how to act and to gain acceptance. This also shows that Bateman feels he does not belong; when a former girlfriend Bethany makes reference to his extremely rich family and questions his motives to work, he says, “I just want to fit in”. In relation to Tim Price and Evelyn Bateman says, “Timothy is the only interesting person I know.” (pg 22). All Bateman wants to do is fit in, however he is a killer, a psychotic; under law in society he is already an outsider and does not belong. The idea that Bateman is imitating others to conform is also highlighted in the constant reference of products (sometimes an entire chapter, such as “morning”, is dedicated to this), and the strange tendency of looking at what everyone is wearing and instantly knowing the designer (and often the price). Both of these things show that Bateman conforms to what he feels society expects of him, as he absorbs what everyone looks like and acts like.
Bateman makes a big deal out memorising information that I, and I think other readers would, find useless. This is perhaps an irony of Bateman’s character; although he thinks he is suave, cool, collected and brash, the reality is that he spends a lot of his time doing things that a normal person would see as abnormal (the killings, the endless supply of facts and the strong need to conform).
Throughout the book I gained a brief insight to Patrick Bateman’s past. His family is very rich, however Bateman has a high paying job he does not need, and has spent most of his life getting an education so he could fit in. Bateman often hints at a past shrouded in violence; he says he “raped the maid” when he was fourteen, he severed a girls head while in University and generally had killed a lot of people before the book took place. As a side note, if I had no prior knowledge to the subject matter of the book I would not have suspected the narrator of it to be a psychotic murderer until the book was roughly a third of the way through! But, such is the nature of 'American Psycho'. It is in essence a journey through a period of years of Patrick Bateman’s life, but what the reader witnesses a journey through insanity. We occasionally get the impression that Bateman is imagining things, and that some of the narrative is simply a figment of his imagination. For example on Pg 231 Bateman wonders what a waiter would do if he did something crazy, but then he says “…but since I’m really dreaming I’m able to ask…” Several chapters are also, for example “a glimpse of Thursday afternoon”, dedicated specifically to documenting this insanity. We see firsthand the ravings and senseless garble that are Patrick Bateman’s interpretation of the world around him, and most of the narrative does not make sense (for example in “a glimpse of Thursday afternoon” Patrick is subjected to shopkeepers not answering him and who instead sing a song by Madonna at him).
Patrick Bateman’s killing is not done indiscriminately; he does not kill or seriously harm those that show him genuine love, affection or concern. These are people like Jane, his secretary, and Caruthers, a gay man who has a crush on Bateman, who walks away from Bateman bruised but alive. It also seems that when the people that are affectionate to Bateman get too close to him they get hurt (Caruthers grabs his leg and gets kicked, Jane sleeps with him and gets a black eye). Bethany, his ex lover, is a good example of this – she doesn’t give in to Bateman’s sexual offer and shows real emotion towards him, asking “what’s wrong?” (a thing which other characters are not inclined to do) when he begins to act strangely. Bateman leaves her be. Bateman’s victims mostly slot in to one of two categories, the 'lower class' people who Bateman views as unintelligent, and the 'upper class' who are self absorbed. He kills those who the people around him deem as "scum", or what he believes are the people society are trying to forget: prostitutes, homeless people, taxi drivers and janitors are among them. The child the Bateman kills at the zoo (in the aptly named chapter, “killing child at the zoo”) is an example of the inferior intelligence that Bateman seems to despise, and after killing the child he remarks, “it was just so easy!”
Some 'upper class' characters such as Evelyn are subject to mental torture and tests rather than outright violence, because hurting them would go against the expectations of society (they would not be forgotten, and are supposed to be important to Bateman). This is highlighted in the scene in which Evelyn eats a urinal cake that is coated in chocolate, simply because it came in a “Godiva” box (an expensive and designer blend of chocolate). Courtney is a victim of the “higher class” who survives a long time without being murdered; she is only killed after she succumbs to sex with a prostitute and reduces herself to the same level. Paul Owen is possibly another exception to the rule. He is killed by Bateman because Bateman felt threatened by his presence; Paul Owen was loud about his conquests, a thing which seemed to annoy Bateman, and he was the proud owner of the Fisher Account. This intensify’s my view on Bateman’s general motivation to continue, as when he was presented with someone (Paul Owen) that endangered his status, they had to be eliminated for Bateman to feel secure.
Bateman’s altogether motivation can be narrowed down to sex, power, conformity/idolisation, social acceptance, fantasy and perfection. The sex in “American Psycho” is depicted much the same as the kill scenes, as the graphic detail (that often rivals pornography) is there to show the reader exactly what Bateman thinks he is doing. This is ironic because the reader will most likely assume what they are reading is true, however because it is Bateman that is writing the passage it is unclear to the truthfulness of this event and moreover anything else in the book, and may be there simply as an output for his manufactured ego. The power that Bateman seeks is through his victims. He tortures and mocks them before death, and generally shows his power over them through administering physical pain. An interesting thing to note about his victims is the fashion in which he takes power over them. The men that he kills all suffer quick, stabbing deaths (the bum in the ally, Paul Owen, the gay man on the street) while the women he kills will often be kept alive for as long as possible, and tortured in a way that is explicitly sexual and demeaning towards females on the whole. Bateman is also a sexual sadist, as in many cases he mutilates the genitalis of women and will store them away to keep for an undisclosed amount of time. The notion that Bateman is cannibalistic is seen throughout the book in the different kill scenes, as he will often lick blood from a corpse or bite a victim, however it becomes most evident in the chapter, “tries to cook and eat girl” that Bateman often has the inclination and notion to eat parts of his victims. This gives him the ultimate power, as eating his victims in my opinion is the ultimate power, and the ultimate humiliation. The need that Bateman has to conform is largely a pivotal factor of the book; most of his actions are attributed to eradicating what he feels are his social inferiors (those that his peers despise or would mock) and keeping up with everyone else (the business card incident, the latest restaurants, the fashion). He constantly strives to be accepted, and tries to convince the people around him that he is something that he is not. The idea that “American Psycho” may be fiction within a fiction is quite interesting. The general idea behind this is that “American Psycho” is simply one big fantasy of Bateman’s, with actual events lining the lie. This would reinforce the apparent intention of the Ellis, which is satirical (this would be saying that the 80s was a lie). It would also explain Bateman’s constant reference to his seemingly immaculate appearance, his daily cleaning procedure (in “morning”), his incredible health and level of fitness (which is quite obviously far from incredible); the book could just be one huge ego boost!