Untitled - Sexey's School Moodle

“I” in the text and the personal “I.” Moreover, as Laura Tanner suggests, the reader
“imaginatively becomes the violator,” and is possibly compelled to project him/herself
into the action (qtd. in Walker). It is predominantly because of Ellis’ narrative style (first
person, present tense, stream of (un)consciousness) that the reader is coerced to adopt
Bateman’s point of view. Even though Ellis’ has purposely portrayed Bateman as a
despicable character—he is thoroughly arrogant, insincere, sexist, racist, vain, and
shallow—the narrative is so carefully crafted that the reader follows along, and begins to
adopt some of the protagonist’s concerns. For example, alongside Bateman, the reader
wonders how to get rid of Bethany’s body (249), or even, contemplates ways of torturing
female victims with the rat he just captured (309). Eventually, the reader becomes an
active participant in the various scenes of the novel, which implicates him or her in the
various objectifying processes of consumer society as well as in the various acts of
gruesome violence, as will be detailed later. It is through this process of participation
that an aspect of the novel’s social critique reveals itself: these first-hand experiences can
eventually prompt the reader to question the nature of such incidents and can draw him or
her into a state of self-reflection about the violent narcissism inherent in capitalist
consumption. If American Psycho lacks a discernible moral framework, as many of the
novel’s detractors lamented, it is because, rather than abiding by any broad concept of
social morality and preaching for a higher order, Ellis’s text compels the reader to decide
the moral nature of these acts for him or herself. Depending on his or her reaction, which
could range from utter disgust, total indifference, to perverse fascination, the reader is
forced to confront his or her feelings and/or possibly question the values of a society
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which condones such representations; a society of which he/she is not only a part, but in