Examine How This Passage Develops the Stylistic and Thematic Concerns of American Psycho

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Examine How This Passage Develops the Stylistic and Thematic Concerns of American Psycho In this passage, Ellis use of cinematic and multi-media language shows Bateman’s distorted version of reality. This is supported by Ellis’ exploration of the fictional nature of Bateman’s narrative by emphasizing its metafictional qualities. In the passage Chase Manhattan, Ellis’ use of cinematic and multi-media language shows Bateman’s distorted version of reality. This is seen in Bateman’s simile, “guns flashing like in a movie” and also “I keep thinking there should be music”. This shows Bateman’s break down of sanity and that he thinks he is living his life is like he is in a film. This then leads us to question the reliability of the narrator and question whether anything that Bateman says is real, or it is all just in his head, especially the more gruesome murders he commits. What also leads us to question whether anything he Bateman says is real. Ellis’ use of ellipses at the end of each paragraph shows how ‘Chase Manhattan’ is like a story and each paragraph is like a chapter. This further backs up the idea that the whole ‘Chase Manhattan’ is in Bateman’s head and does not actually happen. Ellis in this passage uses language to explore both the unrealistic and casual depiction of violence. We can see this when Bateman says after murdering two people “nice going Bateman”. The casualness of his attitude compared to how graphically and violently he killed them, makes the murders even more dramatic and disturbing. This is Batman’s only escape from the reality of his boring and mundane life of a yuppie. As well as this, when Bateman says “nice going Bateman”, the use of colloquial language contrasts normal reality to what happens in this scene, highlighting how unrealistic this scene is. Ellis also uses a detached narrator In this scene to again outline the

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