American Psycho

American Psycho Literary Elements

Genre

Transgressive fiction / Satire

Setting and Context

New York City, 1987

Narrator and Point of View

Patrick Bateman

Tone and Mood

Detached, cynical, amoral

Protagonist and Antagonist

Protagonist: Patrick Bateman; Antagonist: Patrick Bateman

Major Conflict

The major conflict is the internal struggle between two sides of Patrick's personality: the "boy next door" and "evil psychopath."

Climax

Patrick's murder of Paul Owen.

Foreshadowing

The opening line—"ABANDON ALL HOPE YE WHO ENTER HERE," a reference to Dante's "Inferno"—foreshadows the gruesome content to come.

Understatement

Patrick casually admits to his murders in an understated fashion, as when he tells Daisy that he specializes in "murders and executions."

Allusions

The opening line alludes directly to Dante's "Inferno."

Imagery

Patrick focuses on designer labels, status symbols, and surface details throughout the entirety of the novel.

Paradox

Patrick murders Paul Owen, then learns from Harold Carnes that he is still alive.

Parallelism

Patrick repeatedly describes Jean as, "my secretary who is in love with me."

Metonymy and Synecdoche

Patrick uses metonymy when he reductively describes women as "hardbodies." Patrick uses synecdoche when he refers to the finance world as Wall Street.

Personification

Patrick hallucinates that an ATM tells him to feed it stray cats.

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