American Psycho | Themes

American Psycho Themes

Oblivion

Oblivion is defined as a state of unawareness. This is the state that many of the people in this novel live in. As Bateman describes his daily activities, he often mentions people approaching him, saying hello, and then calling him by the wrong name. It seems many of the key people in the novel do not know who Bateman is, including Paul Owen, a man Bateman works with and of whom Bateman is jealous because Owen has been assigned a coveted project at work. Owen believes, up to the moment of his death, that Bateman is another man named Marcus Halberstam.

Not only do the people in the novel not seem to know who Bateman is, they also do not listen to the things Bateman has to say. People describe Pat Bateman as a quiet, innocent man. In the beginning pages of...
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