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.
