Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in American Psycho, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Materialism and Consumption
Identity and Isolation
Monotony and Desensitization
Vice and Violence
The Truth
Summary
Analysis
For the third time, Bateman pauses the narrative of his story: this time to tell the reader about the successful career of the 1980s band Huey Lewis and the News. Of all of these sequences in the novel, this one is the longest. Bateman goes on and on, detailing each different one of the band’s albums – how their sound changed and developed, how the lead singer Huey Lewis found his voice, and how their hits were received by the public. Not only does Bateman go into incredible detail, but he also relays his deep feelings for the band, expressing his fascination with and love of their music and development and, ultimately, declaring Huey Lewis “a vocalist, musician, and writer who just can’t be stopped.”
Again, this break in the narrative (the third and final) comes after a climactic moment. The irony this time is palpable; Bateman, barely able to tell his own story, is able to recite perfectly the story of the entire career of Huey Lewis and the News, sharing his love for the band (a rare moment of affection) and complimenting Lewis (perhaps the first real compliment he’s given so far). In a way, this chapter serves to distract the reader from the previous one, helping us to forget the actions above and accept that there will be no follow-up or consequences. Is Bateman purposefully trying to hide the truth, or has he just not come down from a moment of drug-induced psychosis?
Themes
