Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

by

Hunter S. Thompson

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Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: Part 1, Chapter 6 Summary & Analysis

Summary
Analysis
Many years ago, Duke lived in Big Sur near Lionel Olay, a rich friend who frequently gambled in Reno. One time, Lionel drove his Mercedes to Reno three weekends in a row and took a casino for $15,000. He skipped the fourth weekend, but by Monday morning, the General Manager of the casino called him and offered to fly him out the next weekend, all expenses paid. “The pit-men were bored” without him, the manager said.
Lionel Olay is another reflection of capitalism—he spends money needlessly on things like gambling, drives an expensive car, and clearly spends each weekend on a sort of mini-vacation. The General Manager is attempting to lure him back so they can (eventually) take his money, which Duke argues is a given.
Themes
The American Dream Theme Icon
Lionel took the offer and flew to Reno the following weekend. By Monday morning, he was $30,000 dollars in the hole and had to borrow a dime from the pilot to call for a ride home from the airport. His debt got him in trouble with “one of the world’s heaviest collection agencies,” and he was forced to sell his business. When even that failed to cover his debt, Lionel “got stomped” and was forced to take out a personal loan. “Gambling,” Duke says, “is a very heavy business—and Las Vegas makes Reno seem like your friendly neighborhood grocery store.”
As Las Vegas functions as a stand-in for American society, Thompson implies that society is just as violent and fueled by power and money. Lionel’s own quest for the American Dream left him financially bankrupt (which Thompson implies is often the case) and then he is “stomped,” or physically assaulted by those in power. Here, the American Dream is devised in such a way that it is difficult to obtain even for a rich, and presumably white, man.
Themes
The American Dream Theme Icon
Violence Theme Icon
Duke and Gonzo decide to go to the Desert Inn to see the Debbie Reynolds/Harry James show, and on the way, Duke notices a billboard that reads: “DON’T GAMBLE WITH MARIJUANA! / IN NEVADA: POSSESION—20 YEARS / SALE—LIFE!” Duke isn’t paying attention as he drives, and he runs the car up several curbs along the Strip. Suddenly, two men are yelling at him. “What the hell are you doing?” one screams. “You can’t park here!” Duke looks up and realizes they are in front of the Desert Inn. Gonzo gives the parking attendant five dollars to park the car and they go inside.
The billboard serves as a reminder to Duke, and the reader, that Duke and Gonzo are breaking multiple drug laws; however, not all the drugs they have are illegal, and the billboard draws attention to this as well. They certainly abuse ether, but it isn’t illegal, and even LSD wasn’t made illegal until 1968—yet marijuana is heavily criminalized. Thompson underscores the absurdity of these arbitrary designations.
Themes
Drugs and American Society  Theme Icon
Inside the Desert Inn, it isn’t long before Duke and Gonzo “lose control” and are kicked out by security. Back on the Strip, they sniff some more ether and take some mescaline, and then decide to go to Circus-Circus. When they arrive, the ether is beginning to take hold, and it makes them “behave like the village drunkard in some early Irish novel.” Duke bounces off the turnstiles at the entrance and can’t seem to get his money out of his pockets. The ether has made his mind “unable to communicate with [his] spinal column.” The security at the door pushes him inside anyway. “Ether is the perfect drug for Las Vegas,” Duke says. “In this town they love a drunk.”
Las Vegas “loves a drunk” because they figure alcoholics are easier to take advantage of and will lose more readily at gambling and spend more money everywhere else as well. As “drunks” only benefit those with power and money in Vegas, they are tolerated and indulged.
Themes
The American Dream Theme Icon
Drugs and American Society  Theme Icon
Get the entire Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas LitChart as a printable PDF.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas PDF
“Circus-Circus,” according to Duke, “is what the whole hep world would be doing on Saturday night if the Nazis had won the war.” Trapeze artists fly around “half-naked” above the crowded gambling tables. The “action runs twenty-four hours a day” and “the circus never ends.” There are attractions and “funhouse-type booths” everywhere, and for just ninety-nine cents, patrons can “stand in front of this fancy machine” that projects their picture, along with a voice message, two hundred feet tall on a screen high above the strip. Duke is used to seeing strange things, but the image of drunken gamblers in the sky over downtown Las Vegas is getting to him. “No,” says Duke, “this is not a good town for psychedelic drugs. Reality itself is too twisted.”
Duke implies that the “funhouse-type” atmosphere of Circus-Circus is a distraction to hide the fact that the casino (and American society by extension) is taking advantage of the masses. Duke has already outlined how the cards are stacked in the favor of the house in his story about Lionel Olay, and the flying trapeze artists and other spectacles of the casino are meant to detract from this reality, which, Duke implies, is the kind of thing only a “Nazi” would do. The casino willing and purposefully oppresses people, a reality Duke views as “twisted.”
Themes
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The American Dream Theme Icon
Quotes
Circus-Circus even has a bar on a Merry-Go-Round, and as Duke and Gonzo sit and have a drink, the mescaline begins to hit them. “I hate to say this,” says Gonzo, “but this place is getting to me. I think I’m getting the Fear.” Duke won’t hear of it. “Nonsense,” he says. They have come to find the American Dream, and it is not time to quit. “You must realize,” Duke tells Gonzo, “that we’ve found the main nerve.” Duke decides it is best to get Gonzo out of the casino, but Gonzo won’t step off the platform and keeps going around in circles. “Carson City,” Duke thinks. “Twenty years.” Duke approaches Gonzo from behind and pushes him off the carousel. “You fell,” says Duke. “Let’s go.”
When Gonzo claims to be “getting the Fear,” he means that his mescaline trip is turning bad on him and he is growing increasingly paranoid and uncomfortable, but this capitalized concept also reflects the general sense of terror that Thompson seems to find at the heart of society. Duke’s reference to Circus-Circus as “the main nerve” of the American Dream is again expressed at the end of the book when Duke confirms that owning the casino is indeed the American Dream—an extravagant lifestyle and “a license to steal.”
Themes
The American Dream Theme Icon
Drugs and American Society  Theme Icon