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That Star Strangled Banner
It’s quite amazing how many questions can emerge from one’s head as they’re plotting their latest murderous exploit. Despite the obvious, which weapon should be used, an infinite number of criteria must be considered. For instance, how soon is lunch? The tactful dissection of a screaming individual may deter or heighten one’s appetite. Subsequent questions may include how should they be cooked? These are but a few of the possibilities that must be considered approaching mealtime. It is also important to note whether or not there will be time to have a suit dry cleaned before an important meeting with a client. If not, would they notice the bits of hair in the buttonholes?
While most people only consider these questions some of the time, for Patrick Bateman it is a continual thought process. Bateman isn’t fazed by the clear ignorance of all those who choose to ignore the stains on the sidewalk, for he is comfortable (for the most part) with his own, accepted reality. Though he is irritated by most of the people he meets, he does hold a certain regard for his country. Likewise, it is his drive towards ideal Americanism that fuels all aspects of his life. Taking that into account, his unexpected actions indeed reflect his personal morals and those of the associated society. Bateman believes in upholding the American identity above all else and utilizes a mask equally portrayed by the secondary character. As a dedicated American in a sea of dedicated Americans he takes action against all those who go against the ‘American way’. Symbolizing the perfect American, he does what all good citizens should do, which is to forcefully uphold all that defies America. This is what Patrick Bateman does; viable and just acts of violent patriotism.
The true purpose of patriotism must not be confused with its portrayed media image. To be patriotic is to utilize one’s inherent responsibility to fellow citizens. Remembering, that one’s fellow citizens is not always all citizens. Patriotism is not defined by strictly abiding by the regulations set by one’s government. It can in fact include quite the opposite as “patriotism does not require one to agree with everything that his country does and … actually [promotes] analytical questioning in a quest to make the country the best it possibly can be.” (“Patriotism”).
Upon taking a deeper look, one can see the true, underlying purpose of the patriotic attitude and its primary implication in ethical theory. Contemporary ethicist, Paul Gomberg, compared patriotism to racism, saying that it gave an individual greater moral duty to the members on its Nation than the non-members. (“Patriotism”).
Though patriotism may be ultimately racist, that doesn’t make it unethical. Murder for the sake of patriotism isn’t at all unethical and lives up to the highest of moral standards. When Bateman’s exploits are compared against quite a few ethical theories they results in being quite just.
Applying the perspective of normative ethics, there are three major theories that must be considered; Consequentialism, the deontological approach and virtue ethics.
Consequentialism judges the ethicality of a situation by the “good” produced by the outcome. For the level of “good” to be sufficient, it has to benefit the majority of individuals affected by said outcome. To apply this to patriotic murder, yes, murder is terrible for the victim; however, there is also a greater good. For instance, by murdering a common prostitute one can ensure that less American families will be destroyed by the infidelity associated with said street worker, thus making the murder patriotically valid (“Consequentialism”).
The deontological approach is commonly referred to as obligation-based ethics. This is appropriate as the theory suggests that ethical rules bind an individual to their duty, and there is no greater duty than to one’s country. The true reason for of Bateman’s executions is just that; he is fulfilling his duty to his country. If a country is to raise prospering, well-rounded citizens it must not allow its children to be influenced by the economically-useless homeless. The protagonist recognizes this and takes the situation into his own hands (“Deontological Ethics”).
As patriotism can be described as the love for one’s country and love is a theological virtue it is understandable that patriarchal murder should fall equally into the category of virtue ethics. This branch of moral philosophy greatly encourages the concept of achieving ‘eudemonia’, which is a state of human flourishing. Such a state can be reached when an entity practices its virtues, which in terms of a specific object, is a habit or quality that allows it to succeed in its life’s purpose. A simple example would be a kitchen knife. The purpose of a kitchen knife is to be sharp, the sharpness of a kitchen knife is its virtue and by being sharp the kitchen knife can reach ‘eudemonia’. Applying this to the protagonist, the purpose of a serial killer is to kill a lot of people; the need to kill is the virtue of the serial killer and by killing a lot of people Patrick Bateman can reach ‘eudemonia’. To deny him from reaching this state would be highly immoral (“Virtue ethics”).
Seeing as the purpose of all patriotism lies in the obligation to one’s country and the fulfillment of one’s own purpose, the reality of said acts must be certain. If the action is mearly imaginary then while it will indeed benefit the individual, it will not be contributing to the welfare of the people. Therefore, none of Patrick Bateman’s murderous exploits are figments of imagination but are instead real in the mindsets of all associated individuals. This ensures that the results are beneficial to the society as well.
Approaching the reality emphasized in the novel from a more individual perspective, it is clear that while Bateman’s sense of reasoning and rationalization may not be outright apparent, his sense of reality is in no way affected by the sporatic fragmentation of his thought processes. In Bateman’s case, reality must not be viewed as it is commonly accepted, but instead as a phenomenological reality.
“On a much broader and more subjective level, the private experiences, curiosity, inquiry, and selective involvement in the personal interpretation of an event shapes reality as seen by one and only one individual and hence is called phenomenological. This form of reality might be common to others as well, but at times could also be so unique to oneself as to be never experienced or agreed upon by any one else,”
(“Reality”).
Bringing the phenomenological reality into perspective, though a reality may be unique to an individual it is still an accepted reality, for though it may have been solely experienced by one individual, the fact that it was experienced at all transforms it into a real event.
Agreeing with the belief that there is no objective reality in the case of this novel, one can conclude that the reality of each individual from American Psycho does not stray beyond the perceptions or beliefs the individuals have of their own personal realities (“Reality”).
Philosophy tends to address this topic through two areas; the nature of reality itself and the correlation between reality and the mind. It is evident through multiple instances that the individuals associated with Patrick Bateman are simply choosing to ignore the truth and to remain oblivious.
As “reality is what you can get away with,” (“Reality”) the fact that the other major characters of the novel choose to live in a state of complete unconsciousness, does not at all reflect upon the validity of Bateman’s actions. The fact remains, that all of the other yuppies are choosing to portray the image of a yuppie, just as Bateman does, whether or not they comprehend (or care about) what is actually going on. Each character is reflective of Bateman’s ideal in this way as they all “just want to fit in” (Ellis, 341).
Whether or not the principle characters of the novel understand what going on behind closed doors, the 1980’s society as a whole chooses to accept it. Often, they’re blatantly racist and relish in the thought that they are living in the best country in the world. While murder isn’t generally accepted by the modern community, for Patrick Bateman, murder is what the community lives for as it’s an accepted part of daily life.
It must be emphasized that moral and ethical propositions do not reflect objective and universal moral truths. Social issues such as morality are but cultural artifacts applicable only to certain social, cultural, historical and personal circumstances. There is no denying that culture, plays a major role in the appearance of Patrick Bateman, for there are even a few chapters solely devoted to the popular music of the time. As moral values are applicable only within certain cultural boundaries one comes to the realization that the murder of individuals who are interrupting the accepted culture is not immoral in this case but completely acceptable (“Moral relativism”).
Applying the theories of philosopher John Cook to the equation, the ideas of universal morals in general are “aimed at getting people to admit that although it may seem to them that their moral principles are self-evidently true, and hence seem to be grounds for passing judgment on other peoples, in fact, the self-evidence of these principles is a kind of illusion,” (“Cultural relativism”).
Murder has never been immoral when it is applied to the protection of one’s nation, for there has always been war and violence. War is simply the act of protecting a nation from foreign threats outside of its boarders. Patrick Bateman is doing exactly the same thing as the country’s celebrated soldiers, except he is within the bounds of the United States. There were no prostitutes or homeless people present at the visualization of the American Dream.
Yes, Patrick Bateman is an advocate for brutality, but his dissections and decapitations do not go unwarranted. The murder of those who stand in the way of an idealistic society has always been just and accepted, for the needs of the many do outweigh the needs of the few. Bateman wields his axe like a flag, standing up for all that is patriotically American, all that is real, and all that is accepted, with a swift chop to the face.
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