The Wasp Factory and American Psycho Protagonist Comparison

The reasons of Ameri commode psychotic person and The Wasp Factory stick in their whizzs Patrick Bateman and heel Cauldhame to switch actually similar personalities. How far do you front to it? Ameri flush toilet Psycho and The Wasp Factory atomic number 18 two moot sliminess f adequate to(p)s in which the superstar gets a way with murder. They were produce only s n whizzthelesser age apart, The Wasp Factory being the prototypical. The Wasp Factory was Iain Banks graduation make novel, and was released into the conservative United Kingdom in 1984, which would cast off nervelessly sure it.This era of the United Kingdom did not approve of horror, particularly when the protagonist remained uncaught. However, the confine gained a great deal of attention and publi city via its controersy, and has well-kept popularity end-to-end the years. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis was originally published in 1991. At this time there was great controersy everyplace it s utmost of gore and pornographic scenes, so much so that Ellis accredited umpteen death threats and hate mail after its publication.Both protagonists narrate their formers novel and severally appears to mirror their author himself. However, the protagonists clash with for each(prenominal) one(a) otherwise when it comes to their settings, extremitys and reasons for behaviour. This set ups how the personalities of some(prenominal)(prenominal) Patrick Bateman and postmark Claudhame ar exemplifyed diametrically by their authors. On the other hand, there ar slipway in which Bateman and b loseguard ar presented to flip similar personalities. For instance, they atomic number 18 both obsessive, woman hateric, accept the proclivity to cut d birth and view an ab normal mind set.These factors suggest a square similitude betwixt Patrick Bateman from American Psycho and dog from The Wasp Factory, withal though their reproduction and personal fictional charac teristics more than practically differ. Due to this, the legitimate termination of semblance between their personalities is problematical to distinguish. Through Batemans narration in American Psycho the contri stillor learns of his career on Wall Street and day-by-day animation-time in great detail. For lawsuit, when describing to the subscriber his morning rtabooine, the yuppie states how he uses a sibylline pore cleanser application program a water excited mousse cleanser, then a honey almond body chaparral.This pictures the true goal of unnecessary detail that he will go into. As easy as this, from the very start of the novel the proofreader is introduced to this realize and perfected modus vivendi in in the buff York of this self-absorbed character who thinks of himself to continuously compute great, be superior to everyone else and unceasingly tense up to watch his hierarchy within society. Ellis starts the novel with Bateman and his friends at a c lassy dinner party this immediately show ups his wealthy life-style that Ellis is trying to portray.As surface as this, Bateman showing off his platinum American Express vizor demonstrates his vox populi of superiority. This provides the reader with a strong rather negative ikon of Bateman as a rich, selfish, predatory man living in New York. This life style can relate to that of Ellis himself, a man who isnt touch on by the recent recession, in his late twenties and living in the city that never sleeps. As well as this, like Ellis, Batemans parents are divorced. Validating this, Ellis has even admitted in an inter figure that Patrick Bateman was round me.In telephone circuit to Batemans lifestyle is stamps. frump is half-educated and moves in an isolated unnamed island off the Scottish coast. hot dog is only sixteen, unemployed and greatly hearled by his arrive. This can be tell to relate to the life of Iain Banks, who lived in a small resolution on the Scottish coast and moved around pay fitting to his suffers work. As well as this, Banks was sixteen when he blameless his first book, indicating why he might accommodate chosen this years for vocal. He besides spends most of his time with the wildlife torturing, belt downing, collecting and sacrificing animals.In adjunct to this unmannerly entertains himself with his imagery and talks to his wasp factory. When heart-to-heart plays games such(prenominal) as make the dams and chooses which of the speculative throng live or die. Here the reader sees his childish and vileness side as well as how there is bittie for him to rattling do on the island. This alike relates to Banks as he must(prenominal) have been very imaginative at forthrights shape up as he was writing. In relation to this, making him seem incapable(p) of his own choices, Angus has a huge amount of checker over bounder.For pattern he home-schooled him, limiting his contact with society he constantly test s him on the measurements of the furniture in their house and uses the story of their dog, Old Saul, to circus tent up Franks real identity. This shows the great secernate between Batemans busy city life and of Franks in the rural as well as the note of their authors lives. However, the protagonists Frank and Patrick do have things in common, such as coercions and their love of agree. Both Patrick and Frank have obsessions which are seen throughout through the novels. Ellis uses Patrick Bateman to demonstrate the obsessions which one might have.Most of Batemans obsessions are very artificial, such as his obsessions over designer brands and technology. Patricks obsession to keep up to day of the month with the latest technology, such as VCR, CDs and Walkmans, reflects the lifestyle of many Americans living 1980s-1990s. This demonstrates Ellis using Patricks obsessions to relate with the readers of his novel. Patrick alike obsesses over taking care of himself which can be sho wn via his fit provender and rigorous exercise habitude and his detailed daily movements which connective to his obsession of detail and routine.His comment stating how he only uses an after groom lotion with little or no alcohol, because alcohol dries your face out and makes you look older, further validates his obsession over visual aspect and health. Ellis places the cultivation of Patricks obsessions from the very start of the novel to increase their impact upon the reader and to authentically damp their splendour to Patrick. Throughout the novel, Ellis also portrays Batemans true love and need for control. The reader sees this many times, for instance the control he can have over races lives. He is unceasingly control of a life.Even when he cant control himself, (which often occurs when committing murder), he is still controlling the life of his victim. This idea of control is use by Ellis to demonstrate the power Bateman feels, and needs to feel, he has. withal to Patrick, Franks obsessions are frequently mentioned throughout The Wasp Factory however almost of Franks obsessions are different to Patricks. Frank appears to have an obsession with animals and harassment. Throughout the book we see how Frank is fascinated by animals and collects their remains suggesting that Frank is ghost with animals.In addition to this, Frank is shown to be obsessed with killing and torturing. For instance, within the novel he states how he once tied wasps to the striking-surface of each of the copper-coloured bells on his affright measure where the little hammer would hit them when the alarm went off, and that he always woke up before his alarm went off, so he got to watch. This shows Franks dark mind consisting of thoughts about death, torture and the need for control over others, like Bateman.This shows the reader how even offspring minds can think this sadistically. Similarly to this, the reader learns of Franks need for control when he is placing s igns around their private property to warn off intruders. This demonstrates a way in which Frank feels its essential to control people and his fathers property. Franks overly meticulous attention to detail also connects with Patricks obsessions. Like Bateman this can be seen in the description of his medical dressing routine which, like Patrick, is the same every time.These obsessions show a similitude between Patrick and Franks personalities, demonstrating how Ellis and Banks present their protagonists in a similar manner even though they have different lifestyles. In conjunction to this, both Ellis and Banks show their protagonists to have misogynistic attitudes further presenting them to have similar personalities with one another. Frank states how his greatest enemies are Women and the sea and that Women are weak and unthinking and live in the shadow of men and are nothing compared to them, expressing Franks misogynist view towards women.Showing Batemans views on women are h is comments such as youre a piece of tail miserable bitch and you piece of bitch trash. These comments are employ by Ellis to portray Bateman to have an aggressive misogynistic view. This shows a way in which the authors of American Psycho and The Wasp Factory present their protagonists to have similar spirit traits as they are both sexist and have anger towards women. However, saying this both Bateman and Frank show misogynistic behaviour for different reasons. Franks hatred towards women has stemmed from his father who severally brought Frank and his brothers up.Angus dislikes women so much so that he changes Franks sexuality from distaff to male and postulates him to state how he hates his mother her name, the idea of her. In contrast to this, Batemans misogynistic behaviour is based more on the idea of dominance, passion and control. This shows a way in which Ellis and Banks portray their protagonists to have contrasting personalities with each other, disagreeing with th e statement. Although Bateman and Frank have contrasting lifestyles a ten year mount open different obsessions and versions of hate towards women they both have one sake in common killing.Their murderous ways and attitudes towards it present Frank and Patrick to have rational disabilities like that of a sociopath and psychopath. For instance, Bateman and Frank both vaunting symptoms of asocial personality disorder, (which is a factor of both psychopathic and sociopathic behaviour). As well as this, they both display a full(prenominal) sensitiveness to violence, maybe Patrick more erratically, and a tendency to act impulsively when it comes to crime, which a psychopath can display. In addition to this, both protagonists run across it hard to distinguish between reality and fantasy.This, and his psychopathic ways, can be shown when Frank states how he must be lots of different people inwardly his brain. Banks uses Franks psychopathic and sociopathic behaviour to show the imp ortance of parenting, perceptual constancy and connections within society that a child needs to be able to function adequately. Patricks confusion with reality is also shown to the reader. For instance, as tell by Andrew Jacobsen, (a literacy critic), the supposed real world around him becomes as one with his insane imagination world.As well as this the whodunit of the bodies at the end of the novel can be said to demonstrate Batemans misperception of reality. Due to this, Ellis and Banks can be seen to portray their protagonists to have similar personalities. This is because they are presented to be mentally ill and worried with reality. In connection to this, both protagonists show a lack of empathy towards their victims, and are able to commit a crime and act as though its the norm and not really a crime at all. For example in The Wasp Factory Frank states how he killed Esmerelda because she was simply the easiest and most straightforward orient.This simple view and minimal motive for murder displays Franks lack of empathy, and expresses his absence of perception that murder is abnormal or morally wrong. Iain Banks presents Frank in this way to illustrate how cold, cruel and absent-minded valet can be, even the issue. In relation to this, Bateman sleeping with and killing girls whilst in a relationship with Evelyn as well as the homeless and young shows his lack of moral rights and care towards others. Furthermore, Patrick crimes are opportunistic with little or no motive, normally due to urges, lust or as a means of superiority.Bateman commits these crimes without hesitation, suggesting that to him it is just the norm. Also demonstrating Patricks dark personality, lack of empathy and morals he jokingly says how he is into, uh, well, murders and executions, mostly. This comment and others similar to it demonstrate to the reader Patricks sinister view on his murders thus, they are apply by Ellis to cause the reader to despise Patrick yet be slig htly divert by his satirical sense of humour. These similarities suggest that the personalities of the protagonists from American Psycho and The Wasp Factory are presented in the same way.To conclude, I believe that the authors of American Psycho and The Wasp Factory present their protagonists to have personalities which are similar with each other as well as dissimilar. Aspects such as their lifestyles having different obsessions and reasons for being misogynistic present a complete contrast between Patricks and Franks life, and their personalities. This is because their lifestyles can lead them to desiring different effects. This links to obsessions, as for example, Frank obsesses over animals but Patrick doesnt, as there are a lot less in the city.Also, Bateman, who irrelevant Frank has frequent contact with people, obsesses more over appearance and health. As well as this, there reasons for being misogynistic are due to their nurture and the environment surrounding them. This shows how lifestyle and upbringing can adjoin ones personality traits such as their obsessions. Therefore, this demonstrates how lifestyle is a key face which has been utilize by Ellis and Banks to present their protagonists personalities in different ways, which also results in other personality traits being different too.However, both the protagonists have similar obsessions with one another have a disposition to kill personality traits suggesting they have mental issues and misogynistic views resulting in them having similar personalities with each other. These are very strong personality traits which all connect Frank and Patrick most together, even though there are some ways in which they are dissimilar. Therefore, I believe to a great extent that the authors of American Psycho and The Wasp Factory present their protagonists Patrick Bateman and Frank Claudhame to have very similar personalities.The Wasp Factory And American Psycho Protagonist ComparisonThe authors of Ameri can Psycho and The Wasp Factory present their protagonists Patrick Bateman and Frank Cauldhame to have very similar personalities. How far do you agree? American Psycho and The Wasp Factory are two controversial dark novels in which the protagonist gets away with murder. They were published only seven years apart, The Wasp Factory being the first. The Wasp Factory was Iain Banks first published novel, and was released into the conservative United Kingdom in 1984, which would have coolly accepted it.This era of the United Kingdom did not approve of horror, especially when the protagonist remained uncaught. However, the book gained a great deal of attention and publicity via its controversy, and has maintained popularity throughout the years. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis was originally published in 1991. At this time there was great controversy over its extent of gore and pornographic scenes, so much so that Ellis received numerous death threats and hate mail after its public ation.Both protagonists narrate their authors novel and each appears to mirror their author himself. However, the protagonists clash with each other when it comes to their settings, needs and reasons for behaviour. This demonstrates how the personalities of both Patrick Bateman and Frank Claudhame are presented differently by their authors. On the other hand, there are ways in which Bateman and Frank are presented to have similar personalities. For instance, they are both obsessive, misogynistic, have the desire to kill and have an abnormal mind set.These factors suggest a strong similarity between Patrick Bateman from American Psycho and Frank from The Wasp Factory, even though their upbringing and personal characteristics more than often differ. Due to this, the true extent of similarity between their personalities is hard to distinguish. Through Batemans narration in American Psycho the reader learns of his career on Wall Street and everyday life in great detail. For example, whe n describing to the reader his morning routine, the yuppie states how he uses a deep pore cleanser lotion a water activated gel cleanser, then a honey almond body scrub.This shows the true extent of unnecessary detail that he will go into. As well as this, from the very start of the novel the reader is introduced to this rich and perfected lifestyle in New York of this self-absorbed character who thinks of himself to always look great, be superior to everyone else and constantly try to maintain his hierarchy within society. Ellis starts the novel with Bateman and his friends at a posh dinner party this immediately demonstrates his wealthy lifestyle that Ellis is trying to portray.As well as this, Bateman showing off his platinum American Express Card demonstrates his feeling of superiority. This provides the reader with a strong rather negative impression of Bateman as a rich, selfish, predatory man living in New York. This lifestyle can relate to that of Ellis himself, a man who i snt affected by the recent recession, in his late twenties and living in the city that never sleeps. As well as this, like Ellis, Batemans parents are divorced. Validating this, Ellis has even admitted in an interview that Patrick Bateman was about me.In contrast to Batemans lifestyle is Franks. Frank is half-educated and lives in an isolated unnamed island off the Scottish coast. Frank is only sixteen, unemployed and greatly controlled by his father. This can be said to relate to the life of Iain Banks, who lived in a small village on the Scottish coast and moved around due to his fathers work. As well as this, Banks was sixteen when he completed his first book, indicating why he might have chosen this age for Frank. He also spends most of his time with the wildlife torturing, killing, collecting and sacrificing animals.In addition to this Frank entertains himself with his imagination and talks to his wasp factory. When Frank plays games such as building the dams and chooses which of the imaginary people live or die. Here the reader sees his childish and dark side as well as how there is little for him to actually do on the island. This also relates to Banks as he must have been very imaginative at Franks age as he was writing. In relation to this, making him seem incapable of his own choices, Angus has a huge amount of control over Frank.For example he home-schooled him, limiting his contact with society he constantly tests him on the measurements of the furniture in their house and uses the story of their dog, Old Saul, to cover up Franks real identity. This shows the great contrast between Batemans busy city life and of Franks in the rural as well as the contrast of their authors lives. However, the protagonists Frank and Patrick do have things in common, such as obsessions and their love of control. Both Patrick and Frank have obsessions which are seen throughout through the novels. Ellis uses Patrick Bateman to demonstrate the obsessions which one might have.Most of Batemans obsessions are very artificial, such as his obsessions over designer brands and technology. Patricks obsession to keep up to date with the latest technology, such as VCR, CDs and Walkmans, reflects the lifestyle of many Americans living 1980s-1990s. This demonstrates Ellis using Patricks obsessions to connect with the readers of his novel. Patrick also obsesses over taking care of himself which can be shown via his balanced diet and rigorous exercise routine and his detailed daily movements which link to his obsession of detail and routine.His comment stating how he only uses an after shave lotion with little or no alcohol, because alcohol dries your face out and makes you look older, further validates his obsession over appearance and health. Ellis places the information of Patricks obsessions from the very start of the novel to increase their impact upon the reader and to truly reveal their importance to Patrick. Throughout the novel, Ellis also portrays Bate mans true love and need for control. The reader sees this many times, for instance the control he can have over peoples lives. He is always control of a life.Even when he cant control himself, (which often occurs when committing murder), he is still controlling the life of his victim. This idea of control is used by Ellis to demonstrate the power Bateman feels, and needs to feel, he has. Similarly to Patrick, Franks obsessions are frequently mentioned throughout The Wasp Factory however some of Franks obsessions are different to Patricks. Frank appears to have an obsession with animals and torture. Throughout the book we see how Frank is fascinated by animals and collects their remains suggesting that Frank is obsessed with animals.In addition to this, Frank is shown to be obsessed with killing and torturing. For instance, within the novel he states how he once tied wasps to the striking-surface of each of the copper-coloured bells on his alarm clock where the little hammer would hi t them when the alarm went off, and that he always woke up before his alarm went off, so he got to watch. This shows Franks dark mind consisting of thoughts about death, torture and the need for control over others, like Bateman.This shows the reader how even young minds can think this sadistically. Similarly to this, the reader learns of Franks need for control when he is placing signs around their private property to warn off intruders. This demonstrates a way in which Frank feels its essential to control people and his fathers property. Franks overly meticulous attention to detail also connects with Patricks obsessions. Like Bateman this can be seen in the description of his grooming routine which, like Patrick, is the same every time.These obsessions show a similarity between Patrick and Franks personalities, demonstrating how Ellis and Banks present their protagonists in a similar manner even though they have different lifestyles. In conjunction to this, both Ellis and Banks s how their protagonists to have misogynistic attitudes further presenting them to have similar personalities with one another. Frank states how his greatest enemies are Women and the sea and that Women are weak and stupid and live in the shadow of men and are nothing compared to them, expressing Franks misogynist view towards women.Showing Batemans views on women are his comments such as youre a fucking ugly bitch and you piece of bitch trash. These comments are used by Ellis to portray Bateman to have an aggressive misogynistic view. This shows a way in which the authors of American Psycho and The Wasp Factory present their protagonists to have similar personality traits as they are both sexist and have anger towards women. However, saying this both Bateman and Frank show misogynistic behaviour for different reasons. Franks hatred towards women has stemmed from his father who independently brought Frank and his brothers up.Angus dislikes women so much so that he changes Franks gende r from female to male and leads him to state how he hates his mother her name, the idea of her. In contrast to this, Batemans misogynistic behaviour is based more on the idea of dominance, lust and control. This shows a way in which Ellis and Banks portray their protagonists to have contrasting personalities with each other, disagreeing with the statement. Although Bateman and Frank have contrasting lifestyles a ten year age gap different obsessions and versions of hate towards women they both have one pastime in common killing.Their murderous ways and attitudes towards it present Frank and Patrick to have mental disabilities like that of a sociopath and psychopath. For instance, Bateman and Frank both display symptoms of antisocial personality disorder, (which is a factor of both psychopathic and sociopathic behaviour). As well as this, they both display a high predisposition to violence, maybe Patrick more erratically, and a tendency to act impulsively when it comes to crime, whic h a psychopath can display. In addition to this, both protagonists find it hard to distinguish between reality and fantasy.This, and his psychopathic ways, can be shown when Frank states how he must be lots of different people inside his brain. Banks uses Franks psychopathic and sociopathic behaviour to show the importance of parenting, stability and connections within society that a child needs to be able to function adequately. Patricks confusion with reality is also shown to the reader. For instance, as said by Andrew Jacobsen, (a literacy critic), the supposed real world around him becomes as one with his insane imagination world.As well as this the mystery of the bodies at the end of the novel can be said to demonstrate Batemans misperception of reality. Due to this, Ellis and Banks can be seen to portray their protagonists to have similar personalities. This is because they are presented to be mentally ill and confused with reality. In connection to this, both protagonists sho w a lack of empathy towards their victims, and are able to commit a crime and act as though its the norm and not really a crime at all. For example in The Wasp Factory Frank states how he killed Esmerelda because she was simply the easiest and most obvious target.This simple view and minimal motive for murder displays Franks lack of empathy, and expresses his absence of perception that murder is abnormal or morally wrong. Iain Banks presents Frank in this way to illustrate how cold, cruel and absent-minded humans can be, even the young. In relation to this, Bateman sleeping with and killing girls whilst in a relationship with Evelyn as well as the homeless and young shows his lack of moral rights and care towards others. Furthermore, Patrick crimes are opportunistic with little or no motive, normally due to urges, lust or as a means of superiority.Bateman commits these crimes without hesitation, suggesting that to him it is just the norm. Also demonstrating Patricks dark personality , lack of empathy and morals he jokingly says how he is into, uh, well, murders and executions, mostly. This comment and others similar to it demonstrate to the reader Patricks sinister view on his murders thus, they are used by Ellis to cause the reader to despise Patrick yet be slightly amused by his satirical sense of humour. These similarities suggest that the personalities of the protagonists from American Psycho and The Wasp Factory are presented in the same way.To conclude, I believe that the authors of American Psycho and The Wasp Factory present their protagonists to have personalities which are similar with each other as well as dissimilar. Aspects such as their lifestyles having different obsessions and reasons for being misogynistic present a complete contrast between Patricks and Franks life, and their personalities. This is because their lifestyles can lead them to desiring different effects. This links to obsessions, as for example, Frank obsesses over animals but Pat rick doesnt, as there are a lot less in the city.Also, Bateman, who unlike Frank has frequent contact with people, obsesses more over appearance and health. As well as this, there reasons for being misogynistic are due to their upbringing and the environment surrounding them. This shows how lifestyle and upbringing can affect ones personality traits such as their obsessions. Therefore, this demonstrates how lifestyle is a key subject which has been used by Ellis and Banks to present their protagonists personalities in different ways, which also results in other personality traits being different too.However, both the protagonists have similar obsessions with one another have a desire to kill personality traits suggesting they have mental issues and misogynistic views resulting in them having similar personalities with each other. These are very strong personality traits which all connect Frank and Patrick closely together, even though there are some ways in which they are dissimilar . Therefore, I believe to a great extent that the authors of American Psycho and The Wasp Factory present their protagonists Patrick Bateman and Frank Claudhame to have very similar personalities.