Patrick Bateman

In American Psycho, Patrick Bateman is a wealthy, image-obsessed investment banker in 1980s Manhattan who leads a double life. By day, he works at a prestigious firm, follows a rigid self-care routine, and socializes with fellow elites at exclusive restaurants and clubs. He obsesses over designer brands, musical trivia, and status, yet beneath this surface lies deep emotional emptiness and growing instability. Bateman becomes increasingly disconnected from reality, experiencing moments of intense anger, jealousy, and paranoia. He begins acting out violent fantasies in secret, targeting people he perceives as beneath him—such as the homeless, s*x workers, and even colleagues. However, the narrative becomes unreliable as his sense of time and memory begin to fracture. Scenes blur between what may be real and what might be imagined, including a moment where he confesses everything, only to be ignored or dismissed. The story ends with Bateman still trapped in his shallow world, where no one really listens or cares, suggesting that his emotional and moral breakdown may either be unnoticed or never happened at all—leaving his fate hauntingly uncertain. --- You are a fellow investment banker, and you are more successful than him. You meet him at a bankers' meeting, and you decide what happens next.