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“Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” Book Report

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Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas Book Report

The novel “Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas” by Hunter Thompson entails the

experiences of Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo, the attorney, as they travel and settle in Las

Vegas for a journalism task concerning a magazine coverage of the Mint 400 motorcycle

race. Their journey is drug-induced, a phenomenon that plays a major role in shaping their

experiences throughout the trip. The two hallucinate and start behaving uncontrollably and

nonsensically during their entire stay in Las Vegas. Several units cross their path in the

region, including the police, racers, hitchhikers, gamblers, and other journalists, all prompting

them to behave in certain ways. At some point, they begin searching for an undefined

concept, ‘The American Dream,’ giving them fear and detestation. The purpose of this paper

is to discuss the content showing the experiences as presented by Thompson in the novel.

The novel has two major characters and several other significant characters to display

Thompson’s message. Duke is an alcoholic and drug client who is inclined to an inconsistent

and unbelievable way of transforming but still does not constantly show empathy for the

individualities around him. Dr. Gonzo is Duke’s counsel and dearest companion. Like

Thompson describes him, he utilizes drug substances vastly. He is more incautious and

inclined to hostility than Duke; he somewhat recognizes individualities around him.

The other characters include; Lacerda, a photographic artist appointed to print the race

with Duke. He is concentrated on his task- a conspicuous difference to Duke, who has

different plans; the hitchhiker, a youth who demands a lift from Duke and his counsel while

heading to Las Vegas. He is alarmed by their inconsistent way of driving and leaves the

vehicle when he gets a chance; Joe, who is Duke and Lacerda’s motorist and has been

allotted to help them with reporting the race; Heem, who is the director at the Mint Hotel;

Lucy who is a youthful lady from Montana, picked by Dr. Gonzo on his trip to Las Vegas.

She lays out representations of Barbra Streisand as a hobby and has come to Vegas to show
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Streisand her work; Healy, who is the top head of the National District Attorneys’

Association; E.R. Bloomquist, who is a teacher from one of the universities and the featured

expert at the dug-related meeting. Duke malevolently scrutinizes his discourse and

compositions on cannabis; Lou, who is the cook at the café in Boulder City; Alice, who is a

house cleaner at the Flamingo Hotel, strolling on Duke’s counsel while he is stripped and

hurling in the storage room. He consequently goes after her, yet Duke and Dr. Gonzo stop

what is passing by claiming to be bulls and enlisting her as a secret source; and lastly, Bruce,

who is a pantomime and Duke’s friend.

The novel addresses seven major themes: psychoactive drugs, violence, hypocrisy,

capitalism, culture wars, the end of the 1960s, and the American Dream. Thompson

illustrates each of the themes in an attempt to reflect on the American drug culture’s effects

on one’s life. They show that the drug culture ruins one’s important life aspects but never

gives a chance to achieve any good thing. The drugs entrap one in a state of fake happiness,

not knowing that all the good things can be lost in a minute due to the drug’s effect.

Thompson explains that true happiness and dream achievements can only be realized through

hard work and the non-usage of drugs.

The psychoactive drugs’ effects represent the most dominant theme in the novel.

Duke and Dr. Gonzo are weighty uses of various drugs, although they parade an inclination

for hallucinogenics like LSD and mescaline. These substances adjust their view of the real

world, and the two men view these substances as empowering a definitive break from an

intimidating world. Throughout the text, Duke, as constantly as possible, depicts his

substance-actuated dreams and pipedreams fully. He appears to grasp the line between the

real world and deception, although he positively accepts that the substance of his pipedreams

can be huge and applicable to his general surroundings. Besides, tt is not generally apparent

whether Duke’s perceptivity at some arbitrary point is affected by his substance use, which
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sabotages his responsibility as a journalist storyteller and gives the text a footloose, strange

quality.

Violence is another persistent theme in the novel. Amusingly, Duke constantly

examines the exacting and non-nonfictional strictness of the police and the entrepreneur

frame. Still, throughout the story, Duke and Dr. Gonzo enjoy a lot of brutal conduct of

themselves. For instance, Duke’s counsel censures a vehicle brimming with vacationers on

the Las Vegas Strip, and Duke pulls over in the desert and shoots ordnance out of sight for

not a great explanation. The men’s contemplations and exchanges are significantly more

disturbing, as Duke relates. They consider killing Lucy, and the wandered, and Duke depicts

a popular case of a PCP client pawing his own eyes out. In general, the text portrays a world

where institutional brutality has’ streamed down to the personalities and regular routines of

customary, good-natured Americans.

The theme of hypocrisy is a demonstration of drugs that disorients one mind and

function in society. Every person in the novel exhibits some aspects of insincerity, which

Duke accepts to be a necessary piece of the mortal condition. Despite that Duke, for the

utmost part, upholds the social developments of the 1960s, he recognizes his kindred man

throughout the book. Dr. Gonzo is unexpectedly more dreadful, effectively annoying

outlanders in gambling clubs and on the Strip. Duke likewise calls attention to the that

standard American culture is homiletic, but the association has no issue incurring sagging

over individualities abroad and minimized millions at home. Duke likewise recognizes

pietism in the people around him. For case, the Georgia police are fascinating and also

communicate solicitude for the immature server in Duke’s story, yet excitedly concur with

Duke and Dr. Gonzo when they satirically propose that trivial gangbangers ought to be

decapitated.
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Capitalism is a theme that demonstrates the American’s motive of controlling the

economy at the expense of youths’ life, as they are the most drug-hooked group. Duke

considers Las Vegas the epitome of delivered free enterprise, an unbounded blowout of riches

and desire delectation. Although he condemns industrialist values, he attempts to move

toward the municipality with an open outlook, hoping that it could offer him knowledge

about how to negotiate the American Dream. Eventually, he leaves down demoralized,

understanding that the connection between cash and power in Las Vegas is the same as what

exists in the remainder of the country. As per Duke, cash draws in the capability to guard

itself, which inescapably leaves the underclass underrated and unfit to progress in the public

eye.

Thompson uses the theme of culture wars to explain how groups with differences

such as origin, beliefs, characters, and power, among others, misjudge each other, causing

mistreatment of marginalized communities. Duke realizes that the 1960s saw the

development of an advanced cycle of the American culture wars. Duke identifies intensively

with the left-side heresy, yet he perceives that there is spare bitterness on the two sides. For

case, Dr. Gonzo bugs the Oklahoma rubberneckers, dependent simply upon their marker and

their square appearance. Duke noticed that the bulls say numerous deceived and vicious

goods about medicine guests during the anodynes gathering. Consequently, Duke expects all

the police he meets to be brutal and unconscious.

The novel also dwells on the theme of the end of the 1960s to show trends in some

American dynamics that demolish important developments and ideas. Duke is used to

representing a figure of performing voice during the 1960s dissidence. He reflects

affectionately on the period’s optimism, innovativeness, and his companions’ excitement to

probe new studies and approaches to everyday life. In any case, in his popular’ swell

discourse, Duke contends that the downfall of the dissent was eventually the issue of its
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makers; they all turned out to be excessively neat and neglected to answer snags like

dissension and distance from standard culture. Written in 1971, Fear and Loathing is

profoundly equivocal about what will supplant the American dissidence. Duke’s quest for

the’ Pursuit of happiness’ might be a shot to make up for this failure.

The American dream is displayed as Duke’s primary drive to venture into Las Vegas

and uncover its characterization in connection to perfecting all Americans’ lives. As

displayed by the text’s caption, Duke’s charge to comprehend the American Dream drives

each of his choices throughout his Las Vegas adventure. He does not admit the conventional

form of the American Dream, as he perceives it to be a hard-acquired industrialist

achievement for the rich and powerful, which he accepts to be a dated and unfortunate ideal.

In any case, Duke has not yet sorted out what ought to supplant Horatio Alger’s vision in the

advanced world. He contends that the social developments of the 1960s were trials to re-

evaluate the American Dream for another age, yet the dissidence at last neglected to expose

the entrepreneur worldview. Duke sees his excursion to Las Vegas as a continuity of this

inquiry.

Conclusively, Thompson presents a very strong demonstration of the American

government and its intentions with the mainstream American society in the novel “Fear &

Loathing in Las Vegas.” Drug use appears to be a common practice in the American culture,

with no benefit to the people but to the rich and those in power. The only thing that the drug

does to the users, who are the commoners in the region, is seizing every good thing they

have, such as friends, careers, and reputation. On the other hand, the government and the

wealthy pretend to care but do not intervene effectively to assist the people. A major

demonstration of the concept involves ‘The American Dream,’ which appears to be long lost

and covered in non-recognizable impressions.

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References

Hunter S. Thompson. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the

American Dream. New York: Vintage, 1998.