Characters

The main character of the novel excerpt “Tuesday” by Bret Easton Ellis is Patrick Bateman. He is a privileged, upper-class man who is concerned with wealth and the way other people perceive him. The plot twist in the text reveals that Patrick is a psychopath who kills others for his own entertainment without remorse.

Another character in the text is Al, the black homeless man whom Patrick kills. Al is an alcoholic who lost his job and is now living on the streets. He begs Patrick for money, saying he is hungry, but Patrick mocks him and stabs him.

You can read a full characterization of Patrick and Al on the following pages.

Extract

Here, you can read an extract from our study guide:

Inner characterization

When it comes to his relationships with women, Patrick comes off as misogynistic. At the party, he bumps into Courtney, with whom he appears to be having an affair. This is suggested by the way he strokes her cheek.
As Courtney is talking, Patrick says: “ ‘You look … voluptuous tonight’ ”. This shows that he does not care about what she is saying, but only about how she looks. Courtney is jealous and distressed about Patrick leaving to see another woman, but he lies to her about this because he does not care about her feelings.

Patrick is also very superficial. This is seen by the fact...