Tom Wolfe’s Bonfire of the Vanities paints a vivid picture of New York City in the late eighties, depicting the stark differences between the lives of the elitist upper class and the bitter lower classes. Peter Fallow, an immoral, alcoholic Englishman, works for the tabloid, The City Light, and is the first to publicize the case of Henry Lamb, the eighteen year old black student who is left in an irreversible coma after being hit by the sports car of wealthy bonds trader, Sherman McCoy. Though Fallow’s coverage of this case earns him a Pulitzer Prize and evokes the rightful outrage of the minority communities of New York City against McCoy, he is also known for being a disreputable, penniless scoundrel who attempts to live an indulgent life
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The most notable example of this is seen in his abject hatred of all things American. Fallow claims that his British identity inherently makes him better than any American, because in the eyes of an Englishman, Americans were unfairly blessed with wealth they did not deserve as “they would only squander it in some tasteless and useless fashion in any event”(169). Fallow despises any American wealthier than him because of his own materialistic values that are mirrored by affluent New Yorkers. Moreover, although Fallow pretends he is not as concerned with money as Americans, such as Robert Goldman, whom he borrowed one hundred dollars from and detests for acting “as if his future on this earth turned on a hundred dollars”(168), Fallow regularly has less than one hundred dollars to last him until his next paycheck. Likewise, Fallow glosses over the accomplishments of Americans, such as Al Vogel, who are infinitely more successful than he is, by focusing on their terrible personalities, saying that all American celebrities “ always turned out the same way … which is to say, crude bores”(209). Peter Fallow attacks the personalities of wealthy people who seem to be morally admirable from an outside view, but are completely different when taking a closer look, yet ultimately, Fallow is of a worse character than the elites he hates, and his hate is fueled by the fact that they are better than him in nearly every
The most notable example of this is seen in his abject hatred of all things American. Fallow claims that his British identity inherently makes him better than any American, because in the eyes of an Englishman, Americans were unfairly blessed with wealth they did not deserve as “they would only squander it in some tasteless and useless fashion in any event”(169). Fallow despises any American wealthier than him because of his own materialistic values that are mirrored by affluent New Yorkers. Moreover, although Fallow pretends he is not as concerned with money as Americans, such as Robert Goldman, whom he borrowed one hundred dollars from and detests for acting “as if his future on this earth turned on a hundred dollars”(168), Fallow regularly has less than one hundred dollars to last him until his next paycheck. Likewise, Fallow glosses over the accomplishments of Americans, such as Al Vogel, who are infinitely more successful than he is, by focusing on their terrible personalities, saying that all American celebrities “ always turned out the same way … which is to say, crude bores”(209). Peter Fallow attacks the personalities of wealthy people who seem to be morally admirable from an outside view, but are completely different when taking a closer look, yet ultimately, Fallow is of a worse character than the elites he hates, and his hate is fueled by the fact that they are better than him in nearly every