Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream by Hunter S. Thompson chronicles Raoul Duke and his attorney Dr. Gonzo in their search for The American Dream. Duke is Thompson’s alter ego and Gonzo represents Thompson’s actual attorney, Oscar Zeta Acosta. The setting, Las Vegas, is very economically significant, especially in the early 1970s where its buzzing economy and money are the focal points of the non-stop city. Believing The American Dream has decayed into a disgusting state of consumerism, ignorance, and misery, they try to find any sort of remanence of a more ideal American Dream—one filled instead with love, peace, and compassion. Most of the world has been sucked into the materialistic life with relatively no regard for anything besides themselves and their possessions. This paper explores the belief that the consumeristic and materialistic mind-sets of The American Dream that have enveloped the world are destructive and breed adverse consequences such as selfishness, greed, and disregard.…

In the Novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Hunter S. Thompson and his Lawyer, travel to Las Vegas to report the events of the Mint 400 motorcycle race about to take place in the Nevada desert. Operating under the pseudonyms, Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo, these two men have a bigger mission. Their mission is to search for the “American Dream”. However, they do not find a typical dream, but more of a nightmare. Tales of hitchhikers, paranoia, flying bats, and reptile people would plague readers’…

Within the film “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” we see a strong perception of a pseudo-psychedelic trip. In this particular scene Duke (Johnny Depp) has taken too much Adrenochrome, causing him to fall into a drug educed trip while Dr. Gonzo (Benicio Del Toro) tries to get rid of Lucy over the phone. The stylistic choices of this movie depicts the hallucinogenic structure via camera movement, framing and composition, colour and the use of depth within the space. The overall tonal colour of…

Within the film “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” we gain a strong perception of a pseudo-psychedelic trip. In this particular scene, Duke (Johnny Depp) has consumed more than enough Adrenochrome, causing him to fall into a drug induced trip, while Dr. Gonzo (Benicio Del Toro) tries to get rid of Lucy. The stylistic choices made depicts the hallucinogenic structure of the film via camera movement, framing and composition, colour and by the use of depth within the scene. Adrenochrome is a drug…

Rayaan Chowdhury Film and Lit Professor Prestridge December 8th, 2017 Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas Literature has always been regarded as the mirror of the community/society. The content used in literary writing is inspired by the environment in which the author is placed. Thompson is not an exception because he uses the environment in which he was placed to air his views about the American society. Hunters uses his creativity in the narrative to reflect on America. In his book, he…

part of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, really the whole book is meta-fictional. Thompson is telling the story of a trip he took at a different time, with a lot of imagined details thrown in. In the text there are countless examples of different meta-fictions, but perhaps the most important one is the illustrations throughout the book. Again, pretty much every illustration is it’s own meta-fiction, but one in particular stands out in my mind, the one with the caption that reads “As your attorney…

Liminality is a large part of the book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Being liminal means “to exist equally in two worlds or states or to exist on both sides of a boundary.” In this case Duke and his attorney are both liminal because they are in the ‘real world’ of Las Vegas interacting with all those different people, but they are also in their drug induced hallucinatory world. An example is when they tried to talk to the hitchhiker he freaked out because he was in the ‘real’ world and not in…

ANALYSIS QUESTIONS QUESTION 1 Most of part 1 in the book “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”, took place in Las Vegas, California during 1971. Las Vegas is a very large and populated city where many events take place such as “The mint 400”, which is why Raoul Duke traveled all the way from Los Angeles to journalize the race. In order to get to Las Vegas Duke and his attorney, Dr. Gonzo, must journey through one of the hottest states in a red convertible. Although this is just one of the few tasks…

In 1971, author Hunter S. Thompson published his book “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.” Not only was Thompson the author of this book, it was actually based on a real-life experience he took with his attorney, Oscar Zeta Acosta. Even though it was originally an assignment by Sports Illustrated to write a 250-word photograph caption on the Mint 400 motorcycle race held in Las Vegas, he ended up turning in 2,500 words, which eventually turned into the 1972 book, which first appeared in the 1971…

From those two readings I chose to write about the author of the story “Fear and Loathing in America” (1972) Hunter Stockton Thompson was an American author and a maverick journalist and also he is the creator of the gonzo journalism. In critique, John Hellman wrote “by conceiving his journalism as a form of fiction, Thompson has been able to shape actual events into meaningful works of literary art.” “fear and in los Vegas is an all – out display of gonzo journalism that remains Thompson best…