The
ending of the novel is very confusing. The ending could be interpreted
in two ways. One way is that Patrick really did commit all the murders.
Another is that the murders were all in his head. Several instances
occur which complicate the ending. Firstly, when Patrick returns to Paul
Owen’s apartment, which he murdered and mutilated prostitutes in, he
finds that the apartment is clean, with no trace of the murders. The
apartment is for sale and a real estate agent is in it. Secondly, when
Patrick inquires to his lawyer about the confession he left on his
answering machine, he laughs it off claiming that Paul Owen couldn't
have been murdered because he had recently had dinner with him.
The
reason why the murders could have all been in Patrick’s head is because
throughout the novel he hallucinates often. At one point he imagines
that the automated teller is speaking to him, telling him to feed it a
stray cat. Later on, Patrick is, “freaked out by the park bench that
followed me for six blocks last Monday evening and it too spoke to me.”
(page 380) Patrick has heard or read nothing in the news about bodies
being found in Paul’s apartment. In the apartment there is no trace at
all of Bateman’s supposed actions. Also, Patrick’s lawyer calls him by a
completely different name, Davis and tells him that Patrick couldn’t
have done the murders because he is too nice. It’s possible that he
imagined the murders and imagined that he was Patrick.
In
my opinion, Patrick really did kill all those people. Paul’s apartment
could've been cleaned quickly without much of a fuss so that it could be
sold and no money would be lost because of loss of rental time. In
Paul’s apartment Patrick notices dozens of bouquets in glass vases all
over the apartment. Their smell is very strong and they could have been
placed there to mask the smell of corpses. Mrs. Wolfe, the real estate
agent acts strangely when asked if Paul Owen lives there. She acts
coldly and seems suspicious, especially when she sees the surgical mask
he is holding which he was planning on using to mask the bad smell. “She
realizes something that causes the muscles in her face to tighten. Her
eyes narrow but don’t close. She’s noticed the surgical mask I’m
gripping in a damp fist and she breathes in, sharply, refusing to look
away“ (page 355). Or, he may have entered the wrong apartment by
mistake. This is a possibility because of his insanity and confusion.
He’s mistakenly gone into the wrong office building before. He even
mentions that the apartment building looks different after stepping out
of the cab but he can’t figure out why. The keys he stole from Paul
don’t fit in the lobby door and there is a different doorman. Paul’s
building does not have an elevator operator but this one does. The
furniture in this apartment is arranged completely differently and the
cowhide paneling is gone.
Everyone in Patrick’s world is shallow and everyone looks the same.
Patrick’s lawyer probably just had dinner with someone he thought was
Paul Owen, seeing as no one really knows the names of their friends half
the time. Throughout the novel Bateman is confused with other people.
Everyone has a difficult time telling others apart and they disagree
when they are trying to figure out who someone is. This could also be
why his lawyer called him Davis. Patrick is seen as “the boy next door“
by his friends. They refuse to believe him because to them, he is
harmless and too much of a dork. He tries to tell them many times but
they never listen and are too busy with their own shallow lives to
notice.
