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영어

Lee, Hyub. “Implications of Hallucination in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.” Studies in English Language & Literature. 41.2 (2015): 119-137. This article is an attempt to analyze hallucination in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter Thompson who himself experienced hallucination in Las Vegas. In the narrator’s hallucination caused by drugs, repressed desires and fears are revealed, which reflects the American society in split. In his hallucination, human characters appear to be animals, which symbolizes the aggressive desires of moderns in jungle capitalism. The image of reptile for the press reflects the author’s fear of and antipathy to the main stream journalism. An over-sized Nazi in the sky cries, “Woodstock Über Alles,” which is a parody of “Deutchland Über Alles.” The representative catch-phrase of the Third Reich, the totalitarian political system, is replaced by the most counter-hegemonic music festival. This is a symbolic act of satirizing and subverting the dominant structure of America. Watching Nixon on TV, Duke hears the repeated sound of “sacrifice,” which serves to satirize the Nixon administration. In the hallucination, Duke sees himself as a grotesque and distorted body. It is the reflection of deviation from social norms compatible with normal body. The hallucination reveals the schizophrenic cleft between classes in America. The work denunciates the idealogical illusion of American dream in the late 60s and early 70s. (Chosun University)