Raoul Duke speaks about the gamblers of Las Vegas with contempt. He claims that, “The Circus-Circus is what the whole hep world would be doing on a Saturday night if the Nazis had won the war,”(46). He describes a feeling of complete sensory overload in the casinos: intense, high-stakes gambling on the floor and amazing acrobatic acts and wild animals on the upper floors (The Circus-Circus was apparently set up so that people gambling on the first floor could watch live acts).
And yet, in a strange way, Raoul sees the Circus-Circus as an embodiment of Raoul Dukes’ conception of the American Dream. The Circus-Circus is a collection of people seeking pleasure and not caring about morals or decency. However, reading Duke’s criticisms of these people, it is clear that there is a certain hypocrisy. Duke and Dr. Gonzo are just as, if not more, pleasure-seeking than the gamblers. Even as they are in the casino criticizing the decadent nature of these people, they are high on mescaline. As a result, it is difficult for the reader to truly determine what Duke’s judgment of the American Dream really is.
1 comment:
What I don’t understand is what are they looking for. What is missing from their lives? The people from the Circus-Circus are exactly like Raoul and yet he pretended that his life was better than everyone else in that place. Did he go to the casino for a sense of relief? I am a little confused with his personality.
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