Can someone please explain the ending of American Psycho to me?

Question

Can someone please explain the ending of American Psycho to me?

Answer 1

He gets away with the crimes he committed because no one believes that he is the murderer he says he is. It drives him crazy because deep down he wanted to get caught but finds its next to impossible with his wealth and reputation, to be percieved as a homocidal maniac. He gets away with murder and it drives him mad.

Answer 2

Patrick Bateman did commit the murders. His peers (who often confused his identity with others anyway) were so shallow and focused on themselves that they didn't even notice.

Bret Easton Ellis, the author of the original book, argues that if none of the murders actually happened, that the entire point of the novel would be rendered moot. He has stated that the novel was intended to satirize the shallow, impersonal mindset of yuppie America in the late 1980s.

Director Mary Harron (in a Charlie Rose interview) and co-screenwriter Guinevere Turner (in the DVD commentary) have both stated explicitly that the murders were in fact real. They consider it a major failure of the film that viewers are confused by this point.

Answer 3

Because of his obvious breeding and social standing, no one believes that he could possibly be a psychopathic murderer. His slow mental decline is a shock to himself and he goes more and more crazy. I like the way the film ending,with no pat resolution.It makes an already disturbing story that much more so.