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Popular Culture Review
hero must be somewhat illogical or deluded in order to understand or detect the
hidden structures of an illogical postmodern world. This is a world appropriate for
Thompson’s Gonzo journalist Raoul Duke who is a veritable postmodern noir hero
(or anti-hero) and cultural detective.
In a fragmented, postmodern style, Duke repeatedly splices his narrative
with actual newspaper stories of excessive violence in American society. The
newspaper stories reflect a distressing, revoltingly violent America, where a 19year-old woman overdoses on heroin and is found dead in a refrigerator, and a 25year-old man pulls out his own eyes on the influence of heroin. In another paper,
Duke notices: “Five wounded near NYC Tenement... by an unidentified gunman
who fired from the roof of a building, for no apparent reason” (94). In yet another
article, an Army Intelligence specialist “said that the pistol slaying of his Chinese
interpreter was defended by a superior who said, 'She was Just a slope, anyway,’
meaning she was Asiatic” (74). The TV news in the background is about “The
Laos Invasion - a series of horrifying disasters, explosions, twisted wreckage, men
fleeing in terror, Pentagon generals babbling insane lies” (29). How did American
society come to this violent and chaotic condition? The traditional newspaper stories
do not say. These stories do not have any commentary on society. To Duke, they
are paltry stories seemingly plucked out of context without explanation or reason.
Duke, as the postmodern noir hero, is inescapably drawn towards exploring the
heart of darkness of American culture and society. He regards himself as a crusading
cultural detective, hunting for the secret cultural truth that governs American
ideology and behavior.
The American Dream and Postmodern Noir Nightmare
Raoul Duke may represent himself as a postmodern cultural detective,
but he is more like a clueless detective, who is ultimately confused about his true
subject of investigation and how to go about investigating it. Whereas the earlier
noir hero is portrayed as an outsider, separate from society, Duke is too entrenched
in his culture and society to separate himself from it. He is a product of America,
subjugated by the cultural ideology of the American Dream, evidenced by his
inflated sense of ego. In a key sense, his American Dream is his obsessive belief
that he can find the American Dream and that he is sufficiently savvy to not only
discover it, but communicate it clearly to others.
The word “Dream” hints to the fantasy or fantastical nature of the American
Dream. Though many try, only a select few can actually achieve instant overnight
success. This gives rise to a large number of failed dreams which become “The
American Nightmare.” The American Nightmare not only parallels the American
Dream but also ultimately overshadows it, by the sheer lopsided amount of failures
over successes. The American Dream/Nightmare dates back to Nineteenth Century