An American Dream Violence Quotes

This quote establishes one of the novel's chief themes: Violence and sexuality are more connected than we'd like to admit. For Rojack, inflicting violence makes him feel powerful and strong, and his sexual conquests give him a similar rush. Ultimately, however, neither leaves him fulfilled.

It's almost as if Rojack is sealing up all of the anger and resentment he's felt toward Deborah over the course of their marriage. It's a rather naïve mindset: He thinks that violence will make all of his problems disappear.

In a disturbing twist, Rojack feels rejuvenated after killing Deborah. This might just be us, but we don't think anyone would describe anything Rojack just did as "honorable." Regardless, we're beginning to see that Rojack likes the feeling he gets when he inflicts violence—and that means that there's surely more violence to come.

So let's get this straight: You choked your wife to death and threw her out the window, yet you believe you were too gentle? That's pure insanity. It's clear that Rojack's violent instincts have taken over, transforming this seemingly mild-mannered professor into a bona fide maniac.

Just as with Deborah, Rojack loses control of his emotions and impulsively commits an act of violence. In fact, you can connect this to an even earlier event—his wartime fight with a gaggle of Germans. When Rojack commits violence, he usually loses his sense of self, devolving into a pure, animalistic rage. It's also worth mentioning that the phrasing here could easily be placed in a sexual context. We'll let you try that out for yourself, though.

Rojack sure feels exhilarated a lot, huh? There's a racial aspect to this exchange, as well: Because black men are looked at with fear by society, Rojack feels especially proud of his little victory. Unlike with Deborah, however, Rojack finds himself unable to kill Shago.

This is an illuminating moment: No matter how hard Rojack tries—he even throws the guy down a flights of stairs—Shago just won't die. In truth, Rojack only kills people he believes are weaker than him.

It turns out that Shago isn't quite as tough as he let on—like Rojack, his violent tendencies are born from his feelings of weakness and emasculation. The only difference is that Rojack puts his money where his mouth is.

This connects the idea of violence to the idea of repressed feelings—something that comes up throughout the novel. Deborah takes out her repressed feelings toward her father on Rojack, who responds in turn with violence. If you trace the cause-and-effect back to the beginning, then, you end up with Kelly.

This solidifies it: Rojack is straight-up addicted to violence—and when you mix this with his alcoholism, you end up with one nasty cocktail. Interestingly, for the first time, here Rojack inflicts violence on someone who probably deserves it. This is as close as you're going to get to a happy ending in this book.