Money 3

“We go to Kreutzer’s. I eat and drink like there’s no tomorrow. We don’t have much to say. Nobody asks sticky questions as they are led on all fours up the stairs. I’m not about to spook her, not me. I’m too worried about earthquakes or nuclear warfare or extraterrestrial invasion or Judgment Day coming between my and my reward. All you’ll get from John Self is smalltalk, flattery, and squealed demands for more drink. After toothache liqueurs I thunder home and abandon the Fiasco in the middle of the street. By now I am a crackling sorcerer of grub and booze, of philtres and sex-spells. Selina walks into the bedroom with her head held low. I give a great hot grunt as I untether my belt.” (143)

John Self’s world is full of dissatisfaction and satisfaction, or as he says, happiness and pain. Amis crafts the self-loathing, self-absorbed character of John which views his world with rather innocent eyes. Despite his public appearance and smalltalk conversations, John is fully capable of digesting any situation objectively and innocently. By giving readers the comedic display of the fat, drunken, and sexually aggressive John, we laugh at him. A person who we probably would be offended to be around for more than a minute, we can’t help but indulge in his entertaining and humorous lifestyle.  His self-directed humor “cheats the expectations of the audience through clever use of language.” His hyper introspections and descriptions of them renders the reader incapable of averting laughter. I think it’s because we don’t expect such brutal honesty from such a narcissistic character. Indeed, John Self never communicates his introspections with anyone, but he does share it with the reader. His confides all of his self-hatred and self-pity with the reader, often speaking directly to us. This unexpected side of John makes us able to like, or at the very least enjoy, all of his crudeness. John builds a relationship with the reader, making us laugh and sharing secrets with us. It becomes difficult to not like him.