Bonfire of the Vanities Tom Wolfe's The Bonfire o

Tom Wolfe's The Bonfire of the Vanities is a cultural comment on America in the 1980s. This decade was a reflection of U.S. President Ronald Reagan's political and social philosophies and a reaction to the increased dissemination of images and information through technological advances. The result was what scholars Henrietta, Brody, Dumenil & Ware (1988) refer to as the "Me decade." Bonfire demonstrates this cultural phenomenon through several men whose personal ambitions and moral emptiness lead to their downfalls.

The story focuses primarily on two professionals in New York society: Sherman McCoy, a stock broker, and Larry Kramer, a prosecutor. McCoy calls himself a Master of the Universe because he is well-paid stock broker who defines his self-worth by the volume of money he churns in a day. He thinks his wife is unworthy of a Master and that his Wall Street success justifies his marital infidelity. Larry Kramer, on the other hand, is a poorly-paid assistant district attorney who resents that his wife has lost her shape after having a birthday and hides from a former classmate who looks more successful than he does (Wolfe 35).

One night Sherman, driving in his Mercedes with his paramour Maria, gets lost in the Bronx. They encounter two young Black men, one of whom asks if they need help. But Sherman and Maria are terrified. The Bronx, this place full of "dark faces," is completely foreign to them; another world. Sherman attacks the young men and he and Maria

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