Bonfire of the Vanities

Chapters 10-15 of Tom Wolfe's (1990) Bonfire of the Vanities are perhaps most significant because they contain the pivotal event that will eventually lead to the downfall of Sherman McCoy. If Wolfe's novel is one of contrasting worlds of wealth and privilege, it is also the contrasting sides of Sherman McCoy's character. He used to wave to his wife and give her the Black Power sign signifying Wall Street would not entrap him. Now, we see in these chapters he is 180 degrees away from such an attitude and considers himself the epitome of Wall Street success and privilege, "He lived on Park Ave, the street of dreams! He worked on Wall Street, fifty floors up�overlooking the world" (Wolfe, 1990, p. 77).

This image is a harbinger of McCoy's downfall, for he thinks that he is one of a select breed who can "have what they wanted" (Wolfe, 1990, p. 77). McCoy also boasts of driving a $48,000 sports car and sitting beside one of the most beautiful women in all of New York. Wolfe sets up characters in these sections to show the materialistic, self-important posturing of those who maneuver in the upper-echelons of the upper-class. This is important because when the fall of McCoy comes it shows the artifice and impermanence of values stemming from such superficial concerns.

In Bonfire of the Vanities, chapters 10-15 are significant because they begin to show the superficial world of the Wall Street set

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he media are either of the same mold for getting a story or they renege on their responsibility to provide news of real interest to the public. We see this when Abe Weiss berates a Irv Stone, a reporter for Channel 1, for failing to cover indictments against three of the city's biggest crack dealers. He maintains that they do not care for a story that represents an issue that is the city's biggest problem because "You guys are lazy. You're afraid you're gonna miss a meal at the Cote Basque�The only thing wrong with those crack dealers is they're black and they're from the Bronx" (Wolfe, 1990, p. 374). These chapters show the inner-workings of society on a level that is much different than the one experienced by the inhabitants of Park Ave. Weiss maintains as much in this chapter when he tells Stone that life is different in the Bronx than on Park Ave and those on Park Ave remain dangerously out of touch with that reality. These chapters show the rising tension between the haves and have-nots in American society, worlds where justice, privilege, power, and lifestyle are greatly different. When these tensions finally erupt, Sherman McCoy will become the sacrificial victim to undermine them. Response (Chapters 16-22) This ser

Category: Literature - B