Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas

Raoul reminisces about the 1960s and how he first came to take LSD. Initially, he tried to get some in the mid-1960s in San Francisco from a doctor who made it nearby, but the doctor refused to sell it. Raoul stuck to drinking rum and smoking marijuana for another six months until one evening at a music concert he managed to get some. It changed his life. He imagined that he was poking up through the soil of the doctor’s Garden “like some kind of mutant mushroom” (66). He then describes how he became part of the 1960s youth and drug culture and started to feel that he was part of something bigger than himself. He began believing that this youth culture was on the right side of history and was defeating the forces of the old, conservative world. However, as he now recognizes, this historical and cultural momentum of 1960s counterculture had by 1970 collapsed and receded.

Gonzo returns to Los Angeles on the Monday evening after their weekend in Las Vegas. After dropping Gonzo off at the airport, Raoul is seized by the same desire to leave. This is because he realizes that he is “all alone in Las Vegas with this goddamn incredibly expensive car, completely twisted on drugs, no attorney, no cash, no story for the magazine” (70). In addition, he has a huge hotel bill to deal with, a result of them constantly ordering food and drinks to the room. Furthermore, Gonzo had, without Raoul’s consent, left him in possession of his handgun. As such, Raoul decides to flee the hotel without paying and drive back to Los Angeles the following morning.

Just as Raoul is about to drive away from the hotel the next day, he is stopped by a member of the staff. Raoul assumes that his fraud and drug taking has been discovered and that he will be arrested. However, the hotel clerk actually stops Raoul to explain that a telegram has just arrived for him. It is from Gonzo, telling him not to leave Las Vegas. This is because they have been asked by Rolling Stone magazine to cover the District Attorney’s conference on narcotics and dangerous drugs taking place the following day. All expenses for this will be covered, including a new car. As Raoul drives off, he considers the proposition, admitting there would be a “twisted humor” (80) to someone “in the grip of a potentially terminal drug episode” (80) going to a police convention on narcotics. Nevertheless, he still considers the idea to be too dangerous.

Raoul gets a drink in a place called Wild Bill’s Café on the outskirts of Las Vegas. He contemplates his potential journey on the road Interstate 15, and through the towns of Baker, Barstow and San Bernardino, then on the Hollywood Freeway to Los Angeles. However, he realizes that until he gets to Los Angeles, he will be incredibly conspicuous on those roads, in his bright red convertible and wearing his Acapulco shirt.

Approaching Baker, California, Raoul is noticed by a member of the California Highway Patrol. Raoul tries to evade the patrol officer but is pulled over for speeding and driving while intoxicated. However, the officer is lenient on him and says that he will let him off if Raoul goes to the rest area further along the road and gets some sleep. Raoul almost blows this chance by initially insisting that he’s “been awake far too long- three or four nights” (92) and “if I go to sleep now, I’m dead for twenty hours” (93). He sees sense though and agrees to take a rest. Unfortunately, as he drives off again, he sees the hitchhiker he and Gonzo picked up on the way to Las Vegas, and the hitchhiker notices him. This presents Raoul with a dilemma: If he goes to the rest stop and stays for any length of time he will be reported to the police by the hitchhiker. On the other hand, if he tries to drive straight on to Los Angeles he will be chased and arrested by the highway patrol officer. As such, he decides to take up the new assignment mentioned by Gonzo, and heads back to Las Vegas.