Very Subjective Point Of View example essay topic

Fear and Loathing On The Campaign Trail '72 was a book about a writer for the Rolling Stone and his coverage of the presidential elections in 1972. These elections were between the incumbent Republican, President Richard Nixon and the Senator from South Dakota, George McGovern. The election of 1972 saw McGovern come out of the democratic National Convention over Senators Muskie and Humphrey but only to lose to the incumbent president Richard Nixon. Hunter S. Thompson writes about the Election of 1972 from December 1971, before any primaries, to December 1972 after Nixon has won the election. It is a truthful first person account of what happened during the presidential race that year with much personal, side talk about Thompson's life, experiences, and his coverage four years ago about the 1968 election. Thompson writes this book in a unique style that he has made called Gonzo Journalism.

This style of writing is a deeply personal style of writing and is very opinionated. He does not give the facts on the election straight but instead gives his opinions on the people involved. It is a very subjective point of view and shows Thompson's very liberal perspective. He is a strong supporter and is an enthusiast of the democratic candidate McGovern and shows time and time again how much he despises Nixon.

Along with a very opinionated, subjective narrative, Thompson talks a lot about drug use. His point of view is from that from the drug under culture. Thompson is a very big drug user and uses very profane language. He is also very sarcastic at times when he writes.

Oftentimes he uses metaphors, sarcasm, and satire to push his own views on the reader. In the October chapter, he calls the president a, "drooling red- eyed beast with the legs of a man and the head of a giant hyena... ". heading toward Watergate. He then comes back after this metaphor to say, "Ah... nightmares, nightmares. But I was only kidding. The president would never act tat weird. At least not during football season".

In these passages he uses a metaphor to show the president in a very negative light and to stress on Nixon's negative connection with Watergate. His next statement is a sarcastic phrase saying the president would never act this way during football season. This sarcastic comment shows President Nixon as a savage beast whose only real knowledge is in football. This style of writing is what made Hunter Thompson, Gonzo Journalism, and this book very famous. The book is a very opinionated story of the election of 1972.

It follows all the major political events leading up to elections like the primaries and the caucuses. The chapters are all split up in months and chronicle the major events and outcomes of the landmark events during each month. Along the way he includes many interviews that he took and many conversations between many of the people involved in the election. The book is a great insight to politics and gives a non- sugarcoated, non- media- altered view of politics. It talks about the griminess and political tactics used by the political parties and the candidates themselves to win an election. From his behind the scenes sight of the election, he sees the true reasons and motives for politicians to act the way they do.

For example, the public image of candidates is half the reason they win or lose an election and the Republican Party did a really good job of making Senator McGovern look like a very radical leftist. Politics is a very dirty game and Thompson paints a very true portrait in this book. Hunter S. Thompson writes a very real, true book with very good insight about politics in a point of view that is very rarely seen. His Gonzo journalistic style is not seen often in books. He writes a very opinionated book but as a reporter has a behind the scenes view of politics. The interviews and conversations written in this novel are very good unaltered accounts of the interactions between candidates.

This true account reads very much like a novel and is a book that fascinates the senses and educates the mind.