User:GeorgiaB20/sandbox

Clay is the main protagonist featured in the American novels Less Than Zero (1985) and its sequel (2010), both written by acclaimed author twenty-five years apart. The books detail Clay's life from Young-adulthood to Middle age, delving into his struggles adapting to his old life coming home from university for Christmas, and his deterioration into a narcissist and masochist later in life.

Less Than Zero (1985)
The very first appearance of Clay features within the novel, starting upon his return to Los Angeles from Camden College during Christmas. The novel depicts Clay with a crippling fear of alienation from his friends and old life in L.A., delving heavily back into his old habits of parties, drugs and sex as a way to reconnect and cope with his inner demons. It's clear that his time a Camden has changed his mentality, now viewing old friends like Julian and Trent at a distant level, highlighting the dark side of L.A. such as prostitution and paedophilia. Throughout his time at home, we begin to understand the distant relationship Clay has with his parents and two sisters, in the novel he cannot differentiate his sisters or name them, only knowing that they are thirteen and fifteen. This highlights the core root of his lack of emotion towards others, as his family is rarely mentioned and are not present when he returns home and is only met by the new maid. His only fond memories of his family are brought to the reader through flashbacks of Palm Springs, introducing us to his Grandparents, focusing on his dying Grandmother and showing the reader that Clay longs for deeper connections in his life thought these flashbacks, but the society he lives in and his lack of emotion prevents him from doing so.

This lack of emotion can also be seen through his interactions with his ex-girlfriend Blair, to which he has fluctuating opinions of love and complete disinterest. On a few occasions, we can argue that Clay is unable to handle the emotions he feels for Blair and therefore sleeps with multiple male and female partners during his time in L.A..

Clay's feelings of alienation from his socialite past haunt him to the very end of the book where he leaves to return to Camden College, giving him a state of relief as throughout the novel he longs to return to Camden where he has grown comfortable.

Film Adaptation (1987)
Two years after the publishing of Less Than Zero, 20th Century Fox bought the rights to the novel and produced an $8 Million film of the same name. However, the film was only loosely based upon the novel, leading to Clay's character being portrayed very differently than in the book.

80's Brat Pack star, portrayed Clay in the screen adaptation in which he is shown to be drug-free and straight-laced, trying to save his friend Julian from the life of prostitution and Heroin whilst reconnecting with his High-school girlfriend Blair. Clearly, this is a sizable change in character from the original novel that overall made the character more sympathetic and connectable to a casual audience who may not be familiar with the novel itself. The original script for the film did portray Clay to be a bisexual and frequent drug user but the studio opted for a rewrite instead to adhere to a more commercial audience at release.

The Rules of Attraction (1987)
is the second book written by Brett Easton Ellis and includes a brief cameo by Clay as the narrator of one of the chapters. The small amounts of pages given to the character do provide the reader with an amount of character development from Less Than Zero.

Within the segment, Clay has seemed to have changed his opinion on his home and his old friends, yearning to be back in L.A. which is the exact opposite of what the reader experiences in Less Than Zero. This shows an element of change in CLay but not within the right direction. This small glimpse shows the reader whats to come almost within the next instalment of Clay's life.

Imperial Bedrooms (2010)
Imperial Bedrooms is the tenth book written by Brett Easton Ellis, set twenty-five years after his first novel, Less Than Zero. The reader is introduced to a now middle-aged Clay, returning to L.A. as a screenwriter to cast his new film. Throughout the book, the reader is shown deeper and darker sides to Clay in comparison to his first appearance. The character has grown extreme narcissistic tendencies, often taking advantage of those he can hold power over. For example, he admits to falsely promising film roles to actors and actresses to receive sexual favours from them, never giving them the role in the end. The character follows through with this by manipulating Rain Turner to gain sexual favours.

Clay's actions get worse as the novel reads on, conspiring to kill his longtime friend Julian to keep Rain for himself which ultimately backfires. However, the reader truly sees the full extent of his truly complicated personality once Rain confronts him about the murder of Julian, ultimately leading to Clay raping her in response. This highlights the depths of his Masochism, explaining his past behaviour towards Blair and other sexual partners, unable to truly connect with them due to the pleasure released by causing pain and being in pain himself.