The Observer, February 25, 2005
Volume XXXVII, Issue 19
Free Speech Zone: Thompson suicide dashes the American dream
To the Editor:
When I heard about the death of Hunter Thompson, I was shocked. Not only was I shocked in the way of sorrow, as I have found him an interesting person and writer – even admirable in his own way –I was also shocked by what he did. Hunter Thompson killed himself.
Hunter Thompson killed himself? He left the impression on people that he was the kind of guy who had it figured out. He had us convinced that each article he wrote, and each story he told, was bringing us closer to the answer he had been looking for. I thought he was on his way to the American dream – I thought he would finally and definitively show us where that dream died, what that dream was, and how we could get it back.
He invented a new approach to journalism; he was in the military for a little while; he introduced The Hell's Angles to The Merry Pranksters; he spent years, articles, and energy supporting political candidates; he was rich; he had a cult following; he had some of the most interesting friends around; he had the respect of many... he shot stuff, loved sports, and had plenty to say about all of it. The more he talked about the American dream, the more he seemed to be the embodiment of it. But the embodiment of the American dream killed himself.
In one New York Times article following his death, friends from his home in Colorado were interviewed, and one of them suggested what he did may have been due to his physical pain. But Thompson didn't like to beautify things after people died. When Nixon died, he still talked about him like a rat while every other journalist was doing the best to write a nice memorial. So I don't think making excuses for his suicide is fair, or in the spirit of his life and writing. His actions should be allowed to speak as strongly, and loudly – to seekers like himself – as his volumes of words have spoken.
Maybe I have misunderstood what he said, and don't know why he took this final action, but I interpret these to be his dying words: if this is the American dream, it's not worth it and it doesn't cut it. If this is not the American dream, what is? What's the point of it all? We should all consider what I believe is the final statement by Hunter S. Thompson.
Matthew Collins
Undergraduate Student
