Raoul Duke

Encyclopedia : R : RA : RAO : Raoul Duke

Raoul Duke was the pseudonym used by Hunter S. Thompson for the character based on him in his book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Fear and Loathing was originally written under the name Raoul Duke, and Thompson periodically used the pen name for some of his later articles.

Duke is first mentioned by Thompson in his 1966 book "Hell's Angels", where he is described as an outlaw with "that extra 'something'", meaning that although he breaks the law he does so in a way that is not offensive to society, but that, in fact, makes him more acceptable.

Duke is often characterised as being somewhat of an author surrogate, a source of quotes and opinions that Thompson himself would not necessarily be able to get away with himself. His forename, according to Thompson in interviews, was inspired by '(Fidel) Castro's brother', and was probably originated as a pseudonym used to check into hotels, as in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

Duke was also used so that Thompson could talk about himself - after a diving accident Thompson had to spend some time in a decompression chamber, and wrote a letter signed 'Raoul Duke' in which the pseudonym described the insanity of Thompson's condition in the chamber - holding up scrawled notes to the single glass window and ordering a television set to watch coverage of the Watergate hearings. The letter appeared in Rolling Stone Magazine in August 1973.

In the book 'The Great Shark Hunt' (a large selection of articles written by Thompson) Raoul Duke's name is the one that appears on several essays that were published in newspapers and magazines, including the 'Police Chief', an article published by Scanlan's Monthly (June 1970) in which Duke is apparently an ex-police chief raging at the inadequate amount of real 'weaponry' used by the police and advertised in the (presumably invented) 'Police Chief' magazine. It was signed 'Raoul Duke (Master of Weaponry)'. The article was presumably a satirical rant against trigger-happy policemen.

In the book 'Fear and Loathing: on the Campaign Trail '72,' Thompson describes Raoul Duke as a sports writer friend, one of the few journalists who can truly write objectively instead of just talking about it. In the same section, Thompson calls objective journalism "a pompous contradiction in terms," and warns the reader not to look for it under his byline.

In the movie version of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Duke was played by Johnny Depp.

In Where the Buffalo Roam, a movie based on various stories, Hunter S. Thompson is played by Bill Murray.

In the comic strip Doonesbury, the character of Uncle Duke (based on Thompson) is named for the Fear and Loathing character.

Essex born comedian Alex McNamara has used the 'Raoul Duke' character in some of his shows.

Raoul Duke

See also