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According to the perspective of existentialism, there is no definitive right or wrong choice; instead, the act of choosing gives value to an action. Ultimately, judgments of choices should be based on the level of involvement the decision maker has during the process. Applying this standard, it can be argued that the narrator's decision to kill Tyler is justified, as he fully engaged in both accepting and rejecting Tyler's values through this action. "Existentialism's initial step is to bring a person's awareness to their own being and place the full responsibility for their existence on themselves." In my essay, I will primarily explore how shooting Tyler is pivotal in enabling the narrator to accomplish this first step in embracing existentialism.
By taking this course of action, the narrator acts as a catalyst for himself, becoming aware of his true nature by acknowledging his primal instincts and assuming responsibility for his own existence.
Tyler compels the narrator to face his true identity and obligations by resorting to increasingly violent and cruel actions, eventually leading to his own demise.
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I will also explore the representation of consumerism in the film and how the narrator's decision to shoot Tyler ties into his interpretation of this theme. At the beginning of the movie, the narrator was reluctant to fully accept responsibility for his existence. He despises his current situation - feeling disillusioned with his job and lacking a clear purpose, as indicated by his remark, "A single serving package, a single serving..." Once he consumes the solitary serving, he is finished.
He makes a brief impact in someone else's life before disappearing from their memory.
He believes his existence lacks purpose due to a lack of connections with others. Although unhappy with his current state, he doesn't actively work towards defining his own existence. In this regard, he exhibits bad faith by deceiving himself into thinking that he lacks complete freedom in making this choice. According to Sartre, he is a coward: "Those who conceal their full freedom from themselves through seriousness or deterministic justifications." He desires to redefine his existence by rebelling against societal values, yet this conflicts with his conscious mind (the ego), which prevents him from engaging in socially unacceptable behavior. His conscious mind conceals these unacceptable desires in the subconscious, generating excuses that hinder the narrator from pursuing them.
The ego fractured into two conscious minds due to the repressed energy from unconscious desires, resulting in the manifestation of Tyler. Tyler embodies the narrator's subconscious desires, representing the ID and encompassing repressed death instincts, aggression instincts, and the libido. Prior to meeting Tyler, the narrator defines his existence through furniture bought and assembled from IKEA, striving to become a being-in-itself. He believes that obtaining the last piece of furniture will bring about his perfect state of being. However, when his house is bombed and all his furniture is destroyed, the narrator feels as though his entire existence has been wiped away. He states, "Every stick of furniture in there was my life."
Tyler teaches the narrator to not depend on material possessions and instead find his identity through his actions. This leads the narrator to use the fight club as a way to define himself through physical combat. The narrator embraces violence and pain as a means of shaping his existence and surpassing his physical limitations. By satisfying his primal instincts for aggression, he achieves an initial level of self-awareness. The narrator's first revelation comes when he recognizes that Tyler is actually a part of himself. Essentially, he realizes that he has the freedom to invent and create his own identity as he sees fit.
This is a crucial stage as the narrator now desires to take on the responsibility of his own existence. His second moment of realization happens when he shoots Tyler, effectively shooting himself as well. On one level, the narrator confronts his inclination towards death by facing his fear of pain and mortality. He embraces Tyler's notion of embracing death in order to fully grasp his physical being. When he pulls the trigger on Tyler, he does so with the understanding that he is essentially shooting himself. This marks the final stride he needs to take in order to comprehend his true identity. On another level, instead of adopting Tyler's nihilistic philosophy of dismantling institutions and value systems, the narrator selects the values he will uphold and thereby constructs his own purpose in life. "By selecting his ethics, Man makes himself." Additionally, he translates these values into action by shooting Tyler, thereby defining his existence through actual deeds. Lastly, by shooting Tyler, he takes responsibility for all of humankind, not just himself.
He takes on the responsibility for Man because he creates the ideal image of what Man should be: someone who treats others with care and avoids destructive actions. By shooting Tyler, the narrator can define himself in the way he wants to be seen by others. Shooting Tyler is crucial in getting rid of Project Mayhem's existence. The narrator doesn't want Marla to discover Project Mayhem because it would mean losing his connection with her. Having a close relationship with Marla is important to the narrator. Additionally, she is the only remaining person in the movie with whom he has a close bond.
Moreover, Marla embodies the "other" role, enabling the protagonist to acquire knowledge about his own existence and serving as a prerequisite for his own being. The act of shooting Tyler is essential to prevent the loss of this crucial "other". The film delves into significant themes such as consumerism, specifically exploring how modern consumerist society influences Man in determining his existence. Sartre's perspective emphasizes that modifications in the fundamental parameters that define Man's place in the universe impact his understanding of existence within these limitations. Sartre suggests that all configurations either strive to surpass, withdraw from, reject, or adapt to these constraints. Consumerism imposes boundaries on Man, compelling him to both work and consume – he can only consume if he works and vice versa. Consequently, Man is disempowered as he is unable to fulfill his instinctual role as a hunter-gatherer prescribed by biology.
The movie depicts how Tyler attempts to exceed the restrictions imposed on humans, who are unable to satisfy their basic instincts. He achieves this by demolishing symbols of consumerism like credit card companies, aiming to "return to Ground Zero". Destroying bank records, which many individuals associate with their existence, erases their past and enables them to start anew, similar to the narrator's apartment being bombed to create a fresh existence through Fight Club. Ultimately, Tyler strives to alter the boundaries that dictate how people define their existence.
He imagines the collapse of contemporary society, with a return to a simpler, more primitive lifestyle of hunting and gathering. "In the world I see, you are hunting elk in the canyon forests near the ruins of Rockfeller Centre." In this imagined world, people will undoubtedly define themselves based on their physical strength and abilities. However, the narrator, like many of us today, copes with these limitations by embracing consumerism, which is taught to us through societal advertisements.
He has a strong desire to buy furniture from IKEA and sees his identity tied to these material possessions. According to him, he works jobs he dislikes just so he can buy things he doesn't actually need. He believes that his furniture sets him apart as an individual, whether it's the "glass bowls with imperfections made by the simple and honest people of wherever" or his "yin-yang coffee table". However, he fails to realize the irony that IKEA is a chain-store that mass produces furniture. He is not unlike other consumers of IKEA who also believe that their furniture is special because they personally selected it. Towards the end of the film, the narrator comes to understand that he needs to find a balance between two opposing mindsets: one that is afraid to confront freedom and exists in a pre-conscious state, and another that fully embraces existentialism and freedom, even if it leads to destructive behavior. By shooting Tyler, the narrator is able to reconcile these opposing mindsets and find a middle ground. Marla serves as an example of someone who pushes against the boundaries that define the human experience.
She is unsure of which values to choose in order to define her own existence, causing her to adopt a nihilistic mindset and actively seek out experiences that bring her close to death. Another significant theme in the film is that of mental anguish, as many characters are tormented by the fact that others impose their perception of them as "being in itself," preventing them from attaining a genuine state of "being for itself." Sartre explains this phenomenon by stating that once we become aware of our own existence, we also become aware of the existence of others who have the freedom to define us based on their own perspectives. Consequently, we are objectified in the eyes of others, robbing us of our autonomy. Only by reciprocating this objectification and viewing others as objects can we reclaim our freedom. Bob is depicted as a man who has surrendered his masculinity.
He acknowledges and embraces his inherent existence, perceiving his physical body as a permanent and unalterable state. Consequently, he experiences emotional distress as he fails to resist the external pressures imposed by others, who deny his autonomy to shape his own life.
The narrator also suffers from accepting the societal pressure to conform to a predetermined role, as a member of society tasked with working, consuming, and obeying authority figures. His desired self-image is that of a powerful and ruthless primal human being. However, he is afraid to fully embrace his freedom to reject this societal expectation and strive towards becoming his ideal self. As a result, his mental anguish materializes in the form of Tyler, who physically abuses the narrator as a representation of his psychological pain. Tyler's purpose is to push the narrator to acknowledge his unconscious desires and take responsibility for his own freedom. Only by confronting and enduring this mental torment (Tyler's physical abuse) can the narrator choose to reject the societal expectations placed upon him and achieve true freedom, where he is always freely making choices about his own future.
The narrator's decision to shoot Tyler is seen as justified since he willingly rejects Tyler's destructive ideas and surpasses his initial goal of becoming Tyler. Overall, the movie strongly portrays existentialist themes. Shooting Tyler becomes the first step for the narrator towards existentialism as he becomes fully aware of his own identity and takes complete responsibility for his existence. Additionally, it demonstrates how individuals can choose to define themselves within the confines of their existence. Ultimately, shooting Tyler enables the narrator to confront his mental anguish and attain true self-realization.
Embracing Existentialism: Justifying the Narrator's Decision to Shoot Tyler. (2016, Apr 24). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/existentialism-fight-club-essay
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