The Duality Of A Person In Palahniuk's Fight Club

The novel Fight Club, written by Chuck Palahniuk explores the life of the insomniac narrator with dual personalities. This is from a first-person perspective so the reader can see firsthand as he searches for the true meaning in his life. His alter personality, Tyler Durden, a complete opposite representation of the narrator with opposite views, takes over the narrator's life by starting different establishments like Fight Club and Project Mayhem. It is almost a subconscious way of the narrator trying to find something meaningful in life.

Chuck Palahniuk’s use of themes, developing the plot and literary devices make the reader believe that the world that the narrator's polar opposite alter personality was trying to create would have benefited society by eliminating consumer culture, redefining masculinity and allowing for a superior identity.

In the novel, consumer culture in society leads average day men such as the narrator to experience total emptiness. The consumerist lifestyle that the narrator lives is leading him to have absolutely no social life and the author uses it as a prominent theme in Fight Club to help the reader understand the conditions of society, or more specifically, the narrator.

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Satisfaction in life does not come easy to the narrator, because, in actuality, the narrator cannot live with himself. When the narrator is frustrated or needs meaning in his life he buys more consumer goods. This lifestyle leads him to be continuously frustrated with himself as the purchases do not provide him with real satisfaction. Thus, putting him in an endless cycle of purchasing consumer goods.

The only power in his life comes from buying products he deems worthy, for instance, “Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need.” (Palahniuk 165). When the narrator’s condominium burnt down he was left completely powerless and forced to turn to a different method, Fight Club, to gain a sense of self-worth. Tyler Durden’s society would allow mankind to find meaning in unique ways, “Only through destroying myself can I discover the greater power of my spirit” (Palahniuk 85). This would break free from the often gloomy society, full of restriction that the narrator now lives in. The author uses metaphors, similes and imagery to let us feel how disconnected the narrator is from society. The metaphors and similes help the reader draw comparisons so they can further understand what the characters are going through. The theme of consumerism also truly showcases the harsh state of society.

Masculinity in Fight Club is shown as having a big family, money, and a well-respected job. Instead of doing what you love and living how you want to live, the idea of masculinity is heavily influenced by consumerism. Masculinity leads people to live lives that they do not enjoy. The narrator seeks a life like his other personality Tyler Durden’s because, in his mind, Tyler is a prime male by living life by his own rules. The narrator, who has most likely followed the standard pathway for success in society, is left feeling empty because society has failed him,

''We are the middle children of history, raised by television to believe that someday we'll be millionaires and movie stars and rock stars, but we won't. And we're just learning this fact,” (Palahniuk 165). Furthermore, the concept of masculinity is marketed to consumers. Masculinity is having the most recent products or the fanciest cars instead of being based on the values and goals of a person. In reality, a person's happiness is a direct result of how they live their lives, “What you see at fight club is a generation of men raised by women.” (Palahniuk 106), meaning living in Tyler’s society and being able to find meaning in something greater than what type of car you have, or how fancy your watch is, will make you happier and allow you to have a deeper connection with yourself. Similarly, the threat of castration is a very symbolic act in Fight Club. Members of the testicular cancer group that the narrator attends have men who have lost their testicles and are seen as men who have lost all and are not considered to be masculine. Castration is seen as catastrophic for these men particularly as they have just begun to appreciate their masculinity. An example of a metaphor would be when Tyler compares Project Mayhem to a cultural ice age. Tyler believes an ice age is needed in this world to make it better. His ideology for Project Mayhem is complex -- an organization that trains itself as an army to bring down modern civilization, -- much like a rebellion against the upper class.

The characters in fight club often have miserable, grief-stricken lives. The author develops the plot by putting a key emphasis on characters such as Robert 'Bob' Paulson and showcasing his life before and after joining Fight Club. In the novel, Tyler Durden states, ''It's only after you've lost everything,' Tyler says, 'that you're free to do anything.'' (Palahniuk, 69), and Bob certainly did lose everything, from a respected bodybuilder to a depressed testicular cancer support group member. Project Mayhem gave Bob more meaning then he had ever had before; it allowed him to explore a society that accepted him. Individual identity can destroy someone, society often puts pressure on people, but in Tyler’s world “You are not special. You're not a beautiful and unique snowflake. You're the same decaying organic matter as everything else. We're all part of the same compost heap. We're all singing, all dancing crap of the world.” (Palahniuk, 156). When Chuck Palachuik uses the plot and characters like Bob to further highlight the condition of society, it makes the reader believe that the society Tyler is creating may not be all that bad.

Fight Club explored several themes and ideas that leaves the reader asking many questions about the way that we live. The method Tyler Durden used to try and create this society was appropriate nor reasonable, but the themes, plot and literary devices help the reader believe that the society would have been beneficial by eliminating consumer culture, redefining masculinity and allowing for superior identities. A society built from the ground up with no societal classes would have its benefits, and the average life for many people can often be depressing, and society can often restrict us from doing what we truly love and what truly makes us feel alive. The usage of themes, developing plot, and literary devices helped communicate the author's message for the novel, and makes the reader think about just how different society could be, and if they would ever have to hear the first rule of Fight Club, “The first rule of fight club is you do not talk about fight club.” (Palachuik, 72).