“Fight Club” a Novel by Chuck Palahniuk
Fight Club – The Novel
Describe the Narrator’s life before Tyler.
The narrator’s life before he meets Tyler is characterized with chronic insomnia which has been disturbing him for a while. His condition becomes a problem at his Work place where he works as a product recall specialist and prompts him to seek medical attention.
What does Fight Club provide for the narrator?
Fight club provides a haven for the narrator to belong to. Through it he meets people that have the same condition as him and with them he is enabled to manage his insomnia condition that previously disturbed him.
What is Tyler’s idea of the perfect world?
Tyler’s idea of the perfect world is where he gets everything that he wants whenever he wants and where everyone has the right and capacity to get whatever they want. Through his launching of project Mayhem, Tyler considers his needs and desires superior even to the law and that is why he fronts perpetration of crimes through the group that he leads (Palahniuk 17).
What is the purpose of Project Mayhem?
The Purpose of Project Mayhem is to cause havoc and attack all forms of consumerisms in all companies and businesses operating with the vicinity.
Who IS Tyler Durden?
Tyler Durden is an illusionary personality of the narrator. He portrays different traits of the narrator (Palahniuk 122-123). The narrator descends into this state when his mental condition deteriorates and forces him to attempt to run from problems that face him in reality.
What is the point of the violence in fight club?
The violence perpetrated in the Fight Club is aimed at showing the displeasure that the client and Tyler among other members of the group have for modern civilization. This is well captured in their code of conduct and rules that show their commitment to violence, destruction of property and lawlessness (Palahniuk 110-111).
Tyler frequently discusses (and even argues) why people should hit bottom. Why is hitting bottom so important to Tyler?
Tyler argues that people should hit bottom since he thinks that when people are at their lowest, there will be some level of equality and civilization (which he hates) will be abandoned to continue living the livelihoods of the olden days. He wants people in business and their clients to be made to suffer and struggle as a way of appealing to his wayward penchant for destruction and lawlessness (Palahniuk 56-57).
Can you trust the narrator?
The narrator cannot be trusted given his inclination to lawlessness and dislike of regulation. The kinds of rules that he ascents to in Fight Club and in Project Mayhem is a clear indication of who he really is and how untrustworthy he is in all respects. His dislike of Marla and apparent seduction that he engages her behind the scenes is another pointer to how he cannot be trusted (Palahniuk 77-78).
Can Tyler Durden be considered as a late twentieth century American hero?
To a large extent Tyler Derden is a true representation of a late twentieth century American hero especially in his youthhood. That generation gave rise to unruly youths that were mindless about the law, disrespectful to their parents and down-right arrogant with their peers. This in a snapshot captures what Tyler Derden is in the novel.
In your opinion, why does the narrator REALLY create Tyler Durden?
In my opinion, the writer actually creates Tyler to meet his wayward desires of an unruly life, arrogance, penchant for destruction and lawlessness which are the things that he fancies and find it hard to attain them in his current state as an employee in an apparently prosperous car company which requires him to be respectful and professional. For him to meet his weird hooligan desires, he is compelled to create Tyler who can do all these activities in a totally different world of his own (Palahniuk 90-91).
Fight Club – The Novel and the Movie
The most overt similarities in the novel and the film include the event leading to the development of Tyler as a character and the narrator. Both the novel and the movie indicate that the narrator was suffering from insomnia and his doctor recommended him to attend a support group of victims of testicular cancer so that he may have a taste of how other people are suffering. Both the movie and the novel record that it is during one of these support groups that the narrator meets Marla with whom feuds begin and they mutually agree to be attending different sessions (Fight Club). The ending of both the book and the film are also similar as both have Tyler disappearing and the narrator is left with Marla in his hands with the realization that Tyler was himself driven with some misplaced desires for violence and lawlessness (Fight Club).
The core differences when comparing the film and the novel regard the events surrounding Marla’s overdosing. The novel implies that Marla cheated on the narrator when she attended the group’s meetings when she was not supposed to whereas the film actually implies that she was actually overdosed and in dire need for help when she called the narrator (Palahniuk 43). In the novel, it is suggested that it is the narrator that gets confused as to whether Tyler and Marla are the same person whereas the movie suggests that it is Marla that is confused about the narrator and Tyler thinking that they are the same person.
The version that is more persuasive and appealing to me is the film given its graphic presentation of the fights among the members and the operations of Project Mayhem that paints a very clear picture of hooligans that are typical of the millennium. The film version is also more characteristic of what happens in gang groups when it comes to the violence that is perpetrated by Tyler and the narrator after the latter’s condo is burnt.
Based on the creativity of the movie, the professional cinematography and effects that have been done for the film, I would rate the movie at star 4. This is also because the movie consists of a very talented cast team that is professionally acclaimed and respected. These are Edward Norton (who plays the narrator), Brad Pitt (who plays Tyler Durden), Helena Carter (who plays Marla Singer), Jared Leto as Angela Face and Meat Loaf as Robert Paulson to name just a few. With this kind of a cast, the film can justifiably be considered excellent in all respects!
Works Cited
Fight Club. Dir. David Fincher. Prod. Art Linson, Videocassette. MGM/UA Home Video, 1999.
Palahniuk, Chuck. Fight Club. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1999. Print.