I like this book alot. Here are some things I have been pondering...
Fight Club seems to glorify masculinity. Men go into bar basement and beat the crap out of each other for a good time. I read an article which suggested that consumerism and the absence of external threats, such as World War II, has placed men in the roles of women. There is no evil dragon to fight, and women are pushing equality in all aspects of society. Fight Club represents a nostalgia for violence and purpose. However, the narrator/Tyler kills himself, a most unglorious ending for a hero of war. He doesn't defeat the enemy, which is consumerism. Instead, he just changes it. Whcih brings me to my next point...
Tyler is strongly anti-consumerism. He and the narrator are disgusted by the idea that chains like Denny's might claim and corrupt newly discovered planets. So, Tyler engineers Project Mayham to overthrow the system. Project Mayham, though, is set up exactly like a modern corporation. Many outgrowths of Mayham exist in cities across the country. No one "employee" knows the overall purpose of his job, but he mindlessly submits to the chain of command that ends with Tyler. Each faction has its own task that is supposed to serve the greater purpose. If Tyler hates corporate America, why does he promote corporate behavior with Mayham? His goals are ultimately barbaric, to return mankind to a caveman existance, but his methods follow the society into which he was born, the one that is organized into corporations. Even after Tyler dies, the project continues with success. What is our good friend Chuck (I wish) trying to say here?
I am also really interested by the idea that the relationship between Tyler, Marla, and the narrator is a love triangle. The narrator suggests that Tyler was created because some part of him wanted to have Marla. Clearly, this becomes more than just sex. Why does Tyler love Marla? And the narrator loves Tyler. Many suggest this is homoerotic. I think that it is more accurately interpreted as the narrator loving the ability to control his fate, to lead men, and to make history. He loves the power Tyler has and the admiration he achieves. He loves the complete lack of concern with any consequences. I don't see this love as having anything to do with physical attraction because Tyler and the narrator are the same person.
Floor's open, folks, and the year's not over just yet!
8 comments:
I don't really understand Tyler's love for Marla either. If he is truely completely masculine, doesn't that mean he would only want her for sex? Or isn't that the idea that we have about masculinity?
Is it possible that he just hates the narrorator for "having her"? That as the narrorator's protector, he feels he should have all control over him - including Marla?
Suicide isn't always unglorious. I remind you all of feudal Japan where samurai regularly commit hari kiri to die with what honor they had left rather than face the shame of defeat or whatever. Following this reasoning, the narrator was ashamed of what Tyler had become/had done so he shot himself to avoid the shame. Whether this was a cowardly act or one of honor is up to interpretation.
I agree with the whole "I love Tyler" thing. It's more of an admiration rather than an "I want to bang you" love.
And can we really say that Tyler loves Marla? I mean, there's the whole thing where Tyler disappears when Marla's around which mimics how the narrator's parents acted towards eachother. And since Tyler and the narrator are the same person, it really is the narrator loving Marla. Also Tyler is the manifestation of all the aspects the narrator does not have, i.e. Tyler isn't shy... at all. So Tyler is more willing to act on his feelings and actually get what he wants vs the narrator.
Well we kind of discussed this in class... but this is my theory/what the text says?
On some unconcious level, the narrator is attracted to Marla, but he covers this up with his dislike of her. He is angry because when she shows up at his therapy groups, she makes him feel like a fake, and thus guilty. So the narrator seems to hate her. But Tyler is the narrator's manly manifestation (haha) and acts out in ways that the narrator himself could not when he is "awake." Tyler takes control of all of the narrator's inner feelings (contrived masculinity learned from consumerism due to his lack of fatherhood, love for Marla, etc.) and manifests these because the narrator cannot do it as himself. Tyler loves Marla because the narrator secretly loves Marla, but Tyler is the only way he can express this attraction. Basically Tyler manifests all of the narrator's latent feelings.
Which brings us to the other parts of the love triangle...
Marla loves the narrator because she thinks that the narrator and Tyler are one in the same. To her, these men are two sides of the same person (which is, in fact, the case... the two personalities make up one whole person. Neither can stand alone!). Thus the narrator believes she is in love with him because she expresses her love for whom she believes to be Tyler when the narrator is both "awake" and "asleep." Marla doesn't know the difference between the two men.
And finally, the narrator's love for Tyler. The narrator loves Tyler because Tyler is everything he is not: courageous, masculine, and daring. In believing that Tyler is a separate person, the narrator wishes that he could be more like Tyler. He loves the control that Tyler has over any situation and Tyler's bravery to try to set up a new world order. The narrator is in awe of the lengths to which Tyler goes in order to make a name for himself. Also, on some subconcious level, I think that the narrator loves Tyler because Tyler is the shield that he uses to block out the outside world. He shows his hatred for society and for his lack of father, as well as his love of Marla, through Tyler.
Wow, that was confusing... I hope it made sense!
I felt there was a slightly different reason for why the narrator shot himself, Albert. I didn't really get the sense that he did it out of shame. Rather he realized that he and Tyler were actually the same person and that Tyler's actions, while seemingly glorious, were actually quite detrimental. He then decided to shoot himself in order to kill Tyler. The narrator wanted to protect others from the destruction that Tyler was causing.
I don't know if that's right or not... but feel free to prove me wrong if it is not.
Just saying, but the text never states that the narrator actually lives. Is it not possible that they both died. And I have to agree with Liz, Alby. I think the narrator just wanted to be rid of Tyler and did not know how except to eliminate them both.
As for Tyler loving Marla... I feel that Tyler loved that Marla was twisted and impulsive. She rejects the same aspects of consumerism that he does, just not in a violent/masculine way. Maybe he admires that she manages to defy society's expectations by her very existence, not aggressive action. This would make the whole triangle be a triangle of envy and admiration rather than love.
And we all know that Theresa would be much happier if this was a triangle of envy rather than a triangle of something so disgusting as love.
We don't know whether or not the narrorator is still alive at the end, do we? When I read it, I thought that he was. I thought all the voices he kept hearing were the voices of those who thought his personality had changed, and that the real Tyler was hidden inside. They want Tyler to come back. Secondly, in the movie he lives. Movies aren't neccesarily accurate, but this movie remained pretty close throughout the text. Even if we aren't positive whether he lives or dies, we can safely say that there is a lot of room for interpretation.
In response to Liz's comment about the narrorator's love for Tyler..
I think its easy to see why he "loves" Tyler. Tyler is a manifestation of all of the narrorator's secret desires. Everything wrong with the narrorator is reversed by Tyler (does that even make sense). So obviously he admires him a lot, and this seems to suggest him loving Tyler. I'm not really sure I buy this. I guess it depends on your definition of love, but I think this is closer to an obsession.
I think I beleive Albert's shame theory. If we beleive that Tyler is everything that the narrorator wishes he had the courage to do, wouldn't that mean that secretly the narrorator loves Fight Club? And wants to be able to create a Project Mayham? Going of off this, he then becomes shameful of his desires (which have maifested in Tyler). He decides to end this by sacrificing himself, (or part of himself). I think it's a pretty honorable suicide, but it's done because of shame.
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