Jack And Tyler example essay topic

Reading in-between the lines: An analysis of Fight Club novel by Chuck Palahniuk a film directed by David Fincher " You are not your job. You are not how much you have in the bank. You are not the contents of your wallet. You are not your khakis.

You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake. What happens first is you can't sleep. What happens then is there's a gun in your mouth. And what happens next is you meet Tyler Durden.

Let me tell you about Tyler. He had a plan. In Tyler we trusted. Tyler says the things you own, end up owning you. It's only after you " ve lost everything that you " re free to do anything.

Fight Club represents that kind of freedom. First rule of Fight Club: You do not talk about Fight Club. Second rule of Fight Club: You do not talk about Fight Club. Tyler says self-improvement is masturbation. Tyler says self-destruction might be the answer".

The novel Fight Club, by Jack Palahniuk was published in 1996 and released as a motion picture starring Brad Pitt and Edward Norton in October of 1999. Both the novel and motion picture proved to be very successful in their release to the public for one simple reason: Fight Club is a reflection of the suffering experienced by the 'Generation X' male who feels trapped in a world of the grey-collar (or service) working-class, a world filled with materialism and distractions, a group of men raised in single-parent families often devoid of a male role-model, and a world where there is no great cause for the average North American male to fight for. Whether consciously, or subconsciously, the average 'Generation X' male of modern society can relate to and understand Fight Club, which makes both the novel and motion picture such an important proclamation regarding the state of our modern culture. In Fight Club, we meet our main character who comes to us without a name. He can be referred to as 'Jack' but his name is not important. He comes to us without a name because he represents 'any man', any one of those 'Generation X' males living in our society at present.

Jack is a thirty-year old man employed as a recall coordinator for a major automobile company. He lives in a condo that is furnished with all the comforts of modern society, namely mass-produced furnishings that can be found in the homes of millions across North America. Jack owns a car and has obtained a respectable wardrobe for himself over the course of time. Despite all of these things, Jack is not satisfied with his life. He feels unhappy, unfulfilled, and trapped in the depths of chronic insomnia. Jack asks his doctor for help with his insomnia and receives the response that if he wants to see real pain, he should attend some of the support groups at a local church.

So Jack attends these support groups, in fact he starts to attend them religiously using pseudonyms and pretending he belongs. Jack frequents groups for men with testicular cancer, groups for sufferers of brain parasites, and blood parasites among other groups for disease sufferers, and suddenly Jack finds he can sleep again. The support groups give Jack a sense of belonging, a sense of being important to others as he expresses on page 107 of the novel: This is why I loved the support groups so much. If people thought you were dying, they gave you their full attention. Ift his might be the last time they saw you, they really saw you...

People listened instead of just waiting for their turn to speak. And when they spoke, they weren't telling you a story. When the two of you talked, you were building something, and afterward you were both different than before. It is implied that Jack feels frustrated with others in his life, feeling as if they are too caught up with their own preoccupations to truly care about how Jack feels, what is happening to him, and what he needs and wants in life. It is implied that the average 'Generation X' male also feels this way and has difficulty coping in a society where people are too busy to listen. Jack's attendance at the support group meetings continues to fill one of the 'voids' in his life until he meets the character of Marla Singer, who has begun to frequent all of the support group meetings, just as Jack does.

Jack becomes enraged with the presence of Marla, as he sees her as a symbol of the lie he has been living and fears that through Marla, he will be exposed as a 'faker'. Jack confronts Marla and they agree to 'share' the meetings, by dividing them up between them. As long as Jack is not confronted with the sight of Marla he feels comfortable in continuing his attendance at the meetings, and carrying out the role of a person living at 'death's door'. During Jack's attendance at his weekly parasitic brain dysfunction group, he also discovers another way of dealing with some of his problems, through the use of guided meditation. During the meeting a member steps forward to lead the group on a journey of the mind, during which those participating are mentally lead through various coloured doors, which lead to a cave, which contains their 'power animal'. This animal is a symbol of their personal power to overcome all obstacles they encounter in life.

Jack discovers that his 'power animal' is a penguin that offers Jack the verbal suggestion to "slide". The fact that Jack's 'power animal' is a penguin is actually extremely significant. Through analysis of the penguin, it is noted that penguins, though part of the bird species, cannot fly. Jack is part of the human species, yet he does not grasp what he can do. He feels restricted by his walls and has essentially made himself a cave to dwell in where the simple decisions of everyday life have been robbed from him. The penguin is also symbolic in that penguins are also very 'drone-like'.

There has always been the old joke that penguins appear as if they are wearing little black and white suits, which would symbolize the 'suit and tie' environment that Jack works in each day, an environment that Jack feels to be stifling. The last important detail about the penguin is that penguins are content in their atmosphere and travel in flocks. They do not stray far from their homes and baby penguins stick close to their mothers. This is especially reflective of the life that Jack leads. Jack feels as if he is just one of the masses 'travelling in a flock' and not thinking for himself. He also has issues with his upbringing, as it is later revealed that Jack was raised by his mother in a single-parent family, having been abandoned by his father at a young age.

The next major event that occurs in Jack's life, although he is unaware of it at the time, is meeting Tyler Durden. It is interesting to note that the author seems to have carefully chosen the name of this character, as an analysis of the name Tyler Durden reveals that in antiquated English, "Tyler" means gatekeeper or house builder, and "Durden" has the root dour meaning hard, as in 'durable', both which are descriptive of his personality. Although the novel and motion picture do not project the same circumstances under which Jack and Tyler meet, it is most interestingly projected in the novel. Jack awakes on a beach in the summertime to find Tyler pulling driftwood out of the surf and dragging it to the beach, then implanting the logs in the sand, forming a semi-circle.

Tyler asks Jack what time it is and draws a line in the sand with a stick. Tyler's creation is explained in the novel (page 33) as follows: What Tyler had created was the shadow of a giant hand. Only now the fingers were Nosferatu-long and the thumb was too short, but he said how at exactly four-thirty the hand was perfect. The giant shadow hand was perfect for one minute, and for one perfect minute Tyler had sat in the palm of perfection he'd created himself...

One minute was enough, Tyler said, a person had to work hard for it, but a minute of perfection was worth the effort. A moment was the most you could ever expect from perfection. This scene is especially important and foreshadows the future for Jack and Tyler. It is indicative of Tyler's personality, and goal (that later surfaces) of achieving just a moment of what he considers to be perfection in society. The giant hand symbolizes the world, and Tyler sitting within the giant hand symbolizes his wish to control the future of the world for just one tiny 'perfect' moment. Shortly following Jack's discovery of Tyler, he partakes on an extended business trip.

Upon his return he discovers that his precious condominium containing all the comforts of home that he has grown to love dearly has been destroyed in an explosion. It is explained to Jack that the cause of the explosion is unknown, however it is suspected that the cause was a gas leak, and that there is nothing left of his personal possessions. Jack is forbidden to enter the condo unit, and is advised to find a place to stay. On his way out of the lobby of the building, Jack is approached by the doorman, whose words profoundly echo the current problems facing modern society with respect to our obsession with materialism (page 45/46):" A lot of young people try to impress the world and buy too many things", the doorman said... "A lot of young people don't know what they really want".

... "If you don't know what you really want... you end up with a lot you don't". Tyler Durden later reveals to Jack that this is a problem of which he is especially concerned, a problem which he believes each person in society should become enlightened to, and work on correcting through the abandonment of material possessions. When Jack discovers he has lost his home and all his possessions he suddenly feels a sense that he is truly alone.

He does not consider calling family, or staying in a hotel, but instead debates calling Marla Singer whom he barely knows, and then decides impulsively to call Tyler Durden. It is implied through this decision, that Jack is not close with any family that he may have and that he does not have any (or few) friends. Jack and Tyler agree to meet at a local bar to have a few drinks and discuss what has happened. Jack expresses his grief over the loss of his condo and all his belongings to which Tyler replies that it is a good thing that all of that 'baggage' is gone, and that Jack is better off without all of his 'stuff'. He explains (page 44): You buy furniture. You tell yourself this is the last sofa I will ever need in my life.

Buy the sofa, then for a couple of years you " re satisfied that no matter what goes wrong, at least you " ve got your sofa issue handled. Then the right set of dishes. Then the perfect bed. The drapes. The rug. Then you are trapped in your lovely nest, and the things you used to own, now they own you.

Tyler is stating here that people in modern society have become so consumed with what they own and what they don't own (but wish they did), that they have lost track of what is really important in life. People have become obsessed with consumerism, forgetting that objects do not bring ultimate happiness, and 'you cannot take them with you when you die'. Tyler is offering Jack the wisdom that it is actually a blessing that he is now free of all the distractions he has accumulated, so that he can now turn the focus onto himself, and what is really important in his life. At the end of the evening Jack and Tyler find themselves outside the bar and they discuss that Jack should stay with Tyler.

Tyler suggests to Jack that asking to stay with him must have been his real motive for calling him. Once it is agreed upon that Jack will stay or 'live' with Tyler, Tyler asks Jack for one favour. He asks Jack to hit him as hard as he can. Jack is shocked by Tyler's request and asks why he would ever ask such a thing. Tyler explains to Jack that he has never been in a fight before, and listed his reasons (page 52) as: not wanting to die without any scars... being tired of watching only professionals fight, and wanting to know more about himself. Jack finally agrees to his request and they proceed to get into a physical brawl with each other, no holds barred.

Eventually the bar closes; patrons come out and gather around to watch the fight. This is how Fight Club was born. Somehow Tyler and Jack had managed to leave an impression upon their fellow 'grey-collar brothers' who had been watching them carry on, and came up with the idea that the sort of fighting that they had engaged in as an act of 'self-discovery', could be beneficial to others for the same reason. It was decided that Fight Club would be formed and meet periodically in the parking lot of the same bar where they had engaged in their first fight. Following this first fight Tyler and Jack fall exhausted and discuss what just occurred. Jack asks Tyler what it was that he had really been fighting during the brawl, to which Tyler replies "my father".

This is a very important underlying theme within Fight Club, the theme of 'Generation X' males in modern society being raised more commonly in a single-parent family, often with their mother as their only role model. There is a sense of anger towards the father figure for 'abandoning' the family, and even greater implications that men raised predominately by women have been forced to stifle their natural aggressive tendencies and take on a more unnatural, passive nature. This is supported by the 'need' for characters in the novel / motion picture to engage in physical aggression through Fight Club as a release for these pent up feelings. Jack explains his own relationship with his father as follows (page 50/51): Me, I knew my dad for about six years, but I don't remember anything. My dad, he starts a new family in a new town about every six years. This isn't so much like a new family as it's like he sets up a franchise...

What you see at Fight Club is a generation of men raised by women... My father never went to college so it was really important I go to college. After college, I called him long distance and said, now what? My dad didn't know. When I got a job and turned twenty- five, long distance, I said, now what? My dad didn't know so he said, get married.

I'm a thirty-year-old boy, and I'm wondering if another woman is really the answer I need. It is especially important to note that Jack is analyzing himself in the above excerpt, acknowledging his lack of maturity, and that he would be most likely to look for a woman who would act as a mother-figure instead of a partner or mate. Jack is implying here that many men in his situation (raised in a single-parent family by their mother) instinctively look for someone to take care of them in a relationship, as they know only what their mother or female role-model has taught them, and are lacking the knowledge of what it means to 'be a man' in a relationship, due to a lack of a male parental figure or role model. There is also an underlying idea in Fight Club that a male role model symbolizes God in a young man's formative years, and when abandoned by the male role model, the young man will develop a sense of being abandoned by God as well. This is described in Chapter 18 of the novel (page 140/141): ...

"If you " re male and you " re Christian and living in America, your father is your model for God. And if you never know your father, if your father bails out or dies or is never at home, what do you believe about God? ... What you end up doing... is you spend your life searching for a father and God.

What you have to consider... is the possibility that God doesn't like you. Could be, God hates us. This is not the worst thing that can happen". ... We are God's middle children, according to Tyler Durden, with no special place in history and no special attention. Unless we get God's attention, we have no hope of damnation or redemption.

It is an interesting theory that possibly the 'Generation X' male's lack of connection with God and religion could be due to a lack of the male parental figure in their lives. It is observable that these individuals may be feeling that they are the 'unwanted children', cast aside and neglected by all father figures in their lives, and this had lead them to a sense of hostility which manifests through the aggressive fighting they partake in at Fight Club meetings. Tyler Durden, self-proclaimed inventor of Fight Club soon decides to set a rule structure for their meetings so that they do not 'get out of hand'. He sets the rules as follows (page 48/49): The first rule about Fight Club is you don't talk about Fight Club... The second rule about Fight Club is you don't talk about Fight Club... That's the third rule in fight club, when someone says stop, or goes limp, even if he's just faking it, the fight is over...

Only two guys to a fight. One fight at a time. They fight without shirts or shoes. The fights go on as long as they have to. Those are the other rules of Fight Club.

It is interesting to note that the character of Tyler Durden is completely opposed to societal rules and regulations. Regardless of this, he sees a need for rules in his club, in order to prevent chaos from occurring, and people from getting injured beyond repair or killed. The Fight Club has been officially established now as a therapy session for grey-collar workers, which Tyler Durden believes cleanses it of negative, meaningless violent intentions. This Fight Club, now established as a 'group therapy session', soon replaces Jack's need to attend the other group sessions at the church. Fight Club has provided its members with a place to 'fight their fears', fears that they have been cheated and abandoned by their father and God, fears that they are not 'good enough', 'strong enough' or 'smart enough', fears that they will never be able to understand why they feel so trapped in their lives and unsatisfied, and also the fear of being alone, of pain, of brutality, of defeat, of losing control, and of inevitable death.

It has become an outlet for anger and fear, a rite of masculinity, and frees them temporarily from their enslavement by modern society. The more members realize all these things, the more they break the first and second rule of Fight Club, sharing the experience with more and more fellow 'brothers' who feel just as they do. Fight Club soon moves to the basement of the bar, and eventually new, independent chapters surface across the city as more and more men become aware of what Fight Club can offer them. While Fight Club is developing and growing, Jack discovers that Tyler has entered into a sexual relationship with Marla whom he met at the support group meetings in the church. Jack discovers that Tyler has 'rescued' Marla from an attempted suicide through the overdose of prescription medication (Marla had phoned the house that Jack and Tyler were currently sharing and Tyler had gone to her place to 'save her from herself'). Jack becomes enraged when he discovers that Tyler and Marla are involved in a relationship.

It is during this time that...