Reactions and Critique

This story is really graphic but it conveys a strong message. The movie is even more graphic but all nudity, violence, and thematic elements are all very necessary to convey the strong message. This story illustrates just how far people are wiling to go in order to achieve a sense of belonging and achieve happiness. These men are united by the distaste for norms and they create their own in order to be happy. People always form groups around sets of beliefs that they have adopted. As Tyler says " "You are not your bank account, you are not the clothes you wear. You are not the contents of your wallet. You are not your bowel cancer. You are not your Grande Latte. You are not the car you drive. You are not your fucking khakis." He completely rejects consumer society and leads other to follow his doctrine of deviant behavior. I think this book was very well written and the movie was well made with limited dramatic liberty. I still wonder how possible it would be for a counter culture such as this to exist within modern culture. Especially since the inner culture is the exact opposite of the culture it exists within. How did they make enough money to fund project mayhem? Even with the minimalism.

Analysis

This book primarily focuses on social stratification in modern society. The nameless narrator spends his day at a car company in a jobs he hates and spends his insomnia-stricken nights filling his life with products from mail-order catalogs. His materialism is the manifestation of many years of consumer society's conditioning. He defines himself entirely by the furniture he owns, the clothes he wears, and anythings else he owns. In order to alleviate his insomnia, his physician advises that he attend a support group to discover "what real suffering is like." He goes to a support group for men with testicular cancer and quickly finds that crying helps him sleep. Here he befriends a man named Bob. Although he has relieved his insomnia, he is now addicted to support groups. Until a woman named Marla shows up. She reminds the narrator that he is nothing but a tourist. Up until this time the support groups had been primary groups to him. The provided emotional growth for him and they were groups he could identify with. After being unable to identify with a group anymore, his insomnia returns and he meets TYler Durden; an individual who works lowing paying night jobs only for the purpose of practicing deviant behavior. Shortly after meeting Tyler, the narrator's condo is blown up and the narrator asks if he can stay with Tyler. THe only charge; "I want you to me hit as hard as you can." ANd this was the birth of the first fight club. New members are quickly enchanted by this behavior and fight club quickly grows as a national phenomenon. This all-men group is united by society's stratification and removal of a masculine role. These gray-collared workers are all distraught in their jobs and are united by the want to change. Fight club is governed by certain rules that make it into its own counter cutlture culture.

You don't talk about fight club.
You do not talk about fight club.
If someone says stop, goes limp, even if he's faking it, the fight is over.
Only two guys to a fight.
Only one fight at a time.
Fight without shirts or shoes
Fights go on as long as they have to.
If this is your first night at fight club, you have to fight.

This group then progresses to become Project Mayhem. Project Mayhem is a socail group of new norms, mostly in complete rejection of modern society. This cult like group focuses on fighting, practicing minimalism, and wreaking havoc on capitalist white collar society. The members of this group, "space monkeys", construct a new identiy and meaning in their lives. This elite group specializing in chaos and the ruin of modern civilization is also focused around rules.

You don't ask questions.
You don't ask questions.
No excuses.
No Lies.
You have to trust Tyler.

At first the narrator is a avid participant in Project Mayhem but begins to reconsider after the death of Bob. "We are all part of the same compost heap." Tyler says. Meaning that any inequality and social conflict that these men suffered on an individual level caused them to bond together and identify with eachother and function as a group. Tyler has created a culture of anti consumer deviant behavior that these men have all learned to identify with. "THis is your life, and it's ending one minute at a time."