There are many themes present in Fight Club, that ranged from ideas relating to emasculation to the natural state of man. The themes that will be discussed will be the ones that recurred the most, and were most obvious in the novel, which revolved around masculinity, and anti-consumerism.
MASCULINITY
"his ass is a loaf of white bread. You see this same guy here six months later, and he looks carved out of wood. This guy trusts himself to handle anything." (Palahniuk, 51)
One perspective of the natural state of man is to be free from rules; being able to do whatever one wants to do.
Men are held back by restrictions that do not allow them to be free. This theme was one of the more important ones present in this novel, as it was actually one of the reasons why the Narrator developed Tyler as an alternate personality. Tyler Durden would not have existed if the Narrator was content with the life that he was living, clearly indicating that there was an inconsistency in the Narrator's life. He was subject to a life of materialism, and also living in "a generation of men raised by women." (50) This quote is alluding to the fact of fathers bailing on their families, leaving the mother to raise the children herself. This quote further relates to the importance of masculinity because without a prominent father figure in one's life, a person will have trouble distinguishing what makes a man and what doesn't. The narrator begins viewing Tyler as a father figure, but more importantly, a savior.
The establishment of Fight Club was the result of the narrator looking for a different way of dealing with his insomnia, however, in his unconscious mind he was actually longing for a way to escape the rudimentary, meaningless life that he was subjected to. Many men ended up being in the same shoes as the Narrator, and they too began attending fight club to escape and express their true selves. Fight club was not about winning or losing, it was a way of embracing masculinity, and a medium, specifically through which men can express their selves.
Masculinity was even taken in a literal sense in Fight Club, through the recurring threat of castration implemented by members of Project Mayhem, which essentially takes the ideals of Fight Club even further than it already was. The testicles are often viewed as a sign of manhood in society, and once this is taken away, it's like taking away what defines a man. The members of Project Mayhem obviously thought of it as a harsh punishment, as they used this threat against people who had the potential of ultimately destroying Project Mayhem. When the antics of Project Mayhem get too out of hand, the police commissioner decides to begin an investigation on Project Mayhem. Through an elaborate plan devised by Tyler, he and his subordinates end up cornering the commissioner, where he then realizes "How far do you think you'll get in politics if the voters no you have no nuts?" (165) Essentially, Tyler is implying that he is not fit for the position he currently has if his manhood is taken away from him.
One perspective of the natural state of man is to be free from rules; being able to do whatever one wants to do.
Men are held back by restrictions that do not allow them to be free. This theme was one of the more important ones present in this novel, as it was actually one of the reasons why the Narrator developed Tyler as an alternate personality. Tyler Durden would not have existed if the Narrator was content with the life that he was living, clearly indicating that there was an inconsistency in the Narrator's life. He was subject to a life of materialism, and also living in "a generation of men raised by women." (50) This quote is alluding to the fact of fathers bailing on their families, leaving the mother to raise the children herself. This quote further relates to the importance of masculinity because without a prominent father figure in one's life, a person will have trouble distinguishing what makes a man and what doesn't. The narrator begins viewing Tyler as a father figure, but more importantly, a savior.
The establishment of Fight Club was the result of the narrator looking for a different way of dealing with his insomnia, however, in his unconscious mind he was actually longing for a way to escape the rudimentary, meaningless life that he was subjected to. Many men ended up being in the same shoes as the Narrator, and they too began attending fight club to escape and express their true selves. Fight club was not about winning or losing, it was a way of embracing masculinity, and a medium, specifically through which men can express their selves.
Masculinity was even taken in a literal sense in Fight Club, through the recurring threat of castration implemented by members of Project Mayhem, which essentially takes the ideals of Fight Club even further than it already was. The testicles are often viewed as a sign of manhood in society, and once this is taken away, it's like taking away what defines a man. The members of Project Mayhem obviously thought of it as a harsh punishment, as they used this threat against people who had the potential of ultimately destroying Project Mayhem. When the antics of Project Mayhem get too out of hand, the police commissioner decides to begin an investigation on Project Mayhem. Through an elaborate plan devised by Tyler, he and his subordinates end up cornering the commissioner, where he then realizes "How far do you think you'll get in politics if the voters no you have no nuts?" (165) Essentially, Tyler is implying that he is not fit for the position he currently has if his manhood is taken away from him.
anti - consumerism
Anti-consumerist policies create falsehood in the way life is meant to be lived. Anti-consumerism was also one of the reasons why fight club was created, as it was a way of fighting directly against it. This idea can be a little hard to grasp, so understanding the root word, "consumerism", is the first step for comprehension of this theme.
Consumerism is essentially the idea of living just for buying products sold by companies. In other words, people who fall prey to consumerism define their selves through buying products. This concept is emulated directly through the narrator during Chapter 5 where he describes the status of his furniture after finding out that his apartment had exploded. The narrator reflects, stating that "a big bomb, had blasted my clever Njurunda coffee tables in the shape of a lime green yin and an orange yang that fit together to make a circle. Well they were splinters, now. My Haparanda sofa group with the orange slip covers, design by Erika Pekkari, it was trash, now. And I wasn't the only one slave to my nesting instinct." (43) In this quote, the narrator describes his once elegant furniture now reduced to garbage, but what should be pointed out was the way that he described them, pointing out their exotic nature and how valuable they were. In this sense he is clearly devastated by the fact that they are now gone, but more importantly, this furniture was what defined him as a person. This fact is actually directly stated by the narrator a short while after his descriptions, where he says that you're "trapped in your lovely nest, and the things you used to own, now they own you." (44) These bolded quotes indicate how these materialistic goods controlled him, and how the narrator was tempted into buying more and more goods as he was describing everything that had gotten destroyed. When he says that "I wasn't the only one slave..." he's saying that he isn't the only one going through this identity crises either. Literally millions of people face this problem, where they turn to things they can buy to discover their selves, and this is evident because this is how the word "consumerism" even came into existence. An actual word was needed to describe this phenomenon.
Now that the concept of consumerism is taken care of, it's now time to discuss anti-consumerism, which is really just the exact opposite. Tyler's ideals were focused mainly on anti-consumerist ideas, and he often expressed how he felt to his fellow members of Fight Club/ Project Mayhem. Technically, however, by the time Project Mayhem's estalibshed, the members aren't even considered members anymore, but rather "space monkeys". A space monkey was just another word for what a slave is, and that's exactly what the members of Project Mayhem were; slaves to Tyler. In Chapter 19, the narrator goes on a joyride with a "one scary fuck" (139) of a mechanic, and other space monkeys who went along for the ride. While on the ride, they try convincing the narrator to have the will to give up everything, though what stood out in this part was what they were yelling while they were on the road. They exclaim outside the windows of the car, "You're not how much money you have in the bank. You're not your age. You're not your problems." (143) In this quote, it's an example of how the members learned to adopt Tyler's ideals.
Consumerism is essentially the idea of living just for buying products sold by companies. In other words, people who fall prey to consumerism define their selves through buying products. This concept is emulated directly through the narrator during Chapter 5 where he describes the status of his furniture after finding out that his apartment had exploded. The narrator reflects, stating that "a big bomb, had blasted my clever Njurunda coffee tables in the shape of a lime green yin and an orange yang that fit together to make a circle. Well they were splinters, now. My Haparanda sofa group with the orange slip covers, design by Erika Pekkari, it was trash, now. And I wasn't the only one slave to my nesting instinct." (43) In this quote, the narrator describes his once elegant furniture now reduced to garbage, but what should be pointed out was the way that he described them, pointing out their exotic nature and how valuable they were. In this sense he is clearly devastated by the fact that they are now gone, but more importantly, this furniture was what defined him as a person. This fact is actually directly stated by the narrator a short while after his descriptions, where he says that you're "trapped in your lovely nest, and the things you used to own, now they own you." (44) These bolded quotes indicate how these materialistic goods controlled him, and how the narrator was tempted into buying more and more goods as he was describing everything that had gotten destroyed. When he says that "I wasn't the only one slave..." he's saying that he isn't the only one going through this identity crises either. Literally millions of people face this problem, where they turn to things they can buy to discover their selves, and this is evident because this is how the word "consumerism" even came into existence. An actual word was needed to describe this phenomenon.
Now that the concept of consumerism is taken care of, it's now time to discuss anti-consumerism, which is really just the exact opposite. Tyler's ideals were focused mainly on anti-consumerist ideas, and he often expressed how he felt to his fellow members of Fight Club/ Project Mayhem. Technically, however, by the time Project Mayhem's estalibshed, the members aren't even considered members anymore, but rather "space monkeys". A space monkey was just another word for what a slave is, and that's exactly what the members of Project Mayhem were; slaves to Tyler. In Chapter 19, the narrator goes on a joyride with a "one scary fuck" (139) of a mechanic, and other space monkeys who went along for the ride. While on the ride, they try convincing the narrator to have the will to give up everything, though what stood out in this part was what they were yelling while they were on the road. They exclaim outside the windows of the car, "You're not how much money you have in the bank. You're not your age. You're not your problems." (143) In this quote, it's an example of how the members learned to adopt Tyler's ideals.