Fight Club Rules

“The first rule of Fight Club is: You do not talk about Fight Club. The second rule of Fight Club is: You do not talk about Fight Club.” Unless you stopped keeping up with pop culture in the late 1990s, you have heard this before. It would also be important to note that I will be breaking those rules with this essay. Even though many people could answer a simple trivia question about the titular Fight Club’s guidelines, less people have seen the film or, if they have, realize the complexities and themes that are lurking under the surface. Fight Club is a 1999 film directed by David Fincher that stars Edward Norton, Brad Pitt, and Helena Bonham Carter. The film follows the story of an unnamed narrator, played by Norton, who is an insomniac

His character is the “everyman,” hence absence of a name. We are introduced to him as an insomniac, who goes through life one uneventful day at a time. This changes when he starts going to support groups for different types of life-altering conditions and illnesses. Thinking that he is one of them, the group members open their hearts to him and cry. This inviting atmosphere allows for the Narrator to sleep again. It is also important to note that this character’s job is to travel across the country, make reports about fatal car accidents due to vehicle malfunction, and evaluate whether or not there should be a recall. The character has a sadistic side to him, but you have to understand that he is a product of the modern times. The Narrator buys all the furniture in his apartment from IKEA catalogs. He is “normal” in not the traditional sense, but to the detached, neo-consumeristic sense of the word. This is heavily relatable, especially to modern single men in metropolitan areas. Marla Singer is introduced as a character who lies and cheats to get what she wants and the Narrator hates this. She feels no remorse for what she does, and even though the Narrator does many of the same things, he, at least at some points, feels bad seeming unlike her. Tyler Durden is introduced as the exact opposite of the Narrator and is everything he and every other man wishes they were. Tyler Durden takes what he wants. Tyler Durden is his own boss. Tyler Durden does not play by society’s rules and expectations. As a side note, if there is another thing that many people know, whether or not they have seen the movie, it would be the twist that occurs in the beginning of the final act. At this point, Tyler Durden has not only helped create Fight Club, but has instated many of the club’s members to be a part of secret organization known as “Project Mayhem,” whose main purpose was