“This is your life, and it’s ending one minute at a time.”
Fight Club is David Fincher’s brilliant satirical film that continues to generate conversations and wonder 24 years later. At the core of an identity crisis is the melancholy white-collar Narrator (Edward Norton), who befriends Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) and finds himself so eager to be like the rambunctious character, that he loses track of himself. Quirky, cynical, and artistic in the best ways, Fight Club is a film that needs no introduction, nor a sequel to carry on its greatness.
And yet, the iconic movie has not become synonymous with it’s equally dynamic roots, with the original novel, ‘Fight Club’ less popular despite the three-year difference in publication. The novel, written by Chuck Palahniuk in 1996, turns a man with insomnia into a co-creator of an unconventional form of psychotherapy, and was the blueprint that the movie manifested out. While the 1999 film adaptation remains fairly faithful to the novel’s plot, some aspects of characterization, plot points, and overall significance have been altered in the on-screen remake.
David Fincher’s Fight Club is well-known for pushing an anti-capitalist, anti-consumerist agenda: promoting the idea that if viewers stripped away their possessions and monetary-based goals, they could reach a higher level of consciousness within their identity. "The things you own end up owning you” is a quote that Tyler Durden reiterates many times, arguing that identity is shaped by the realms of capitalism: that the perfectly-curated IKEA furniture and luxury clothing ends up as a defining marker of the self.
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In comparison, while the novel did encapsulate the same ideology, Fight Club centred around themes of masculinity and femininity within the identity, expressed in the more pronounced love dynamic between the Narrator and Marla (played by Helena Bonham Carter in the film). The Narrator expresses traditionally ‘feminine’ traits – such as collecting furniture and feeling comfort when crying at his group therapy sessions; which he desperately wants to remove, hence his creation of a hypermasculine alter-ego. Marla on the other hand, expresses more ‘masculine’ traits, such as acting recklessly and portraying a sense of brazen confidence; which masks her truly vulnerable state where she just wants to be loved.
In the film, the Narrator first meets Tyler on a plane back from a business trip. Introducing himself as a soap salesman, Tyler impresses the Narrator with his theory that oxygen on planes serve as a means to become docile in emergency – a way to accept your fate. Eager to impress him, the Narrator refers to him as a single-serve friend; amusing Tyler with his cleverness. From the point of meeting Tyler, the Narrator is invigorated and obsessed with pleasing Tyler in any way he can, blindly following him and adopting his radical ideologies even though they clash with his original senses of purpose.
In the novel, the Narrator heads to a nudist beach, and awakes to find Tyler placing logs on the shore, strategically creating the palm of a hand through the shadow of the afternoon sun. This encounter depicts Tyler as a spiritual leader on the brink of creationism. Guiding the Narrator on a path to enlightenment by hitting rock bottom, Tyler becomes a representation of a deity – a symbolic movement that can serve as a critique on blind following and manipulation when a person is idolized.
Arguments have ensured whether the Fight Club film is a love story, or whether Marla serves as nothing more than a desirable object for the Narrator, and an obstacle for Tyler. Although the audience can see that the Narrator wishes to be with her, despite his annoyance that she too pretends to have illnesses to seek comfort, one cannot deny that Marla primarily serves as an antagonist in both the Narrator and Tyler’s eyes. Asides from her sexual relationship with Tyler, Marla remains volatile to the Narrator, not understanding his personality change just as he does not realize it himself.
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In the novel, Fight Club distinguishes itself more within the romance genre, despite Marla and Tyler’s sexual relationship. Throughout the novel, Marla and the Narrator’s budding relationship builds slowly into an emotional intimacy, and the creation of Tyler is nothing more than the Narrator’s attempts to be a ‘man’ that he believes will entice Marla into his life. In both the film and the novel, it is clear that Marla’s existence becomes a threat to Tyler’s existence.
The character of Tyler Durden is synonymous with Brad Pitt’s chiselled, suave exterior; a handsome face that ironically intends to fight back against capitalist-driven ideas of masculinity. He is a preacher of anarchy; being psychologically cold and brazen in his actions, for he does not fear consequences. But, at the same time, Tyler is charismatic: he is designed to be a likeable character that the audience can be entertained by. Those around him are easily persuaded by his ideologies, to the point where he commands such attention that no one ever tries to contest his orders.
In the novel, Tyler Durden is a darker character that very quickly becomes the forefront of the reader’s attention. A free-spirit, Tyler firmly lives by the idea that most things truly do not matter, and therefore morals can be abandoned when dealing with them. This leads to him being capable of harm, such as murdering a man at a murder-mystery party, and leading a terrorist organization. He promotes an aggressive, primal state for men to revert to, arguing that their actions are just after society has expected too much of them.
In Fight Club, Marla Singer is a character viewers meet even before Tyler, causing the Narrator great distress as she involves herself in the same therapy groups as a means of socialization and a cure for boredom. In the film, she is sort of a femme fatale; the main source of antagonism for both the Narrator and Tyler – the latter of which sees her as a threat to his existence. Marla is the quirky side character who is not given any background information – leaving viewers to take her as she presents.
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While she is a love interest to the Narrator, their complicated relationship holds viewers back from knowing her as anything else. In the book, Marla is slightly more fleshed out, with her background being as having worked in a funeral home. Unkempt, cold, and suicidal, Marla grows throughout the novel as her connection to Tyler/the Narrator develops, becoming softer and more caring. Due to her vulnerability, the Narrator slowly showcases his true self to her; thus causing her greater pain when he becomes confused in his own persona. Marla does not just serve as a complicated love interest in the novel; instead, she becomes a reason for the Narrator to want to diverge away from Tyler when he realizes that Tyler wants her gone.
As the adaption of Fight Club had a discerning anti-consumerist message behind it, some parts of the movie were altered with that perspective in mind. Throughout the film, Project Mayhem engages in many illegal activities that reap havoc as a means of fighting against capitalist signifiers of success – using bird poo to soil luxury cars and removing iconic statues. As a political agenda and a marker of freedom, Tyler orders Project Mayhem to detonate several buildings – all of which are owned by major credit card companies.
In doing so, Tyler’s ultimate goal is to erase the debt record; ultimately attempting to destroy the class system by making everyone equal by having nothing and owing nothing. However, in the original Fight Club, Project Mayhem’s final blow played out a little differently, showcasing Tyler’s truly dark intentions. Planning to blow up a nearby skyscraper, Tyler aimed for the natural museum to be the explosion point, creating a ‘historic’ point in which he, a martyr of some sorts, will die. As a final damning act, Tyler aims to take alongside him, the Narrator’s life; leaking behind a legacy of the greatest anarchist that Project Mayhem will live vicariously through.
At it’s core, both versions of Fight Club is a coming-of-age story; not through gaining maturity, but through awakening to the realization that the Narrator does have a choice in life to live the way he desires. The Narrator’s turning point in the movie comes with the realization that Tyler Durden was nothing more than an alter-ego that ran rampant as the Narrator slept. As the Narrator begins to resent the level of violence enacted by Project Mayhem, Tyler disappears, leaving the Narrator in charge.
It is here that he realizes that members of Project Mayhem and Marla address him as Mr. Durden/Tyler. For the rest of the film, it is the Narrator who attempts to mediate between his two personalities, until he is able to disassociate from Tyler altogether. In the ‘Fight Club’ novel, the Narrator reaches a state of consciousness thanks to his budding relationship with Marla, in which becomes his motivation to take back control of himself. At one point, the Narrator wonders if Tyler and Marla are the same person, for they are never seen in the same room together; which his loyalties start to become swayed. When Marla says something to the Narrator that reveals that she believes that he and Tyler are the same person, the Narrator begins to track down Tyler. The Narrator’s concern for Marla’s safety and his desire for a relationship allows him to disassociate from Tyler.
The ending scene of Fight Club, in all its chaotic glory, is satisfying, and wildly symbolic of the Narrator’s explosive revelation that he has been living a double life. Knowing that only he has the true power to make Tyler disappear, the Narrator shoots himself in the cheek, causing Tyler to vanish into thin air. Marla runs in, and tends to his wound. The Narrator exclaims that she met in a strange time in his life, before turning to watch the other buildings outside explode.
In contrast, Marla’s significance becomes cemented in the novel’s ending, and the Narrator’s mental health is truly recognized.Tyler’s plan is to let the skyscraper fall onto a nearby museum that will also blow up, killing both Tyler and the Narrator, with Tyler wanting to die as a historical figure. However, Marla and one of the support groups comes rushing in, and Tyler vanishes. The Narrator awaits for the explosion to kill him, only for it to malfunction. Feeling like he has control for the first time in a long time, the Narrator shoots himself in the mouth. Some time later in a mental institute, a group of hospital employees come to his side and present themselves as members of Project Mayhem, assuring him that the plans will continue, and that they eagerly await for Tyler’s return.
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Aleisha Brown is a young writer from Perth, Western Australia. She developed her literary skills through a Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing + Professional Writing and Publishing from Curtin University. When not writing articles, she enjoys writing poetry, reading fictional realism, and a *touch* of online shopping.

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