Fight Club Compared to Siddhartha
Since the beginning of time, man
has been on a quest to find his inner self. This topic has
been the theme of many books and researches. This is no
exception, in the 1959 book, Siddhartha by Hermann
Hesse. In this particular story the main character,
Siddhartha, is trying to find his inner self'. He tries to
accomplish this in many ways, one being self denial or
destruction. This is also the case in the 1996 book, Fight
Club by Chuck Palahniuk, in which the main theme
promoted is that destruction leads to purity. These two
works, written almost 40 years apart, which at first glance
seem to be complete opposites, are actually spawns from
the archetypal theme of man's quest from self knowledge.
Many issues in each of these stories give reason to believe
that the authors had the same idea in mind. It could also be
said that the author of Fight Club may have read
Siddhartha. This is so because of the fact that many quotes
in Fight Club relate to Hinduism, which is the religion of the
heron in Siddhartha. For example, at a point in Fight Club,
a character questions his safety. The reply from the
character, Tyler Durden, is, "You're as safe as a Hindu
cow", is a metaphor that since the cow is very respected in
the Hindu religion and is not harmed. This may be mere
coincidence, but other information gives reason to believe
otherwise. Other than just saying that there is a connection
with something that is said in the two books, there is also
connections with the themes and styles of each book. In
Siddhartha the charters often speak in ways the you may
have to think about to understand the full meaning. This is
also true in the case of Fight Club. At one point in
Siddhartha, the character Govinda [Siddhartha's friend]
says, "He who in contemplation, with purified mind,
immerses himself in Atman, Inexpressible in words is his
heart's bliss." These quotes convey the idea of the actually
enlightenment. In Fight Club, it is common to see
has been on a quest to find his inner self. This topic has
been the theme of many books and researches. This is no
exception, in the 1959 book, Siddhartha by Hermann
Hesse. In this particular story the main character,
Siddhartha, is trying to find his inner self'. He tries to
accomplish this in many ways, one being self denial or
destruction. This is also the case in the 1996 book, Fight
Club by Chuck Palahniuk, in which the main theme
promoted is that destruction leads to purity. These two
works, written almost 40 years apart, which at first glance
seem to be complete opposites, are actually spawns from
the archetypal theme of man's quest from self knowledge.
Many issues in each of these stories give reason to believe
that the authors had the same idea in mind. It could also be
said that the author of Fight Club may have read
Siddhartha. This is so because of the fact that many quotes
in Fight Club relate to Hinduism, which is the religion of the
heron in Siddhartha. For example, at a point in Fight Club,
a character questions his safety. The reply from the
character, Tyler Durden, is, "You're as safe as a Hindu
cow", is a metaphor that since the cow is very respected in
the Hindu religion and is not harmed. This may be mere
coincidence, but other information gives reason to believe
otherwise. Other than just saying that there is a connection
with something that is said in the two books, there is also
connections with the themes and styles of each book. In
Siddhartha the charters often speak in ways the you may
have to think about to understand the full meaning. This is
also true in the case of Fight Club. At one point in
Siddhartha, the character Govinda [Siddhartha's friend]
says, "He who in contemplation, with purified mind,
immerses himself in Atman, Inexpressible in words is his
heart's bliss." These quotes convey the idea of the actually
enlightenment. In Fight Club, it is common to see