Fight Club's Influence On Society

In today’s culture of political correctness and female empowerment, Fight Club would have never been written. However, Fight club offers a unique and new definition of the word masculinity in the context of self-help and violent empowerment rather than modern day’s overbearing and crude meninism. As Tyler Durden proclaimed “we are the middle children of history, no great war, we have no depression. Our depression is our lives” (Palahniuk 35). Fight Club is an irresistibly fast, timely and quotable book which follows a young man with multiple personalities disorder through the chaos and destruction of his alter ego. However, because of the circumstances and the era in which it was written, it has become a cult classic in every sense of the word
with a dedicated fan follow which is still active to this day, a profound influence on young men, and a sharp minimalist style.
One thing that makes a novel a cult classic is the influence it has on culture. Fight Club had undeniable influence on small groups of people throughout America. Fight Club presented a new method of catharsis that many young men felt very strongly about. After the release of the novel and subsequent film, “authorities discovered over a dozen fight clubs” (McCarthey online). The idea of Fight Club is violent and infectious, with the sharp language and even sharper characters, the novel immediately infiltrated the minds of many people. From Menlo Park, California, where members of the tech industry started a “Gentleman’s Fight Club” (Emerson online), to Texas, New Jersey and Washington, where teens and preteens joined, Fight Club gave its readers (mostly young males) a way to reassert their masculinity. “Many fight club brawlers are suburban high school kids, and many take place on pleasant tree lined streets, with brick homes and well-tended lawns” (Pirnia online). The way Fight Club influenced culture could not have been expected. Although Tyler Durden fought for exploited, blue
collar workers, its influence lays with mostly middle to upper class men. The cult surrounding Fight Club is based on men feeling disenfranchised and underrepresented in today’s society who wish to reclaim the feeling of power which Tyler Durden promoted, “the things you used to own, now they own you”. One of the main themes of the novel is materialism “realistically, fight club is an anti-society and anti-capitalist novel” (UK essays online). This novel alone cannot be held responsible for the growing anti-capitalist sentiment in the United States, however, it did recognize and perpetuate the trend. Fight club was an influencing factor recognizing a shifting public opinion. “It’s only after we’ve lost everything, that we’re free to do anything” (Palahniuk 17) states Tyler Durden who openly denounces materialism and capitalism, promoting rather a fascist and communal society. Often classics are marked by complex figurative language, however the language of Chuck Palahniuk’s is completely minimalist and unique, further making Fight Club a cult classic. The Narrator’s speech and dialogue is mostly internal and reflective of his mental illness and insanity “HELLO! I am so ZEN. This is BLOOD. This is NOTHING. Hello. Everything is nothing, and it is so cool to be ENLIGHTENED. Like me. Sigh” (Palahniuk 64). The minimalist language of Fight Club also highlights the Narrator’s obsession with material (mostly Ikea) goods. “One of the main Purposes of minimalism is to diminish the effect of materialism” (Nicodemus online). The minimalist dialogue and language completely sharpens the entire novel, almost manifesting into Tyler Durden, the charismatic, autocratic leader of project mayhem. Tyler’s home is large, empty and completely falling apart. He often preaches rejecting all material possessions “the liberator who destroys my property has realigned my perceptions” (Palahniuk 23). Towards the beginning of the book the narrator shops for furniture excessively as an “opiate for the emptiness in his life, he channels his frustrations into the purchasing of more and more consumer goods” (McCarthey online). The minimalist style of the book reflects the ultimate goals of Tyler Durden: a reset of civilization. Palahniuk’s writing style includes complex themes such as the destruction of society, gender roles and violence, and packs it into overly simple and minimalist writing style making it more digestible to read. In this unique form of literary expression, Palahniuk provides his readers an insight to the inner workings of the narrator’s mind, without revealing too much. There is very little inner dialogue, rather than blunt description of the things going on around him, “besides their humping, Marla and Tyler are never in the same room” (Palahniuk 65). The excessive violence combined with casual choice of words allows room for human empathy as well as a cultish, dedicated following. Fight Club is not a book in which most people find enlightenment through; the excessive gore and hyper masculinity are a huge turn off for most people.
However, a small group of people found profound enlightenment after reading this book. The cult, the people highly dedicated to this book, mostly young middle class men, found a new sense of direction after reading this book. Fight Club teaches young men they are all from the “same compost heap” (Palahniuk 175) but simultaneously preaches “you are not your job. You are not how much money you have in the bank” (124). Fight Club, in theory, gives men a sense of community and purpose while also emphasizing the capability and power of men, “I see the strongest and smartest men who’ve ever lived, I see all this potential” (Palahniuk 177). The book provides enlightenment in a very carpe diem fashion, where living today and not planning for tomorrow to come is ideal. In theory, the plan is flawless: live for today, “what do you wish you had done before you die, do it, do it now” (Palahniuk 168), because only after disaster can we be resurrected” (Palahniuk 25), and if we die, it is okay because only in death do we truly have a name. This kind of thinking very much clicked with many young middle class men who may feel disenfranchised by their current situations. Although the idea of taking control of your own life is in no way a new idea, Fight Club presents taking control of your life in a new way. Instead of promoting change
through lifestyle changes like eating habits, residence or occupation, Fight Club takes extreme measure and provides its readers with enlightenment, complete societal destruction. “We live in a world where we seek to express ourselves, either through conspicuous consumption or simply to remember what it was like to actually feel like a man after the world has feminized us so” (Morgan online). The enlightenment found in Fight Club is real, but brief. The people who found enlightenment in this book quickly realized the irrationality of Tyler Durden’s philosophy.

really liked Fight Club for its plot and pacing however I felt its message was just very hard for me to connect with because it was specifically tailored for men. The reason it became so popular was through its cult following of young men and there is a reason: Fight Club promotes fraternity and brotherhood. I thought the idea of catharsis was presented very interestingly, that the only way to achieve complete catharsis is through total destruction, body and mind. I also really liked the commentary on materialism and how seamlessly it was weaved into other themes like masculinity, destruction and violence. Palahniuk presents a new kind of anti-materialism that differs from communism and socialism in a very American way, which is one way in which I felt I could relate with this. I am a very left leaning individual, however, even though the author coined that phrase “snowflake” often a derogatory word to describe liberal people and frequently promotes male empowerment (which I usually feel is not a great thing), I found Fight club to be irresistible in its plot, pacing and characters. Writing this paper for me was pretty difficult. I felt in some way could fit into the category of classic, cult classic and non-classic all at the same time. On one hand it attracted a cult following, hence an easy option for cult classic status, on the other hand it could be considered a classic with its universal themes and lastly I felt it easily could be labeled a non-classic because of its uneven plot, unusual narrative structure and eccentric characters. Ultimately I felt the mob mentality expressed in the characters in the book most closely matched the mob mentality and cult surrounding the actual book.

Fight club offers many things making it cult classic, with its influence on a niche group of people, minimalist literary style and enlightenment of the reader through the philosophies of Tyler Durden. In addition to becoming a cult classic, Fight Club also captured the zeitgeist of the 1990’s while also remaining glaringly relevant today. Issues such as masculinity and violence dominate today’s political sphere making Fight Club even more relevant and solidifying it as a cult classic. The minimalist literary style allow for the novel to stand out amongst others as well as it being a tool to show the books main theme of materialism and capitalism. Finally, the enlightenment of the reader through the philosophies of Tyler Durden makes this book a cult classic. Tyler’s autocratic, nearly communist mantras allow for Fight Club to be labeled a cult classic. Fight Club will remain a cult classic as long as the theme of masculinity continues to resonate with young, middle-class men.