Suffering In The Film 'Fight Club' By Tyler Durden

Fight Club Reader Response

The movie Fight Club is based around a concept articulated by Tyler Durden to a ‘lost generation' of men as, "You are not your job. You are not how much you have in the bank. You are not the contents of your wallet. You are not your khakis. You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake". This ideology represents a counter-culture to the typical American pop culture and creed. As demonstrated throughout the movie, this ‘revolution' is a fight against the widely accepted and conventional wisdom that inhabits the media and has an unparalleled affect on the outcome of our society. Fight Club is a reflection of the suffering experienced by the ‘Generation X' male who feels trapped in the world of the grey-collar working-class. The world that he inhabits is
As the narrator explains, "If people thought you were dying, they gave you their full attention. If this might be the last time they saw you, they really saw you…People listened instead of just waiting for their turn to speak". Through this as well as other events, we are able to see that the narrator is frustrated with others in his life, feeling as if they are too caught up with their own preoccupations to truly care about how he is feeling or what he really needs or wants. In one scene during a support group meeting, the narrator discovers through the use of guided meditation that his power animal is a penguin. This is very symbolic because upon further examination, one realizes that although the penguin is a bird, it cannot fly. Additionally the penguin travels in large packs, almost never deviating from the ‘normal' function of the penguin. The narrator is part of the human species, yet he does not know what to do besides ‘following the pack'. He is trapped by the walls created by society and reinforced by his