Fight Club Themes

Great Essays
Fight Club (1999) doesn’t need much of an introduction, and the first two rules state that I can’t talk about. I guess I’ll have to make an exception just this once; I just hope Tyler will be able to forgive me. The movie itself performed moderately well in its opening weekend but was ultimately a box office failure, as it only brought in about $37 million in revenue. The main character who is played by Edward Norton, a nameless narrator, is unhappy and discouraged with his mediocre life. In fact his life is so miserable that he frequently fakes various ailments and attends support groups in order to obtain a sense of normalcy. Obsessive behaviors like that can cause any mental instability to become much worse. The support groups seem to be …show more content…
They, like an oak tree, must remain unaffected by weather and conditions (Maduagwu). This includes having control over their emotions. Men relating to this theme must always be seen as reliable. Men who embody this these usually distance themselves from others and have difficulty maintaining meaningful relationships (Brubaker).

The final theme is “Give’em Hell.” Men who model this theme feel the need to be courageous risk-takers (Brubaker). Followers of this theme do so in a variety of ways. Some resort to violence at the risk to themselves and others, while many use a form of perseverance to align themselves with this masculine ideal. Men following this theme will do almost anything to ensure their belief of masculinity is met
…show more content…
By keeping the narrator an unnamed character, Fight Club allows the audience to participate in the creation of the character’s identity. It is important to recognize that the watcher’s perceptions also play a role when identifying the masculine traits the narrator is trying to display. As the watcher progresses through the movie, the narrator changes his beliefs, values, behaviors, and attitudes several times. It becomes obvious that the narrator has changed his theme of masculinity at least three times throughout the movie. These changes in his identity surface as a direct result from his pursuit of hegemonic

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