By Sarah H
Proving once again that the book is always better than the movie, Chuck Palahniuk delivers a
great piece of fiction that at times seems all too real in Fight Club. The entirety of the story is in the
name of anti-establishment. The narrator whose name isn't really clear, struggles to hit rock bottom
Palahniuk begins by giving you an exaggerated sense of just how average our narrator is. He is a
passive cubical slave by day, OCD, material obsessed insomniac by night. He hates his boss, is all too
familiar with furniture catalogues, and struggles to find any other reasons to exist. This lack of purpose
and sleep drives him to begin wandering through support groups of all sorts. Cancer, AA, whatever he
can find. He is successful in getting his purpose through these groups,that is until he loses all his material
This event is what leads us to our second, yet equally important main character. Tyler Dhurden
is everything that our narrator is not. Aesthetically pleasing, sharp, commanding, free of all things that
could tie a man down. Our narrator soon gets sucked into Tyler's carefree ways, until it leads to a
development of their own group, Fight Club. Starting with the two of them beating the shit out of one
another behind a bar, the club evolves and gains members rapidly. This evolves into a cult of sorts.
The problem develops that our narrator begins to feel pushed out of a leadership role, Tyler is a
famous Charles Manson-esque leader while our narrator remains in the shadows. He begins to feel that
Tyler is out of control and needs to be reigned it, but it may be too late.
Palahniuk manages to use these bold yet purposely insignificant members of society to point out
exactly what is wrong with that society. It's snarky, dark, and to some sickeningly unpatriotic, but
delivers the point. It is my belief that Fight Club is one of the best examples of a book that makes you
start back at the beginning the minute you finish it the first time, which is exactly what I did, 3 times. It is
worth it to me to go into it knowing this, and still venture forward. The book will force you to think
about the big picture, as well as the little pictures within it that nobody wants you to see. Turn to the
first page with an open mind and by the end you may wish to bow down to Palahniuk personally.
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