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Fight Club Character Analysis

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Imaginary Relationships: Jim Uhls’ Fight Club and Spike Jonze’s Her Thirty-seven percent of children in the United States of America use imaginary friends as a fundamental building block to develop emotionally (Kennedy-Moore). Art As with children, the protagonist’s character develops to a new level of emotional maturity when the character finally realizes his imaginary friend is not real. When the protagonist realizes the reasons why the imaginary friend was created in the first place, and why the friend is not needed, then the protagonist eschews this false relationship. In Uhl’s Fight Club, the imaginary friend, alpha male Tyler Durden, is used by meek and mild-mannered Jack to gain perspective on how the world would be impacted by …show more content…

This scene allows Jack to start doubting Tyler. Due to Tyler’s destructiveness, Jack does not want to believe that he himself is Tyler. This is shown when Jack goes on a trip to find Tyler before Tyler corrupts the whole country. In one of the cities that Jack visits, he goes into a bar. Jack asks the bartender if he met Tyler Durden, the bartender responds,“You were in here last Thursday night. You were standing right there, asking about how good our security was.” (Uhls, p 100). At this point, Jack’s emotional evolution is not complete, he is still in denial. Jack is not ready to accept Tyler as his own creation, nor is he willing to accept the fact that Tyler is his own creation. Jack is unable to fully develop until he is aware that he is Tyler. Jack undergoes a crisis, and the movie hits its climax when Jack finally realizes he is Tyler! Tyler is then presented as an entity that possesses Jack’s body with Jack’s knowledge. Jack shoots himself in order to free the world of Tyler Durden, which metaphorically means that Tyler’s spirit is killed and Jack’s soul remains in Jack’s body. This is seen as Jack’s final acceptance of his original personality, and his rejection of his imaginary friend, as a negative force. Jack’s emotional development is now complete. Therefore, Jack is imperative in moving the plot forward and catalyzing the protagonist’s development, allowing him to accept himself. This

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