Fight Club Thesis

As human beings we are naturally wired to seek happiness wherever we can find it. When we don’t, we may enter a stage of anger, anxiety, or distress. That’s why it is our personal goal to look for happiness and preserve it once we acquire it. Many have explored ways to find what triggers this feeling of “happiness” and what we can do to keep it; nonetheless, the evidence found is hardly sufficient to make a public statement on how to find happiness. For this reason, most of the time we speculate what might provoke this feeling of contentment. “Happiness is a glass half empty,” an essay written by Oliver Burkeman, highlights the importance of happiness and discloses how we can find delight through unorthodox methods. The prime objective of this piece of writing is to inform the audience about the effect of happiness on their lives and how their usual attempts of becoming happier can sabotage achieving this feeling. Furthermore, he wants to promote the benefits of pessimism and describe how it can help us in the long run. The author utilizes pronouns, logos, and pathos in order to prove his point and draw the audience into his essay, in an attempt of making them reconsider the way they live their lives and adopt this new pessimistic way that would greatly boost their level of happiness.

Happiness is something that all people, no matter what race, gender, or social class, strive for. Based on lifestyle or perspective each person has their independent idea of what happiness is, but everyone shares an end goal to live their definition of a happy life. Many people, though, struggle in finding their way to this goal. They face hardships and challenges that test their happiness every day. Happiness, though somewhat indirectly, does take learning and training to discover and maintain.

Happiness in our society is harder to find than in the society of Fahrenheit 451, but once achieved, it is a true happiness, one which grows upon its seeds, and sprouts a great and fulfilling life for that person. The average citizen in our society believes themselves to be happy, but in reality, they too are replacing their true desires and childhood dreams with superficial entertainment and mindless activities, which resembles the society which is portrayed in Fahrenheit 451.

People travel through life with what seems like a single goal: to be happy. This may seem like a selfish way to live, however this lone objective is the motivation behind nearly all actions. Even seemingly selfless deeds make people feel better about themselves. That warm feeling experienced while doing charitable acts can be described as happiness. But what is authentic happiness? There is an endless possibility of answers to this question, and man seems to be always searching for the solution. Although one may reach his or her goals, there is always still something one strives for in order to be happy. In the book Stumbling on Happiness, Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert takes the reader through

Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club is the story of a man struggling to find himself. The main character, a nameless narrator, is clearly unhappy with his life. He obsessively fakes diseases and attends support group sessions as a way to deal with his hopelessness. Obsessive behaviors often lead to unfavorable events if they are interrupted (Lizardo). Just as it seems the support groups have brought him to a form of equilibrium, they are interrupted by a fellow faker. His inability to treat his restlessness by attending these support groups drives the narrator to shocking extremes.

The philosopher Aristotle once wrote, “Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.” This famous quote compels people to question the significance of their joy, and whether it truly represents purposeful lives they want to live. Ray Bradbury, a contemporary author, also tackles this question in his book, Fahrenheit 451, which deals heavily with society's view of happiness in the future. Through several main characters, Bradbury portrays the two branches of happiness: one as a lifeless path, heading nowhere, seeking no worry, while the other embraces pure human experience intertwined together to reveal truth and knowledge.

According to Storm Jameson, “Happiness comes of the capacity to feel deeply, to enjoy simply, to think freely, to risk life, to be needed.” Jameson suggests that happiness is not just having fun, but it is to be present in the moment and to make connections with others. Happiness is rarely found in the novel Fahrenheit 451, because this joyless society defines “fun” as driving with the need for speed and with an intention of killing small animals and people or the deadening white noise of endless television viewing. The novel Fahrenheit 451 conveys this very idea as the protagonist Guy Montag and others in his society are unable to achieve full happiness. Author Ray Bradbury suggests the truth of Jameson’s statement primarily through

Crying and laughing, people experience many different emotions during different stages of their life. Sometimes they would find themselves dissatisfied almost every single moment when they assume that the world is not fulfilling their desire, in other words, their expectations on how the world supposes to be. Dan, an ordinary college student from the story Way of the Peaceful Warrior written by Dan Millman, faces the same obstacle as many others do. Although he has lived a pleased and content life, passion suddenly disappears from him. Such depression stops when he meets Socrates, an old man at the gas station, and learns inspirational lessons which connect to the Four Noble Truths from Socrates. The lessons promote great changes in Dan’s

The world seems to be a dark and unforgiving place, but happiness is hidden within. It is found in a beautiful view, an uplifting song, or a compliment from a friend. According to the Ted Talk video, The Habits of Happiness, Matthieu Ricard claims that everyone “has a deep, profound desire for well-being or happiness”(Ricard 2:39). Ricard uses the three techniques of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos to captivate and move his audience. With the use of metaphors, personal experiences, and even graphs Matthieu explained to his audience the full force and perception of the bendable word that is happiness. This Ted Talk dove into philosophical meaning on just how to achieve well-being, without having everything in the world.

Each man shares a story of how their wives left them, or they lost their job, or how in some way they all feel inadequate. After hearing such unfortunate stories of innocent men who’s lives have been consumed by this disease, he opens up to the group, tears and all. This release of emotions is the only thing that helps him sleep at night. The scenes at the support group reiterate the films message of weakness. The Narrator proceeds to join several other support groups, each meeting a different day of the week, allowing him to ease his mind each night.

The narrator undergoes a complete personality makeover when Tyler emerges. When they first meet, the narrator thinks Tyler has a soap making business, and works as banquet server until he gets his business off the ground. The narrator is a more laid-back, average sort of man and Tyler is an aggressive outgoing, confident, attractive man, with out fear. He is everything the narrator would like to be. The first event that leads us into this plot, is that after meeting Tyler the very first day the narrator?s condo is bombed, he ends up with nothing and nowhere to live. He calls Marla then changes his mind and moves into what he thinks is Tyler?s House. This house should have been torn down because the electricity and leaky plumbing do not work correctly, and it has a dirty water problem in the basement. This abandoned house is a real sight and the total opposite of his former life conditions. The narrator goes from riches to rags so to speak and it leads the audience into believing the rest of this story. The narrators shattered reality continues, and gets the audience ready for the next chain of events.

     For the following analysis, I will be discussing the movie Fight Club’s two main characters. They are “Jack” played by Edward Norton, and Tyler Durden played by Brad Pitt. However the twist to the movie turns out that Jack and Tyler are the same person and Tyler is Jack’s real name. Tyler the character is everything that Jack the character is not. The story narration is provided by the protagonist of “Fight Club,” “Jack.” The ambivalent protagonist, who only refers to himself as “Jack.” An ambivalent protagonist, usually the main character, is someone the audience likes, but who possesses character flaws.

Fight Club is a unique film that has many different interpretations consisting of consumerist culture, social norms, and gender roles. However, this film goes deeper and expresses a Marxist ideology throughout; challenging the ruling upper-class and a materialist society. The unnamed narrator, played by Ed Norton, represents the materialist society; whereas Tyler Durden, played by Brad Pitt, represents the person challenging the controlling upper-class. Karl Marx believed that the capitalist system took advantage of workers, arguing that the interests of the upper-class class conflicted with that of the common worker. Marx and Durden share the same views about the upper-class oppressing the materialist, common worker. By interpreting Fight Club through a Marist lens, the viewer is able to realize the negative effects a capitalist society has on the common worker by seeing the unnamed narrator’s unfulfilled and material driven life in contrast to the fulfilling life of Durden who challenges the upper-class. The unnamed narrator initially fuels the upper-class dominated society through his materialistic and consumeristic tendencies; however, through the formation of his alter ego—Durden—the unnamed narrator realizes the detriment he is causing to himself and society. He then follows the guide of Durden’s and Marx’s views and rectifies his lifestyle by no longer being reliant on materials. Also by forming fight club, which provides an outlet, for himself and the common worker,

For years David Fincher has directed some of the most stylish and creative thrillers in American movies. His works include: Aliens 3, Seven, The Game and Fight Club. Each of these films has been not only pleasing and fun to watch but each has commented on society, making the viewers think outside the normal and analyze their world. Fight Club is no exception, it is a multi-layered film with many subplots and themes, but primarily it is a surrealistic description of the status of the American male at the end of the 20th century. David Flincher’s movie, Fight Club, shows how consumerism has caused the emasculation of the modern male and tells a tale of liberation from a corporate controlled society.

In a world where loneliness and emotional disconnect prevail many can find themselves taking drastic measures to find the light at the end of the tunnel. The unnamed narrator and protagonist of Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk finds himself in this exact predicament after struggling to find meaning and purpose in his ordinary and cyclic life. Due to the pressures of work the narrator develops insomnia and disguises himself as a cancer patient in order to seek comfort and attention at support groups such as the “Remaining Men Together.” (Palahniuk 18) While attending these support groups the narrator notices a woman, Marla Singer, another fake patient who reminds him of his weakness and loneliness and, as a result, he decides it is better to stay away from her. Looking for relief from his life’s pressures, he escapes to a nude beach where he meets Tyler. The