Psychoanalysis of Fight Club Using Freudian Concepts Essay

Throughout the rest of the book, Freud addresses the conflict between civilization and the individual. He starts with the fundamental paradox of civilization: we created civilization as a tool to protect ourselves from unhappiness; however it is our largest source of unhappiness. He also points out that contemporary technological advances have been a mixed blessing for human happiness. He also asks what the purpose of civilization is if it is not to satisfy the pleasure principal. He later concedes that civilization has to make compromises of happiness to fulfill its primary goal of bringing people into peaceful relationships with each other, by making them subject to a higher, communal authority.

     Another argument Freud makes is how religion is an attempt to fill in the gaps where civilization and the pursuit of life cannot make individuals happy. "The urge to rectify the shortcomings of civilization which made themselves painfully felt" is fulfilled by religion. (Freud,

In chapter 8, Freud analyses the relationship between civilization and individual further. In his view, personal fulfillment still can be achieved under the community culture. He explains, “ Here by far the most important thing is the aim of creating a unity out of the individual human beings. It is true that the aim of happiness is still there, but it is pushed into the background”(Freud 105). In other words, community formed with every single individual and forming a community is the most important objective in the process of society development. Personal satisfaction can be achieved maximize if it is assumed that personal development is independent. However, the fact is not that simple. Individuals were born in community and they grow up in the environment that surrounded by their families and friends. They developed themselves along with the improvement of community. Individual and society are inseparable. So when individual considers about achieving personal fulfillment, the community culture is the first and the most primary restriction because they live in the community and they must obey community rules first. That is why Freud writes that personal happiness is always people pursuing but it is pushed into background when it intersects with community culture. For this reason, individual

According to Freud, civilization is against happiness because of the conflict between the state of nature and the state of society. Freud believed human nature was to be aggressive and sexual all the time (the id) and society is what controls us and makes us suppress these urges (superego). This conflict between our innate animalistic urges and society’s control, according to Freud, leads to discontentment and unhappiness. Although civilization leads to us mastering our id, Freud would argue that we are not ok with it and therefore are not happy.

Freud mainly focuses on human nature and questions the desire, ideas ,and beliefs that shape a human, he then further analyses them. We see in his literature, Civilization and its Disconnect, that he questions religion and the belief in God. He himself does not believe in God, but wants to know why many people follow and trust something that they cannot see. He also questions the concept of human relationships. Knowing that a two person relationship and interaction is inevitable and that it is a part of life, but he does not know if a third relationship, and further on, is necessary. Regardless, human relationships are a part of society, and one of causes of civilizations, which Freud defines as “the whole some of achievement and the regulations which distinguish our lives” (Freud). With one of the achievements

These attempts can be defined through Freud’s “pleasure principle,” which aimed for “an absence of pain and unpleasure, and, on the other hand, at the experiencing of strong feelings of pleasure” (42). Therefore, happiness is not really possible all the time, as it seems to only come from unhappiness, or a release from “unpleasure.” Since the purpose of life is not to be happy but rather, only to survive, it calls in to question whether there is a meaning to life brought upon by a higher power. Freud’s idea of transcendency and the purpose of life seems to be answered when he writes, “the question of the purpose of human life has been raised countless times; it has never yet received a satisfactory answer and perhaps does not admit of one” (41-42). His answer seems that be that there is no real purpose to existence, except for survival; rather, life only has the meaning that we give it. Overall, this seems to be very dismissive of the idea of a higher power, deity, or purpose, which is represented the ancient world ideal of transcendent philosophy.

What does this actually mean? Freud explains that “we shall never completely master nature...”, despite the vast technological and innovative advances that humans have made (Zwann, Junyk, & Zielinski, 2010). Human beings are constantly attempting to work the world in their own favour, and are constantly reminded that they simply lack the power to truly do so. Freud further addresses that this is a continuous struggle that humanity has gone through for hundreds of years, generation after generation. For each advancement that is made, there appears to be some level of negative connotations. He makes the example of how we may take a certain amount of pleasure in hearing the voice of a loved one from thousands of miles away over the phone, we also worry about that person due to the distance. In addition, there have been quite a few advances that do not particularly seem to have negative effects, such as the medicinal advances which now protect women and their children from once fatal infections. What cannot be ignored, however, is that there are certain attributes of nature that are simply beyond human control. These are often referred to as being destructive acts of nature, such as tornadoes, floods and volcanic eruptions. These overly powerful natural phenomena are attributes that human beings cannot cultivate, and often damage the human civilization. Humans suffer because of this, as their homes are often destroyed, their

“The first rule about fight club is that you don’t talk about fight club” (Palahniuk 87). The story of Fight Club was very nail biting; you never knew what was going to happen next. There were so many things that led up to a complete plot twist. It was amazing how closely directed and written Chuck Palahniuk and David Fincher’s versions were. However, the role in both that stood out to me the most was the role of Marla. Marla was the biggest influence in discovering the narrator (or Jack’s) identity.

The film illustrates that to become the man you really want to be and that you are happy with being you must push aside all the corporate name brand objects and learn what makes you really who you are, and so Fight Club

The author’s main argument is on civilization. What we do amuses a few, enrages some and known by our surroundings. In our everyday lives, people face different situations and circumstances. Knowing what the day holds nobody knows. Looking at where society is going it sounds as if civilization has lost its meaning. The author writes about his life as a prison doctor and psychiatrist, in his entire life would have wished to save many lives. What good does it make to continue with your own labor when there is a need!

The film “Fight Club” is about a man played by Edward Norton who lives a miserable and

Freud considered human beings to be instinctively violent creatures, believing that we have a “fundamental hostility … to one another.” He thought that humans were initially motivated by the pleasure principle, which seeks gratification and is obeyed by the unconscious id. However, the pleasure principle is restricted by the reality principle, which is developed by the ego in early infancy. Without the reality principle, civilization could not function, as it enables us to postpone satisfaction. As well as this, if the id remained unchecked and the pleasure principle always obeyed, the pleasure we feel upon receipt of our desires would be lessened. As Freud asserts, “what we call happiness … arises from the fairly sudden satisfaction of pent-up needs [therefore,] it can be no more than an episodic

"Everything is a copy, of a copy, of a copy" (Fight Club, 1999). As told by the narrator, Fight Club is a movie about an office worker suffering from insomnia and a soap maker who form a Fight Club. The narrator (Edward Norton) and Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) acquaint themselves while they talk about modern day philosophy.

Erika writes: When the narrator first meets Tyler, Tyler declares that he is a soap salesman, although Tyler has various other occupations including a night-time movie projectionist and a waiter. Tyler, however, most identifies himself with the job of selling soap, thus lending weight to the symbolic importance played by soap in the movie. Tyler calls soap "the foundation of civilization" and tells the narrator that "the first soap was made from the ashes of heroes". He also uses lye, a chemical ingredient of soap, to introduce the narrator to the pain of "premature enlightenment." In this role, soap is

In Sigmund Freud’s “Civilization and its Discontents”, we are introduced to a new outlook in the way we view our lives due to his analysis of civilization and how it has affected our happiness. Freud uses his theory of instincts in order to explain what encourages us as well as how our behavior is all linked together and is motivated by our instincts. He explains why humans seek happiness and how it is one of the toughest things to achieve. Towards the end of his book he also gives an insight on how the individual psyche which consist of the id, ego, and super-ego leads us to feel guilt and its impact on civilization. Through his theory of instincts and the individual psyche, Freud is able to demonstrate how civilization has set limits to