TE N3 ANGLAIS: FIGHT CLUB
1. Characters
2. Themes
3. Symbols
4. Ending
1. Characters
Major Characters
a. Narrator
He hates his pointless job and his well-furnished apartment. He finds this modern life pointless
and empty.
He attends support groups for various terminal illnesses to feel something real among the
fakeness of everyday living. The groups make him feel alive and he finally gets some sleep,
he suffers from insomnia. He feels disconnected from society, his job, and material
possessions. His insomnia is a manifestation of this alienation.
The Narrator meets Tyler Durden and the two of them start fight club, where men can escape
their empty lives and find reality in the violence of fighting one another.
For a long time, the Narrator does not realize that Tyler is the other side of himself.
When the Narrator falls asleep, Tyler takes over. This split symbolizes his internal
conflict between submission to societal norms and a desire for chaos and freedom.
The Narrator admires Tyler for his charisma and courage. But as Tyler’s plans become more
and more violent (Project Mayhem), the Narrator is forced to confront the realization that he
and Tyler are the same person. He eventually tries to stay awake to prevent Tyler from
taking control. When that fails, he tries to undo what Tyler has done.
The reader never learns the real name of the Narrator. This anonymity allows the novel to
use the Narrator to stand in for modern men in general. By the novel’s end, the
narrator attempts to reclaim his identity by shooting himself, symbolically killing Tyler.
b. Tyler Durden
He is the alter ego of the Narrator. Tyler emerges in the Narrator’s mind as a response
to the crushing emptiness of modern life. This first occurs when the Narrator is traveling
for work, he finds Tyler naked on a beach building a giant shadow hand out of driftwood.
Tyler is in many ways the man that the Narrator wishes he was. He is charismatic,
powerful, masculine, and in-control. Tyler is not afraid of violence or confrontation, and he
teaches the Narrator how to embrace pain and violence. He also teaches the Narrator how to
make soap from rendered human fat to sell back to rich people.
Tyler is the head of fight club and, later, Project Mayhem. The members of these
organizations listen to Tyler, referring to him as Mr. Durden. Tyler marks his followers with a
kiss of lye that burns a scar into the backs of their hands.
As the story progresses, the Narrator is no longer able to control Tyler. When the Narrator
falls asleep, Tyler takes over his body. During this time, he and the Project Mayhem members
become increasingly violent and destructive.
The Narrator finally realizes his relationship to Tyler and tries to stop Tyler’s plan to overthrow
civilization. He shoots himself in the head trying to defeat Tyler. Whether this works is
unclear. He’s in a psychiatric hospital.
1
, c. Marla Singer
She’s obsessed with death. She first meets the Narrator at a cancer support group, which
they are both attending to experience the pain and suffering of the attendees. This pain and
death feel “real” to Marla and help her feel more alive. Later, she tries to commit suicide to
feel even closer to death.
Marla is caught in a love-triangle of sorts between herself, the Narrator, and Tyler Durden.
The Narrator initially thinks that she is in a relationship with Tyler, since he doesn’t yet realize
that he and Tyler share a body. The Narrator at one point realizes that Tyler emerged
because the Narrator couldn’t find a way to be with Marla otherwise.
At first, she doesn’t know the difference between the Narrator and Tyler, since she sees them
as the same person. Later, she says that she can tell the difference, choosing to “like” the
Narrator, instead of Tyler. Her relationship with both the narrator and Tyler creates tension, as
she represents a connection to reality that the narrator struggles to accept. In the
end, she stabilizes him, symbolizing a potential escape from his madness.
She shares the Narrator’s experience of the emptiness in modern life, but she rejects Tyler’s
violent methods, calling the police after he murders someone. The Narrator worries that Tyler
will hurt Marla if he doesn’t do what Tyler wants.
Minor Characters
a. Big Bob
A former bodybuilder and testicular cancer survivor, Bob represents loss of masculinity. He
abused steroids during his body building career and had his testicles removed.
He has grown big breasts (masculinity) because of his hormone treatment. The only time that
the Narrator has been able to cry is when Bob wraps the Narrator in a big hug during support
group. After these hugs, the Narrator can overcome his insomnia and sleep.
Bob later joins Project Mayhem and moves into the Paper Street house with Tyler and the
Narrator. He is killed by the police while on a sabotage assignment for Project Mayhem. After
his death, the fight club members chant Bob’s full name, Robert Paulson.
His involvement in Fight Club and Project Mayhem turns him into a martyr. His death serves
as a turning point, showing the consequences of blind obedience to Tyler’s
ideology.
b. Boss
The Narrator’s boss is an office worker who tries to advance company priorities while keeping
the Narrator in check.
He is concerned about the Narrator’s bruises. He confronts the Narrator after finding the fight
club rules on the company scanner. But he backs down when the Narrator starts giving out
hints that he will kill the boss and the rest of their colleagues. Later, when he finds the Project
Mayhem rules on the scanner, the boss doesn’t make an issue. Later, N manipulates his
boss into paying him to leave. This moment marks a shift in power, symbolizing the
narrator’s rejection of authority.
Tyler kills the boss, fulfilling the Narrator’s wish to get out of his job. Tyler planted explosives
in the boss’ computer. The problem with this, the Narrator says, is “I sort of liked my boss.”
c. Chloe
She is a terminally ill woman that the Narrator meets at a support group.
2
1. Characters
2. Themes
3. Symbols
4. Ending
1. Characters
Major Characters
a. Narrator
He hates his pointless job and his well-furnished apartment. He finds this modern life pointless
and empty.
He attends support groups for various terminal illnesses to feel something real among the
fakeness of everyday living. The groups make him feel alive and he finally gets some sleep,
he suffers from insomnia. He feels disconnected from society, his job, and material
possessions. His insomnia is a manifestation of this alienation.
The Narrator meets Tyler Durden and the two of them start fight club, where men can escape
their empty lives and find reality in the violence of fighting one another.
For a long time, the Narrator does not realize that Tyler is the other side of himself.
When the Narrator falls asleep, Tyler takes over. This split symbolizes his internal
conflict between submission to societal norms and a desire for chaos and freedom.
The Narrator admires Tyler for his charisma and courage. But as Tyler’s plans become more
and more violent (Project Mayhem), the Narrator is forced to confront the realization that he
and Tyler are the same person. He eventually tries to stay awake to prevent Tyler from
taking control. When that fails, he tries to undo what Tyler has done.
The reader never learns the real name of the Narrator. This anonymity allows the novel to
use the Narrator to stand in for modern men in general. By the novel’s end, the
narrator attempts to reclaim his identity by shooting himself, symbolically killing Tyler.
b. Tyler Durden
He is the alter ego of the Narrator. Tyler emerges in the Narrator’s mind as a response
to the crushing emptiness of modern life. This first occurs when the Narrator is traveling
for work, he finds Tyler naked on a beach building a giant shadow hand out of driftwood.
Tyler is in many ways the man that the Narrator wishes he was. He is charismatic,
powerful, masculine, and in-control. Tyler is not afraid of violence or confrontation, and he
teaches the Narrator how to embrace pain and violence. He also teaches the Narrator how to
make soap from rendered human fat to sell back to rich people.
Tyler is the head of fight club and, later, Project Mayhem. The members of these
organizations listen to Tyler, referring to him as Mr. Durden. Tyler marks his followers with a
kiss of lye that burns a scar into the backs of their hands.
As the story progresses, the Narrator is no longer able to control Tyler. When the Narrator
falls asleep, Tyler takes over his body. During this time, he and the Project Mayhem members
become increasingly violent and destructive.
The Narrator finally realizes his relationship to Tyler and tries to stop Tyler’s plan to overthrow
civilization. He shoots himself in the head trying to defeat Tyler. Whether this works is
unclear. He’s in a psychiatric hospital.
1
, c. Marla Singer
She’s obsessed with death. She first meets the Narrator at a cancer support group, which
they are both attending to experience the pain and suffering of the attendees. This pain and
death feel “real” to Marla and help her feel more alive. Later, she tries to commit suicide to
feel even closer to death.
Marla is caught in a love-triangle of sorts between herself, the Narrator, and Tyler Durden.
The Narrator initially thinks that she is in a relationship with Tyler, since he doesn’t yet realize
that he and Tyler share a body. The Narrator at one point realizes that Tyler emerged
because the Narrator couldn’t find a way to be with Marla otherwise.
At first, she doesn’t know the difference between the Narrator and Tyler, since she sees them
as the same person. Later, she says that she can tell the difference, choosing to “like” the
Narrator, instead of Tyler. Her relationship with both the narrator and Tyler creates tension, as
she represents a connection to reality that the narrator struggles to accept. In the
end, she stabilizes him, symbolizing a potential escape from his madness.
She shares the Narrator’s experience of the emptiness in modern life, but she rejects Tyler’s
violent methods, calling the police after he murders someone. The Narrator worries that Tyler
will hurt Marla if he doesn’t do what Tyler wants.
Minor Characters
a. Big Bob
A former bodybuilder and testicular cancer survivor, Bob represents loss of masculinity. He
abused steroids during his body building career and had his testicles removed.
He has grown big breasts (masculinity) because of his hormone treatment. The only time that
the Narrator has been able to cry is when Bob wraps the Narrator in a big hug during support
group. After these hugs, the Narrator can overcome his insomnia and sleep.
Bob later joins Project Mayhem and moves into the Paper Street house with Tyler and the
Narrator. He is killed by the police while on a sabotage assignment for Project Mayhem. After
his death, the fight club members chant Bob’s full name, Robert Paulson.
His involvement in Fight Club and Project Mayhem turns him into a martyr. His death serves
as a turning point, showing the consequences of blind obedience to Tyler’s
ideology.
b. Boss
The Narrator’s boss is an office worker who tries to advance company priorities while keeping
the Narrator in check.
He is concerned about the Narrator’s bruises. He confronts the Narrator after finding the fight
club rules on the company scanner. But he backs down when the Narrator starts giving out
hints that he will kill the boss and the rest of their colleagues. Later, when he finds the Project
Mayhem rules on the scanner, the boss doesn’t make an issue. Later, N manipulates his
boss into paying him to leave. This moment marks a shift in power, symbolizing the
narrator’s rejection of authority.
Tyler kills the boss, fulfilling the Narrator’s wish to get out of his job. Tyler planted explosives
in the boss’ computer. The problem with this, the Narrator says, is “I sort of liked my boss.”
c. Chloe
She is a terminally ill woman that the Narrator meets at a support group.
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