Mizell1 Matt Mizell Prof.

Powell English B1a, MW 3:15 5:20 15 March 2011 Tyler Durden: The Epitome of Fight Club When it comes to the character of Tyler Durden, there are many facets of his personality. This is not saying that his personality can be referred to as a diamond, in terms of its alluring nature and sparkling characteristics, but in the sense that a jewel has many faces and many angles. The character of Tyler Durden truly defines the story of Fight Club. All throughout Fight Club, it is seen that he is practically idolized by every single character he comes in contact with. What could make him so attractive? His outlook on life, possibly. Looking at Maslowes Hierarchy of Needs, Tylers ultimate goal is to achieve self-actualization, where he is fully aware of who he is, and what purpose he serves in life. It is interesting to see that the author, Chuck Palahniuk,carefully chose the name of this character. An analysis of the name Tyler Durden from an unknown published analysis of this bookreveals that in antiquated English, the name Tyler means gatekeeper or housebuilder, or an even older translation as layer of bricks. Durden has the root meaning hard, as in durable, both which are indicative of his personality (Unknown 3). This is specifically seen in his ability to create binding relationships: taking each person and assigning them with one specific purpose. Dont bother them. They all know what to do. Its part of Project Mayhem. No one guy understands the whole plan, but each guy is trained to do one simple task perfectly (Palahniuk 130). The way he is portrayed in the story can be defined as adventurous, relatable, and highly intelligent, and at the same time, painful and slightly insane.

Mizell2 An adventure is characterized by adrenaline, an element of danger, and a situation in which skills and preparation are then tested. Tylers adventurous spirit is seen throughout this story, particularly in the creation of his groups: fight club, the Paper Street Soap Company, and Project Mayhem. The endeavors that he engages in puts himself in extreme situations, just to see if he will survive. For instance, in the beginning and end of the novel, we see him on top of this skyscraper. There is a bomb that is set to go off at a certain time, and he has a pistol in his mouth, ready to fire. We all know that there is no way he can survive this without intervention, but we see his desire for adventure peaking at this point in the story. Another example would be this: We dont have a great war in our generation, or a great depression, but we do, we have a great war of the sprit. We have a great revolution against the culture. The great depression is our lives. We have a spiritual depression (Palahniuk 149). His search for a higher spiritual calling justifies his need for adventure. In literally flirting with death, he feels that will bring him to a deeper spiritual realization. Only in death will we have our own names since only in death are we no longer a part of the effort. In death we become heroes (Palahniuk 178). Thus,he constantly places himself in dangerous situations, and the adrenaline rush allows him to experience whether or not his skills will help him pass some internal test within himself. When the term relatable is used, its not in the sense that he is easy to connect with, but because of his charisma, people find it incredibly easy to follow, and trust him that he will lead them to where they want to be. He finds it easy to quickly build connections with people on the most basic levels, and gain their trust very quickly.JethroRothe-Kushel, a writer for The Film Journal describes Tyler as this: Tyler Durden is everything the narrator wishes he could be. Tyler is a walking, talking, cultural commentator. He is cynical, strong, and forthright (RotheKushel 1) But it seems to go even beyond that. The depth of the relationships that he builds with

Mizell3 the narrator, with Marla Singer, and with the other men involved in Project Mayhem, are almost to the point of brain-washing. These people follow him blindly, without thought or question. The intelligent nature of Tyler Durden is one of the most prominent features of his personality. He is very resourceful, like a grown-up Boy Scout. The Narrator has a certain reflection on this concept: Tyler says, Use a little imagination. Remember all that pioneer shit they taught you in Boy Scouts. Remember your high school chemistry Its hard to imagine Tyler in Boy Scouts (Palahniuk 68). We can see throughout the story his ingenuity, and his ability to recall such seemingly obscure information. Every one of the groups that he starts is representations of the different aspects of his intelligence. The Paper Street Soap Company is one of the most creative projects he inspired, in which he makes soap out of fat that he has gleaned from other people, mixed with herbs for scent, and sold for a ridiculous amount of profit.Tyler shows the Narrator how soap was made through the suffering and sacrifice of human beings. Tyler seems to think that this is how the ultimate goal of all human progress is reached. He wants the Narrator to realize that even though this concept may be disturbing, it is nevertheless a fact of life (Unknown 7). One example of Tylers extensive knowledge from the book is this: The three ways to make napalm. One, you can mix equal parts of gasoline and frozen orange juice concentrate. Two, you can mix equal parts of gasoline and diet cola. Three, you can dissolve crumbled cat litter in gasoline until the mixture is thick (Palahnuik 13). This is just one of the many examples of his ingenuity. Now, how is Tylers character considered painful? Part of this was eluded to when his relatable nature was being explained. Because of the speed of his relationship-building skills and the destructive tendencies of his adventures, combined with the intuitive and creative ways of destruction, the end solution is a broken man. He breaks these men down, to where they feel

Mizell4 even lower than dirt: I am the all-singing, all-dancing crap of this world, the space monkey tells the mirror. I am the toxic waste by-product of Gods creation. (Palahniuk 167) At that point, the men will follow him blindly, without even the consideration of their own life. The Narrator even refers to them as space monkeys, good for nothing other than simply following orders. If Tyler asked for something to be done, there would be many willing hands to readily do his bidding. Sanity is one thing that is questioned by people when it comes to Tyler Durden. Sure, the narrator understands that Tyler is an entity almost separate from himself, but is that part of his persona aware of the enormity of his actions?Interestingly enough, the character of Tyler Durden is completely opposed to societal rules and regulations. He feels that they inhibit the natural order of humanity, thus creating something of a prison in the persons mind. Regardless of this, he feels that there is a need for rules in fight club, in order to prevent chaos from reigning, and people from getting seriously injured or possibly killed. Oddly enough, that is almost exactly what Project Mayhem almost turns into. A point that could be argued is that he is truly mentally impaired when it comes to his decision-making skills. It would explain the frequency and intensity of his actions. Jesse Kavadlo comments on this in her entry in a reflective literature web journal calledStirrings Still: Tyler Durdens indifference to suffering should not transfer onto the reader, who may identify with his position but also recoil, by the end, at the acts of violence. Even the narrator cannot remain morally neutral (Kavadlo 13).The type of crimes that Tyler engages in tends to make the jaw of the reader drop, as well as the Narrator in the story. However, there have been examples of Tylers influence seen in modern society, where he has been more idolized and revered rather than scorned or portrayed in a negative light.

Mizell5 There was a youth in Australia who took the actions of Tyler to heart, and claimed that he was the inspiration for the bombing of a local coffee shop. The Sydney Sun Herald reported this story about a year and a half ago: The 2009 explosion near the Guggenheim Museum shattered the store's windows but caused no injuries. Authorities say Shaw was trying to emulate the anticonsumerist character Tyler Durden from the 1999 film about a secret fight club. (Fairfax 1). Was the youth involved in the bombing insane, or is it possible that even existing in fiction, the character of Tyler Durden can hold a charismatic sway over his listeners? It is possible. Another point could be that Tyler Durden is perfectly sane, but whether or not he even cares about the magnitude of his actions can be debated. This would explain the severity of the crimes he and Project Mayhem commit. Dennis Lim, a writer for the New York Times has this to say, in reference to Brad Pitts portrayal of Tyler Durden: an bermensch in a red leather jacket, engage in bare-knuckle brawls, antisocial vandalism and outright revolutionary terrorism (Lim AR18). The tendency would be to concur with this statement, for most of the readers. As the story goes on, it seems like Tyler was already in this god-like state of mind before he and the Narrator met. Already we can see how he tends to want to take the place of God in his life: If you're male and you're Christian and living in America, your father is your model for God. And if you never know your father, if your father bails out or dies or is never at home, what do you believe about God? [...] What you end up doing [...] is you spend your life searching for a father and God. What you have to consider [...] is the possibility that God doesn't like you. Could be, God hates us. This is not the worst thing that can happen.(Palahnuik140-141) There is a theory that possiblyTylers lack of connection with God and religion could be due to a lack of the male parental figure in his life. It is possible that the individuals involved in fight club

Mizell6 and Project Mayhem may be feeling that they are also the 'unwanted children' also, cast aside, ignored, and neglected by all father figures in their lives (Rothe-Kushel 8). This gave them a sense of hostility towards authority figures, which manifests through the aggressive fighting they partake in at fight club meetings, as well as the types of actions they engage in with Project Mayhem. In conclusion, the character of Tyler Durden is very diverse. It has been shown that he is highly intelligent, easily trusted, great at building relationships, and very adventurous. But, he is very dangerous, self-destructive, and maybe not entirely sane. However, the fact cannot be denied that Tylers personality has many faces, like that of a well-cut jewel. We see his aspects of a house-builder all throughout the story with the Narrator, Marla Singer, and the other men involved in fight club. As the story is read, we can see that the character of Tyler Durden was carefully constructed by the author, thus allowing him to truly become what this story is all about: self-actualization.

Mizell7 Works Cited Lim, Dennis. Fight Club Fight Goes On. The New York Times 08 Nov. 2009, New York ed.: AR18. Print. Rothe-Kushel, Jethro. Fight Club: A Ritual Cure for the Spiritual Ailment of American Masculinity. The Film Journal (2002). Web. 28 Feb. 2011. Kavadlo, Jesse. "The Fiction of Self-destruction: Chuck Palahniuk, Closet Moralist". Stirrings Still: The International Journal of Existential Literature. 2.2. (Fall/Winter 2005). Web. 28 Feb. 2011. Palahniuk, Chuck. Fight Club. New York: W.W. Norton, 1996. Print. Fairfax, John. Fight Club Arsonist. The Sydney Sun Herald 19 Sept. 2010. Web. 28 Feb. 2011. Reading in-between the lines: An analysis of Fight Club. www.freeonlineresearchpapers.com. 2002. Web. 14 Mar. 2011.

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