One of the most famous elements of Fight Club is the “twist” ending: the Narrator and Tyler Durden, seemingly two different characters, are actually just two sides of the same person. The narrator, dissatisfied with his dull, consumerist life, gradually and unknowingly imagines Tyler, his alter ego, in order to escape reality: Tyler is the person the Narratorwould be if he could get over his own inhibitions (Tyler isconfident, daring, aggressive, charming, etc.).
The narrator’s involuntary creation of Tyler echoes some of the ideas of Sigmund Freud, the psychologist who first proposed the idea of an unconscious mind. Freud argued that all human beings have an unconscious mind, with its own unique, instinctual desires and emotions. Normally, humans can’t directly interact with their unconscious minds, except during sleep. Similarly, the Narrator has an “unconscious” alter ego, Tyler, who takes over the Narrator’s body when the Narrator is asleep. (There are also many moments when both Tyler and the Narrator seem to be awake and active—but the novel doesn’t fully explain how this works.) But Palahniuk pushes this idea a bit further. While Tyler is the projection of the Narrator’s unconscious mind, his creation is also a result of the surrounding culture of consumerism and materialism that forces the Narrator to live a sheltered, repressed existence. His unconscious “masculine” thoughts therefore have no outlet—they build up, develop a personality of their own, and eventually come “alive.” In a way, the repression implicit in modern society creates Tyler. In this way, Palahniuk suggests that the Narrator’s desire for escape, and therefore the creation of his alter ego, are necessary reactions to the conditions of contemporary American life. Put another away, there is a suggestion that the narrator is a stand-in for all men in modern American society; that the narrator’s neuroses is one that all American men share.
Related Themes from Other Texts
Repression and the Unconscious Mind ThemeTracker
Repression and the Unconscious Mind Quotes in Fight Club
I know this because Tyler knows this.
After the union president had slugged Tyler to the floor, after mister president saw Tyler wasn't fighting back, his honor with his big Cadillac body bigger and stronger than he would ever really need, his honor hauled his wingtip back and kicked Tyler in the ribs and Tyler laughed. His honor shot the wingtip into Tyler's kidneys after Tyler curled into a ball, but Tyler was still laughing.
"Get it out," Tyler said. "Trust me. You'll feel a lot better. You'll feel great."
When Tyler invented Project Mayhem, Tyler said the goal of Project Mayhem had nothing to do with other people. Tyler didn't care if other people got hurt or not. The goal was to teach each man in the project that he had the power to control history. We, each of us, can take control of the world.
"What it is," Tyler says, "is we have police who come to fight at fight club and really like it. We have newspaper reporters and law clerks and lawyers, and we know everything before it's going to happen."
We were going to be shut down.
"At least in Seattle," Tyler says.
I ask what did Tyler do about it.
"What did we do about it," Tyler says.
We called an Assault Committee meeting.
I love everything about Tyler Durden, his courage and his smarts. His nerve. Tyler is funny and charming and forceful and independent, and men look up to him and expect him to change their world. Tyler is capable and free, and I am not.
I'm not Tyler Durden.
"But you are, Tyler," Marla says.
The three ways to make napalm. I knew Tyler was going to kill my boss. The second I smelled gasoline on my hands, when I said I wanted out of my job, I was giving him permission. Be my guest.
Kill my boss.
Oh, Tyler.
I know a computer blew up.
I know this because Tyler knows this.
His name was Patrick Madden, and he was the mayor's special envoy on recycling. His name was Patrick Madden, and he was an enemy of Project Mayhem.
“Everything's going according to the plan.”
Whispers:
“We're going to break up civilization so we can make something better out of the world.”
Whispers:
“We look forward to getting you back.”
