Fight Club Persuasive Essay

Fight Club Persuasive Essay

Some novels are set up for sequels, while others are not. The latter is the case with Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk. Despite this, Fight Club has received a sequel courtesy of Dark Horse Comics and Chuck Palahniuk called Fight Club 2. I disagree with the decision to produce Fight Club 2, due to the ending of Fight Club being satisfactory, the narrator failing in his role as an “everyman” character, and certain things within the book, such as the violent actions of the characters, being excessive.

        While Fight Club ends in an ambiguous way, the ending is satisfactory. It wraps up the book in way that, while it does not answer all of the reader’s questions, it does provide a sense of completion without the need to continue the story. The novel ends with the narrator in a mental hospital, which he claims is heaven, where hopefully he is getting the treatment he needs after having shot himself in the face to try to get rid of Tyler. The narrator being in what he perceives to be “heaven” may indicate that at least for the time being, he is safe from himself. He speaks to Marla every day. He asks her to “tell [him] every little thing” (207). He wants to return to the person he loves, yet at the same time he tells the reader, “But I don’t want to go back. Not yet.” (207) He still feels the influence of Tyler around him, of Tyler trying to get back out from within, for example when he says that the nurses who care for him tell him, “We miss you Mr. Durden” (208). So even if Tyler is dead, his ideas and values continue to live on, to be present. While the books ends with this uncertainty as to whether or not Tyler is gone or lurking in the background waiting to emerge again, it is an ending that that satisfies the reader. It is the uncertainty of not knowing for sure that makes it appealing and interesting. Perhaps the narrator may finally find peace; it almost makes you feel happy that he will get some sort of closure for himself and that possibly the evil, dark forces that have been within him and guiding him may be put to rest. It’s useless to try to use violence to solve the world’s problems. This is shown by Tyler’s bomb being a dud. The author himself confirms the ending of the book is an actual ending.  In an interview, Palahniuk says, “My rule with novels is that they should have a closure of energy because they have taken such a time and effort to consume.” The novel has closure and an ending that works and appropriately wraps up the story. What happens to Tyler Durden is left open to interpretation and that is how it should remain.

        While the bomb that Tyler set was a dud, the fact that he even built the bomb exemplifies the fact that the narrator is truly not an “everyman” character and because of this, he does not need to be explored any further in a sequel. Palahniuk tries to make the character represent the rebellion against growing up and adulthood and the battle against commonality and “the combine”, but he fails to do this. Tyler wants disorder and chaos; he simply goes too far with his antics. He creates illegal fight clubs across the country, where people are beaten until they can’t take it anymore and have to be brought to the hospital. The goal is to cause destruction to their community so they can be free of society. People “[get people’s] arms behind [their] head in a full nelson and ram [their] face into the concrete floor until [their] teeth bite open the inside of [their] cheek and [their] eyes are swollen shut” (51). He creates Project Mayhem, which is a fascist organization that tries to cause an upheaval to what is seen as normal. This is carried out through violence and negative messages, such as putting bumper stickers on cars saying, “ I Drive Better When I’m Drunk”, “Make Mine Veal”, or “Recycle All Animals”. The members of the organization believe Tyler is a god, and that “[they] are nothing in the world compared to Tyler” (146). They create bombs meant for blowing up the city in what is supposed to be a soap company. Someone who creates an organization like this is not an “everyman” character. Normal people don’t wake up in the morning and think, “I’m going to blow up five buildings today.” The narrator is too extreme to be an “everyman” character due to his actions and motives for committing them. He also is cynical and extremely dissatisfied with society and he feels as though he is being controlled by it and all the material possessions “The things you used to own, now they own you.” (44) The narrator, in talking about his frustration with the world describes himself as being “nothing in the world compared to Tyler. I am helpless. I am stupid, and all I do is want and need things” (146) His cynicism and lack of contentment are not the thoughts and feelings of “everyman”. These traits are not ones that can easily be connected with therefore there no need for a sequel to further portray a character that has already been played out.