Fight Club Study Gvide


HUMAN BEINGS

Narrator
Marla Singer
Robert "Bitch Tits Bob" Paulson
Tyler Durden
Richard "The Boss" Chesler
Angel Face

LIMINAL EXPERIENCES

Down the trap door into Lou's basement
Human sacrifice outside liquor store
Admission into Project Mayhem
Life in the basement on Paper Street
Mini-katabasis in the men's room

SHOUT-OUTS

Narrator/Trout = Gilgamesh/Enkidu
Marla Singer = Shamhat/Sibyl/Dido
Product placements = Starbucks, IKEA, Busch beer, Volkswagen, Pepsi
Richard "The Boss" Chesler = Humbaba?
Unreliable narrator (as compared to Odysseus, Dante)

COSMIC SIGNIFICANCE

Human beings as machines (we are all parts of the same compost heap)
American metropolis as symbolic hell - DYSTOPIA
Narrator and Marla hold hands at the end = Hope?
Project Mayhem = men looking for answers?
Project Mayhem as COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT gone haywire
IKEA Nesting Instinct
Blame it on her!