Fight Club is very different than what I expected it to be like. One important part of the novel is the relationship between the narrator and Tyler Durden. I noticed that Durden is always the more powerful character. In the first chapter, Durden is the one pushing the gun in the narrator’s mouth and seems to be forcing the destruction. In addition, the fact that both characters are on a tower is very significant. It shows that they, at least Durden, feels the need to be above everyone. The narrator even describes the people below them to be a shag carpet. As a shag carpet, Palahniuk shows that Durden wants to exhibit control over a mass of people and Durden doesn’t even seem to distinguish each person. It isn’t surprising that, later on, Durden proclaims that the world is his now. The power-hungry Durden gives an explanation for the fight club revealed later on.

Another important character is Marla Singer. I looked up the meaning of her name and thought it was pretty significant. For example, it is a variant of singe, which means “to burn.” In fact, throughout the entire novel, there are many images of burning. Marla burns the cigarette against her arm, and the narrator’s apartment just burns to shreds. I think that all the burning, especially in regards to Marla, shows that Marla is figuratively burning the narrator and Tyler Durden. She flirts with both men, but I think that Marla likes the narrator more. She is more flirtatious towards him, and the narrator, although unreliable, says at the beginning that Marla Singer wants him. Thus, Marla’s attitude foreshadows that there will be some conflict between Durden and the narrator because of Marla.

I had a hard time trying to figure out what the fight club really means. The narrator seems to engage in the therapy sessions and the fight club because he needs comfort. The narrator says that, in the fight club, he is more alive than ever. The fight club and the fighting is almost a rebirth. By fighting, the narrator is resurrected. He gains a sense of himself and his own body. In the same way, the therapy sessions allow the narrator gets a sense of himself. Compared to Bob, the narrator feels like more of a man. It is significant that Bob has testicular cancer because Bob feels like less of a man. I wonder if the narrator gains a sense of manhood by going to the particular Sunday night therapy session.

I also wonder why the narrator is unnamed. I think it shows that Tyler Durden is the more prominent one. It also shows that the narrator’s own insecurities can generalize to everyone. The narrator is like the narrator of Invisible Man in that they are both unnamed. Compared to Durden, the narrator does seem invisible. I am excited to find out why the narrator says that Durden and he used to be friends in the beginning. I am also waiting for more information on what the fight club means to the narrator.