Fight Club is an example of postmodernism that radically breaks conventions and questions the meta-narrative that society as a whole plays into. In the modern world, there is this ideology that we are all expected to conform to: getting an expensive college education, a job that earns us as much money as possible, an onslaught of material goods we don't need, have a white salary... the existence of stockades in the suburbs, reproduce, then inevitably await our disappearance. As the film progresses, so does the narrator's rejection of this common ideology that most of society has chosen to identify with; instead of conforming more, with the help of his Freudian alter ego in the form of Tyler Durden, he constantly and deliberately rejects conventional reality. Starting from a beginning that indulged in this meta-narrative, to intentionally rejecting it as idealized anarchy and chaos, from one extreme to the other. Inevitably, this highlights what is truly important in a world where our lives are fragile and short. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay Through the narrator, we explore this meta-narrative in depth as he becomes fully engulfed in it. He works a "job he hates" to buy "shit he doesn't need", which is quite apparent in his apathy towards life and in this idea that the only thing that The part to feeling alive is browsing the Ikea catalog in order to decide which restaurant set would best complement one's studio. This pursuit of capitalist idealism has inherently left it empty, lacking any apparent direction or purpose. He feels like he's doing exactly what society tells him to do to be happy, but yet he still lacks a sense of fulfillment and is completely apathetic about his own death. This is mainly seen in his attitude when flying back and forth across different time zones on business trips. He frequently mentions that he wouldn't mind if a flock of migratory birds flew into the turbine and ended this tedious and unsatisfying meta-narrative that he has firmly embedded into it. One theft in particular leads to the development of an entirely new ideology and mindset in the narrator. By "meeting" or accepting his Freudian mindset (in the form of Tyler Durden), he begins to move away from this deeply ingrained meta-narrative that he has wasted most of his life believing he identified himself. Through Tyler, he sees a neglected, almost Buddhist, side of himself, one that believes materialism is the root of all evil and chooses to live in a complete squatter as long as he has a roof over his head. head. He doesn't believe in conventional films with happy endings and a distinct lack of realism. This is seen through her time working in a movie theater, cutting snippets of nude footage from films. The way Tyler Durden regularly presents himself consistently draws on this commonly accepted ideology of what society should be. He is prepared to form an army in order to invoke complete and utter anarchy, with the end goal being to deconstruct this notion that capitalism is the way society should conduct itself. It's only when Tyler Durden "influences" the narrator that he explodes his own. In this apartment, his ideology begins to change radically. By getting rid of those materialistic possessions that he had acquired in order to feel a feelingfulfillment, he felt liberated for the first time. It quickly became apparent that his constant battle to climb the corporate ladder, acquire wealth, and find a sense of fulfillment through materialism was a relentless, meaningless state of existence in which he had completely become unconsciously integrated. As smoke billows from the narrator's humble abode, he realizes that his life is metaphorically as empty as the refrigerator that once stood in his now-burning apartment. In particular, what seems to me to be a key moment where Tyler Durden firmly articulates why this commonly believed and practiced meta-narrative needs to be deconstructed, as shown in this quote: "We're the middle children of history, man – without purpose nor place. We have neither a great war nor a great depression. Our great war is a spiritual war. Our great depression is our life. We were all raised on television to believe that one day we would all be millionaires, movie gods and rock stars – but we won't. We are slowly learning this fact. And we are very, very upset. » The quote suggests that our generation lacks an innate purpose worth fighting for. Instead of a great war between nations, we have almost declared a war against our reason by adhering to this materialistic ideology where money and success are presented as being of utmost importance while spirituality and the true purpose of self-knowledge were entirely lost in the pursuit. of greed. This idea leads to the reasoning behind creating a Fight Club in the first place. Culturally, the common ideology is that if we just continue to follow the rat race, go to work, etc., we will live a long happy life until retirement. This meta-narrative is a false perception of what reality actually is, because in “reality” we could die at any time, and death will undoubtedly come for all of us. Its intention is to make us aware of our own mortality and understand the simple fragility of life. By denying this need to practice self-preservation and avoid all situations that could lead to premature death, Tyler Durden believes that the best way to combat this problem is to fight senselessly to have the feeling of being fully alive. This is demonstrated obviously through the fights organized in the basements of the bars, but also in a number of scenes scattered throughout the novel and the film. In particular, the scene where Tyler holds a gun to the heads of innocent store clerks in order to invoke a sense of reality in it stands out as a rejection of the monotonous and mundane flow of life. By going through this near-death experience, Raymond K Hessel will live each day to the fullest, appreciate his food more, and may even complete medical school. This suggests that many of us fall into a monotonous routine and stop realizing that our life happens second by second, minute by minute, and more often than not we take the painless route and forget that we don't live forever. This rejects the idea that we will all live to be 90 and become filthy rich because in reality we could get senselessly shot in an alley for doing nothing but being at the wrong place at the wrong time. By instilling in Raymond a sense of urgency to live, Fight Club further rejects this meta-narrative about how everyone should live their lives. This borderline philosophy, living for the moment, consumes the narrator and he applies it to areas outside of simple combat. Club. Instead of being continually.