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Over Analyzing Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club by Joe Conley Any book which features grown men beating the snot out of each other is bound to provoke controversy. "Fight Club" is no different. Its levels of unflinching violence aren't gratuitous, though. And the book isn't so much about physical fighting as the fight within man - that raging battle between the public self and the private hell. "Fight Club" follows in the footsteps of provocative masterpieces like "A Catcher in the Rye ". It features a lonely protagonist, occasionally referred to as "Jack" - a man unsure of his place in the world, and losing direction in his life. Battling against unremitting insomnia, succumbing to commercialism and working a banal job all present major problems in his life. He finds solace in group therapy sessions, and although he doesn't belong there, he becomes addicted to attending them. At the testicular cancer support group, he meets Bob. Bob is an effeminate man with large breasts, with a strong propensity to cry, who literally represents emasculated man. It's most odd to see men try to talk about their problems in contemporary American literature, but this seems to be a fair reflection of a shift in society. There are less taboos now, and people are advised to open up and talk about their feelings...However, "Fight Club" is a strange cross-breed of outlooks, because while it initially promotes masculine interaction, it later becomes an exhibition of knuckle dusting and Nazi-like agendas. To describe " Fight Club " in by the numbers terms does not do justice to its purpose. The plot is irrelevant and the twists are too absurd to explain. It's one of those books that need to be savored, enjoyed for the stunning dialogue, beautiful/ugly imagery and the hidden themes. There are three principle characters in the book, and each is a symbolic statement about society. "Jack" starts out as the traditional good guy, the person to whom the truly white bread reader can relate most easily.
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