Fight Club

Fight Club

Within the novel, Fight Club, by Chuck Palahniuk, capitalism plays an integral part in the actions of the narrator, Tyler Durden, and their many devout members.   As the story unfolds, we see the narrator being a person who bases himself using his possessions.   The narrator expresses this materialistic identity during a conversation with the police regarding the unfortunate incineration of his apartment. The narrator states, “I tell the detective, no, I did not leave the gas on and then leave town. I loved my life. I loved that condo. I loved every stick of furniture. That was my whole life. Everything, the lamps, the chairs, the rugs were me. The dishes in the cabinets were me. The plants were me” (P.110). In this passage it is clear that the narrator’s whole life is around his possessions.   It was this materialism that left the narrator spiritually hollow, craving for something more.   It was almost as if the effects of the capitalist economy have provided the fuel for a serious mental breakdown, and all the narrator needed was a spark.
                  The job of the narrator brings about another interesting aspect of capitalism. The narrator has a gruesome job working for a car company.   His profession lies in choosing between a profit and a life.   A description of his job can be found on the passage that states, “If a new car built by my company leaves Chicago traveling west at 60 miles an hour, and the rear differential locks up, and the car crashes and burns with everyone trapped inside, does my company initiate a recall.”   He goes on to describe his method for deciding how much a life is worth when he states, “You take the population of vehicles in the field and multiply it by the probable rate of failure, then multiply the result by the average cost of an out-of-court settlement.   A times B times C equals x.   This is what it will cost if we don’t initiate a recall.   If X is greater than the cost of the recall, we recall the cars and no one...