Fight Club and Identity

I had the task of identifying the concept of identity in Chuck Palahniuk's gritty, dark and wonderful novel 

Fight Club. Through exploration of concepts in the real world through media such as the internet and real life 

examples it shows how this concept is everywhere, and in different ways, it effects everyone in some way, 

shape, or form. When I read in the book that “You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake. You are the same decaying organic matter as everyone else, and we are all part of the same compost pile.” (p.134) It really got me how true it is in a way when it comes to things like the internet and even when it comes most people when they're buying their clothes. When everyone wants to seem popular and go out and buy their clothes at American Eagle, American Apparel, and even places like Hot Topic trying to fit in with what everyone else in their little group, or to follow whatever trend there is to think that they stand out, trying to create an individual identity they fail. That is because, while they think they think they're being unique, someone else has the exact same shirt, or the exact same pants, or shoes, or belt.

In the novel, the narrator identifies himself through his possessions, his job and Fight Club itself. The narrator says “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. The television was me. It was me that blew up. Couldn't he see that?” (pp 110-111). This is the perfect example of people becoming their possessions. Bringing this into the real world, if someone owns a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, they are automatically identified as bikers, they are identified as their Harley. Same with cars, if you're going to spend 40 thousand plus on a car like a Tesla, a Lexus, or a Lamborghini you want to be identified by that car. The best media example of this is would be the movie Glengarry Glen Ross. The character of Blake played by Alec Baldwin said it best when he identified himself as his watch by saying “That watch costs more than you car. I made $970,000 last year. How much you make? You see pal, that's who I am, and you're nothing.”

Lastly, there is the identity that an individual creates either intentionally or unintentionally. The narrator says, “Tyler Durden is my hallucination.” (p. 168). This is when he realizes he is actually Tyler Durden. This can be very true online. You aren't who you say you are online, if you are in a chat room, you create a different personality than you really are. The internet is the one place that people can be someone else, because no one knows who you are. The activists group that calls themselves Anonymous is the perfect example.