Sunday, November 16, 2014
Masculinity in Fight Club
Much of Fight Club revolves around the role of men in this society and their conquest to find their identity. With the development of the first fight club by the narrator and his friend Tyler Durden, men from around the city join to take out their anger, come face to face with fear and pain, and learn to overcome even their largest of problems becoming a "man." Many reviews of this book boil down to men simply fighting to feel power and strength within them, as well as a somewhat facetious view of men, and what is takes to be a "man," in modern society. This book does not seem like a story that a openly homosexual author would write, which leads to further questions in this theme through the book. Even looking over the character list of the book will show you that there are only 1-2 female characters. As I read the book, I notice more and more that these woman are viewed in a negative light and even made to look crazy.
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I get the same vibe from my book, No Country for Old Men, however, my book is not about self discovery. My book deals with the masculinity in choices. What is the cost of taking a satchel full of money? What would you risk for a better life? are two questions that will most likely be answered by the end of the book. The answer lies in pride, and even the stoic, expressionless serial killer has a great deal of pride. In the opening scene of the book, he wanted to be taken to jail, just so he could mentally justify killing someone to escape. The officer turned his back on Chigurh, and Chigurh choked him with his handcuffs. The serial killer didn't care if he was caught, his pride was more important.
ReplyDeleteI see cultural conflicts in my book between what society expect of a man and who the main character, Oscar, really is. Oscar is a Dominican boy, and, as is always expected of Dominican lads, his family and peers expect him to at least have one girlfriend before he passes. Unfortunately for Oscar, he has found himself dealt such profoundly unattractive genes that no girl could ever possibly feel a shred of arousal towards him (as the author puts it). So what ends up happening is that even Oscar's nerd friends find girls to be with while other guys are with 6 and 7 girls at a time. This cultural expectation eats at Oscar, but not because he disagrees with it, he just can't achieve it. The conflict between expectations and the character then doesn't manifest itself outwardly as it does in Fight Club, but rather as an internal conflict Oscar faces as he tries desperately to woo girls so he can finally "be happy."
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