This is my Fight Club essay: Masculinity in Society

[danideben]

I read Fight Club for english and obviously had to write an essay on it. It's funny because had I not had to analyze the book as I did for class, I never would have notice some key underlying concepts presented in it. By doing this and focusing on things that would have otherwise been easily overlooked, I came across a few things I thought were

Comments

[bizzle53]

I look at God behind his desk, taking notes on a pad, but God's got this all wrong.
We are not special.
We are not crap or trash, either.
We just are.
We just are, and what happens just happens.
And God says, "No, that's not right."
Yeah. Well. Whatever. You can't teach God anything.

One of my favorite literary quotes of all-time.

You're just writing about one aspect of the book, right? Because there's so much more to it. Regardless, this was a pretty decently written essay. Cool assignment by your teacher.

[danideben]

oh yeah i know there's soooooo many...i just thought this one was one of the most interesting and most overlooked...i mean obv the book deals with masculinity, but i doubt many people really read into it

[all_star_mee]

i think you're missing a pretty key point. The point of fight club isn't soley to like let out some machismo, but to just let themselves go. Palahniuk stresses over and over that men are a generation raised by women. Yes, Fight Club is clearly an expression of manhood, but the main focus is-- you are not what you own. It's not about being buff and masculine. I mean, look at BOB. It's a twisted love story between the narrator and marla singer. It's a satirical social commentary on how our cultural manifesto revolves affluence. It means that in order to free yourself, you have to sacrifice yourself from all the luxuries of a penthouse condo and yin yang coffee table. The point is is that you are not your job. You're not your tuxedo or your louis vutton purse. "You are not special. You are not crap or trash either. You just are." "You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake." Etc. This isn't making very much sense, but it does in my head. They don't participate in fight club to go along with the gender role created by society, but

[danideben]

oh i know...thats why i said there's a lot i was missing....however, my assignment was actually a 5 page paper on how the book related to the theme of monsters...so i chose to focus on this aspect cuz its easy to see the connection...this is actually a very small piece of my paper cuz i figured no one would actually want to read the 5 page version

but yes i def agree with all that you said...i just believe those concepts are more obvious...thats what i would have said fight club was primarily about and not even thought about man's desire to be masculine and the role of societal pressure

[danideben]

i actually posted this with mainly you two in mind...i know how u guys are fight club fans so i was interested on getting your input...so thanks for taking the time to read :-)

[bizzle53]

Your essay is wrong.

[danideben]

what? how is it wrong?

[bizzle53]

Because while you may be picking a masculine underlying, Fight Club is not about masculinity at all and to focus on that as your theme is doing a grave injustice to the book.

[danideben]

its one of the themes...to say you don't agree with it or dont see it is one thing...to say my essay is "wrong" is another....why arent u listening when i tell u i realize there are so many other aspects of the book but my prof has made us focus on this one and i found it interesting to write about and a good connection to our theme of monstrosity (dont take that the wrong way)...this is just an essay about one aspect of the book...not the whole book...i dont think u have a right to say that its wrong