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Fight Club: The Crazy, yet Religious Movie (Past College Essay)
The first rule of Fight Club is you never talk about Fight Club.
Fight Club is a classic movie that is about an anonymous man who is struggling to find his purpose in life. He lies about certain physical conditions to be able to attend these self-help groups so he can sleep better and find his value as a human being. Until one day he meets a man named Tyler Durden, who sells soap for a living.
Tyler Durden is everything you would want as a companion, as he tries to better the anonymous man in multiple ways. As the anonymous man walks to his apartment one day, he comes to realize that his apartment has exploded with all his collectibles inside. With this happening, he calls Tyler Durden for a place to stay since his apartment exploded. They agree to meet at a bar and talk about both their lives, but as they walk out, they decide to start a friendly fight. This fight draws the attention of others as they want to join in too.
This is the creation of the infamous “Fight Club”.
Tyler Durden was the ultimate therapy for this anonymous man, as he tries to teach him multiple things to becoming truly happy and carefree. At the end of this movie, we realize that the anonymous man is Tyler Durden, as he was imagining a new and improved version of himself. At the end of this movie, Tyler Durden ends up fighting off the fake Tyler Durden, which results in him finding true peace and tranquility through all his pain and sacrifice.
This movie portrays a physical journey of Tyler Durden as he tries to become better, but I believe that this portrays a spiritual and religious journey, with Tyler Durden going through trials and tribulation. There are multiple scenes that prove that Tyler Durden is going through a spiritual and religious journey to Christianity, rather than a physical journey.
The first scene that proves that Tyler Durden is on a religious journey rather than a physical journey would be the scene where the fake Tyler Durden pours acid on the real Tyler Durden’s hand.
During this scene as the fake Tyler Durden pours acid on the real Tyler Durden’s hand, the fake Tyler Durden is talking about not being afraid of death. The real Tyler Durden tries to disregard reality and tries to find his “power animal” in his head to try and get away from his pain. But the fake Tyler Durden holds his hand tight to not let him escape and wants him to feel the pain and the reality of the situation, and to take it head on.
The fake Tyler Durden says, “First you need to know, not fear, know that one day you are going to die.” This can be portrayed as a religious journey rather than physically, as Christians are typically not afraid to die. Christians are typically not afraid to die, because they believe that they will live an eternal life with God.
In the Bible, Matthew Chapter 10 Verse 28, states “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). This shows that people should rather fear God and not death, as he can destroy your body through death, but also perish your soul into Hell.
On the other hand, people who are not religious may be afraid of death, as nobody knows what happens when a person dies, which can be a terrifying reality. Accepting death is hard to do, but throughout Christianity they learn to believe that death is inevitable and if they believe in an eternal life in heaven, it can take that person’s anxiety away.
The second scene that proves that Tyler Durden is on a religious journey rather than a physical journey would be when both Tyler Durden’s meet up at the bar for the first time.
The real Tyler Durden starts to talk about how he is an insomniac and can’t find his true purpose in life. He tells him how his apartment recently burst into flames, and how he lies about the conditions he has so he can attend therapy groups. He lies about these conditions, because he wants to try to feel even a little bit of emotion, as he is numb to the world. This prompts the other Tyler Durden to talk about how people in today’s day and age can’t find their identity through consumerism and chase materialistic items for happiness, rather than finding true happiness within.
In the Bible, Matthew Chapter 6 Verse 19 states, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal” (Matthew 6:19). This verse is a great analogy, as a person can work towards something materialistic their whole life, but from one robber or fire, it can be destroyed. If a person only lives through materialistic items, a situation like that could devastate someone more than finding value through the Bible. This can also be represented as a spiritual and religious awakening to Christianity rather than physical,
as people believe that big houses and fancy cars will make them happy, but finding true happiness, tranquility, and value can be found through Christianity.
The third scene that proves that Tyler Durden is on a religious journey rather than a physical journey would be when the fake Tyler Durden is talking to the members of the “Fight Club”.
During this scene, he goes on to tell the members that “Advertising has us buying cars and clothes. We are the middle children in history, no great war, no great depression. Our great war is a spiritual war, and our great depression is our lives.”
In the Bible, Hebrews Chapter 13 Verse 5 states, “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). This shows that he is trying to help the members understand that people pursue advertisements to try and find happiness through materialistic items.
But as referenced in Hebrews, it speaks how God will never abandon you, and to be content with what you have been blessed with. He talks about our war not being a physical war, like a Civil War or a World War, but rather the problem that people face is a spiritual war, which is the choice between good and joyful versus evil and depressed. Or in spiritual terms, a choice between Jesus and Satan, heaven or hell. But true happiness and value can be found through a belief in God.
A religious journey can be a long developmental process for someone dealing with various phases in their life.
The last scene that proves that Tyler Durden is on a religious journey rather than a physical journey would be the scene where both Tyler Durden’s are driving in the rain.
In this scene, the fake Tyler Durden lets go of the steering wheel, as the car starts to drift off the road. The real Tyler Durden grabs the steering wheel to recenter the car on the road. This upsets the other Tyler Durden, as he says, “This life does not belong to us, we are not special. You need to forget about what you think you know about life. Stop trying to control everything and just let go.” This is a very multilayered and deep scene, as this represents a lot of different ideas.
The first sentence in this quote can be taken religiously, as he says that this life doesn’t belong to us. In a Christian aspect, this can be portrayed as our lives belonging to God, rather than us trying to run or steer our lives selfishly. In the Bible, Matthew Chapter 6 Verse 25 states, “Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes” (Matthew 6:25).
When people put their life in God’s hands, it can help them to relieve stress and anxiety and help people realize that God will lead them in the correct path.
The last sentence can be looked at seriously and comedically, as he talks to Tyler Durden about letting go of his life. This would be a callback to what I said previously about letting God’s timing and control take over. Also comedically, this can be seen as letting go of the wheel, which could refer to letting “Jesus Take the Wheel”. This powerful scene talking about letting go of the steering wheel also refers to letting control go of someone’s life, and letting God’s destiny be the only thing a person trusts.
Through the acts of giving up yourself or your life, or not desiring materialistic items, will one become saved.
Some people may argue that these scenes do not relate to a religious and spiritual journey, but rather a physical journey. They may say that Tyler Durden seeing a whole person that talks to him and acts like a god, is just from him being an insomniac. But with the scenes I have provided, you can see how the fake Tyler Durden is helping to better the real Tyler Durden through his own scripture, which matches up to a religious awakening for the real Tyler Durden.
I believe that he sees this fake better version of himself, because God is trying to help show him to the light.
Towards the end of the movie, the real Tyler Durden starts to become better spiritually and physically and starts to push away the fake Tyler Durden. This results in the fake Tyler Durden taking a twisted turn and starting to talk badly about religion. He says that “You have to consider the possibility that God doesn’t like you. He never wanted you. In all probability, he hates you.” This can be represented as Satan trying to mess with Tyler Durden’s head, by using someone he looks up to try and convince him that God isn’t real. This results in them getting into a fight, and the real Tyler Durden winning, and banishing the fake Tyler Durden from his imagination.
This shows that Tyler Durden found his purpose through a religious awakening, not a physical journey.
Fight Club is one of the classics for a reason, and Tyler Durden is one of the best protagonists in movie history for a reason as well. This multilayered movie is up for multiple interpretations on why it is so powerful and deep. The journey of Tyler Durden is very relatable to viewers and is up for personal perspective. Evidence shows that the religious and spiritual journey of Tyler Durden going from a consumer who thrives for materialistic items, to finding happiness through himself and God, is truly powerful.
This shows that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel for people who are struggling or think they are doing well.
Material items and an egotistical mentality can halt a person’s access to finding the light of God. A religious journey can be long, confusing and grueling, but at the end, a person can find their true purpose in life.
In conclusion, Tyler Durden at the beginning of the movie was a crazy insomniac who felt no purpose in his life. But through meeting someone who gave him a purpose through Christian beliefs and principles, was able to truly feel emotion and have a true purpose for his life.
The best way I can end this essay would be with a Bible verse and the second rule for “Fight Club”. Psalm Chapter 23 Verse 4 says that “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me” (Psalm 23:4).
Lastly, you DO NOT talk about Fight Club.
