Existentialism In The Fight Club

Fight Club (1999) is told from the point of view of an anonymous storyteller. The unnamed protagonist who is referred to as Jack has an ordinary life with a steady occupation and lives in a pleasant apartment in a big city. Nonetheless, his life additionally feels empty, and he ends up getting increasingly lazy over time since he needs distinction and characterizes himself by the things he claims rather than his ideas or behavior. Although, things turn around when Tyler Durden becomes the main reason for Jack's development and provides him with the determination he needs. “The Existential Crisis is set apart by five major features. Firstly, people start to wonder that there are more options than we allow ourselves to imagine. Secondly, this discovery becomes anxiety prompting. Thirdly, people build up an increased consciousness of death. Fourthly, people have many choices by the idea of the human condition. An existential approach alleviates the idea that excellence is within reach” (“What is an Existential Crisis?”). Jack is going through an Existential Crisis because of the human condition.

Sartre states that “Man is nothing else but what he makes of himself. Such is the first principle of existentialism” (Sayre, 177). This is an essential concept that Jack needs to acknowledge before he can make changes throughout his life. Meeting Tyler on a flight returning from a work excursion and getting back home to find that his apartment was ruined by an eruption gets this disclosure underway when he chooses to meet Tyler for a drink for a short time later. He nearly loses it because all that he possessed, very similar things he used to characterize himself, are altogether gone. “That was not just a bunch of stuff that got destroyed it was me!” (Fincher). Tyler forces him to understand that those things he claimed didn't characterize him as an individual they characterized him as a consumer. With this understanding, Jack just feels more despair and winds up thinking about what he can do to make his life feel purpose if all his belongings, the main things his life comprised of, really amounted to nothing. Sartre explained, “man must create his own essence; it is in throwing himself into the world, in suffering it, is struggling with it, that little by little he defines himself” (Sayre, 177). Jack has not yet realized that his common sense is flawed, and he needs to recognize that his essence cannot be observed inside inanimate objects and the only thing that can genuinely define his essence or nature is himself. “People are thrown upon this earth by chance; however, they are still free to accept their fate and affirm the importance of honesty and compassion” (Camus, 1273). In the end, Jack realizes that his life is in his hands and he will proceed to define himself through his actions and receive responsibility for who he is.

To conclude, Existentialism stresses the importance of choice in creating values. Throughout the film, Jack struggles with creating his essence, he feels as though his life has no purpose or meaning. His existence had consisted of failed tries to characterize himself, but he was just left feeling apathetic and detached in his existence. “We can be guaranteed to make a lot of mistakes. The condition of a mankind is to have to plot our course in the dark without adequate reason or incite” (“What is an Existential Crisis?”). Therefore, Jack was going through an Existential Crisis because of the human condition.