I am Jack’s Interactive Study Guide…
Fight Club was a novel published in 1996,
with a movie adaptation released in 1999.
The novel was published at the edge of the
20th century, and gave us a preview of what
was to become of the written word in the
21st century.
Background:
The book/movie is meant to portray, among
many things, an entire generation of
people, labeled as “Generation X.”
Throughout most the study guide, we will
be focusing on the movie adaptation of
Fight Club. Look for aspects that define
members of Gen X; you will be asked
throughout the study guide to write down
your observations.
Background:
The information presented in this
PowerPoint is an introduction to the movie,
and intended for high school seniors
enrolled in the “Literature through Film”
class. Fight Club is a book/movie intended
for mature audiences, and I expect all
students to handle the material in an
appropriate manner.
Background:
Students are required to start with the
section entitled “Movie Plot Points,” and
move in a clockwise motion. Students
should end with the section entitled “This is
it: Study Guide Quiz.”
Background:
Movie Plot Points
This is it:
Study Guide
Quiz
Themes
Book vs. Movie
I am Jack’s Home Page…
I am Jack’s storytelling video…
Activity:
Think up your own ridiculous support group.
What would be the ailment, and how would
meetings be run?
Summary:
From the information provided in this
section, please write at least two to three
aspects/qualities/observations of
Generation X.
I am Jack’s “Themes” section…
RULES OF FIGHT CLUB:
Theme: Inner desire to be something
else, not what society makes us.
Through the Narrator’s creation of Tyler Durden, we
constantly see a personal struggle to be
someone/something else. The Narrator wants to be
free from the constraints of 1990s materialistic
America. Tyler Durden has the will and tenacity to
carry out something as drastic as the fight clubs and
Project Mayhem, whereas the Narrator is bound by
society telling him that it is wrong to go against the
grain.
Movie Quote:
Tyler Durden: All the ways
you wish you could be, that’s
me. I look like you wanna
look…I am smart, capable,
and most importantly, I am
free in all the ways you are
not.
Theme: Anti-consumerism
The Narrator owns a lot of things. However, the Narrator’s
insomnia and his lack of solace with the world around him
highlights that the “stuff” he owns is not enough to fully
satiate his needs. One thing Tyler Durden represents is the
Narrator’s desire to live without stuff and find true happiness.
Movie Quote:
Tyler Durden: Do you know what a duvet is?
Narrator: It’s a comforter…
TD: It’s a blanket…Now why do guys like you and
me know what a duvet is? Is it essential to our
survival, in the hunter-gatherer sense of the word?
No. What are we then?
Narrator: …Consumers?
TD: Right. We are consumers. We’re the biproducts of a lifestyle obsession.
Theme: Violence in the fight clubs
The men in the world of Fight Club are incapable of
feeling anything true; society has robbed them of their
desire to find happiness in anything but “stuff.”
However, the fights offer physical interaction and
physical pain. The fights help them to feel something in
a society hollowed out by consumerism. They branch
out and reject the notion that violence is only a “bad
thing.”
Movie Quote:
Narrator: When the
fight was over,
nothing was solved,
but nothing mattered.
We all felt saved.
Activity:
Edward Norton (who portrayed the Narrator) said
the fights in the film represent man’s impulse to
resist the “cocooning” effect the trappings of
modern society have over us. Would you agree
with him that society cocoons people, and if so, in
what way?
Theme: Dark coming-of-age tale
The Narrator, who is unnamed throughout the course of his
story, is meant to serve as an “everyman” for all males of
Generation X. According to the movie, the men of Gen X are
“spectators” and are not “real men” because they were a
generation raised by single mothers. Also, the Narrator’s
creation of Tyler Durden, and subsequently the creation of
the fight clubs and Project Mayhem, ultimately lead him
through the process of being “enlightened,” in a dark sort of
way.
Movie Quote:
Narrator: If you wake up at a different
time, in a different place, could you wake
up as a different person?
Movie Quote:
Tyler Durden:
You’re not your job.
You’re not how
much money you
have in the bank.
You’re not the car
you drive.
Summary:
From the information provided in this
section, please write at least two to three
different aspects/qualities/observations of
Generation X.
I am Jack’s “Book vs. Movie”
section…
VS.
Meeting Tyler Durden
Book: The Narrator meets Tyler on a beach as the former is
falling asleep.
Movie: Tyler is sitting next to the Narrator on an airplane,
and the Narrator notices they both have the same
briefcase.
Interesting Fact:
Author Chuck Palahniuk first came up with
the idea for the novel after being beaten up
on a camping trip. When he returned to
work, no one asked him about his injuries,
and he surmised that this was because they
didn’t want to interact with him on a
personal level.
Joe or Jack?
Book: The articles are about Joe’s body parts.
Movie: They are about Jack’s body parts.
Activity:
“I am Jack’s…” What organ personifies you?
What would it say/feel?
How They Got the Fat for Soap
Book: Marla’s mother has a liposuction surgery and sends
her fat to Tyler.
Movie: The Narrator and Tyler steal huge bags of fat
from a biohazard dumpster.
The Lye Burn
Book: Marla receives a lye burn.
Movie: She questions why the Narrator has one and does
not get one herself.
Interesting Fact:
When Chuck Palahniuk was in school, Marla
Singer was the name of a young girl that
bullied Palahniuk’s younger sisters.
Inception of Project Mayhem
Book: Both Tyler and the Narrator initiate Project Mayhem.
Movie: The Narrator is shocked by the development of
Project Mayhem and confronts Tyler about it.
Telling Marla about Tyler
Book: The Narrator asks for Marla’s help in dealing with
Tyler.
Movie: The Narrator puts her on a bus to get her out
of the city.
The Final Plan
Book: Tyler wants to bring the tallest
building down on a museum, and be inside
the former building when it blows up.
Movie: Tyler wants to watch the credit
buildings be destroyed.
The Ending
Book: The building doesn’t blow up, and the Narrator is
placed in a mental institution. Members of Project Mayhem
are still working on Tyler Durden’s agenda.
Movie: The Narrator and Marla watch the credit
buildings come crashing down.
Interesting Fact:
The movie was voted #10 on Empire
Magazine’s “500 Greatest Movies of All
Time” list, made in September of 2008.
Summary:
From the information provided in this
section, please write at least two to three
different aspects/qualities/observations of
Generation X.
I am Jack’s Study Guide Quiz…
Narrator: People are always asking
me if I know Tyler Durden…
Question 1:
What is Ed Norton’s character’s name?
A. Robert Paulson
B. David Fincher
C. Angel Face
D. He is anonymous
Incorrect
I am Jack’s disappointed response…
Try again.
Correct!
Narrator: This is crazy…
Tyler Durden: People do it everyday,
they talk to themselves…
Click on the bar of soap to continue the quiz
Movie Trivia:
Ed Norton lost 17-20 pounds for his role as
the Narrator after playing the role of a
Neo-Nazi American in American History X.
Question 2:
Where do the Narrator and Tyler Durden
first meet in the novel and in the film?
A. Bus stop, beach
B. Bar, in an airplane
C. A beach, in an airplane
D. At a fight club, bar
Correct!
Tyler Durden: I make soap…
Click on the bar of soap to continue the quiz
Movie Trivia:
Author Chuck Palahniuk has stated that he
found the film to be an “improvement” on
his novel.
Question 3:
IN THE FILM, what happens to the Narrator
that reunites him with Tyler Durden after
they first meet?
A. His apartment blows up
B. He gets mugged, but still has TD’s phone
number
C. Marla reintroduces them at a party
D. They ride another plane together
Correct!
Narrator: Like so many others, I had become a slave
to the IKEA nesting instinct.
Click on the bar of soap to continue the quiz
Question 4:
What does the Fight Club eventually turn
into?
A. The Support Group
B. Project Mayhem
C. Tyler’s Army
D. The Armada
Correct!
Tyler Durden: Fight Club was the beginning,
now it’s moved out of the basement, it’s called
Project Mayhem.
Click on the bar of soap to continue the quiz
Movie Trivia:
The breath used in the cave scene is the
computer generated breath Leonardo
DiCaprio had in Titanic.
Question 5:
IN THE FILM, what is Project Mayhem’s
final goal?
A. Destroy the credit buildings
B. Destroy a museum
C. Unite the support groups of the city
D. Destroy Starbucks Headquarters
Correct!
Click on the bar of soap to continue the quiz
Movie Trivia:
David Fincher claimed in an interview that
there is a Starbucks coffee cup visible in
every shot of the movie.
Question 6:
The fights within the novel/movie DO NOT
serve a useful purpose.
A. True
B. False
Correct!
Narrator (after beating up another person): I
felt like destroying something beautiful.
Click on the bar of soap to continue the quiz
Question 7:
IN THE NOVEL, Marla…
A. Receives a lye burn
B. Is a part of the Narrator’s subconscious
C. Is asked by the Narrator to aid him in
getting rid of Tyler Durden
D. Recruits young men for Project Mayhem
E. Both A & C
Correct!
Click on the bar of soap to continue the quiz
Movie Trivia:
Originally, Courtney Love, Winona Ryder,
Reese Witherspoon, and Helen Bonham
Carter were considered for the role of
Marla. It was going to go to Witherspoon,
but she turned it down, saying the role was
“too dark.”
Question 8:
Who said: “When the fight was over,
nothing was solved, but nothing mattered.
We all felt saved.”?
A. The Narrator
B. Marla
C. Tyler Durden
D. Robert Paulson
Correct!
Click on the bar of soap to continue the quiz
Question 9:
After being beaten up on a camping trip,
how did the author develop the idea for
Fight Club?
A. His friends joked that he was in a fight
club
B. He became detached from society
C. He noticed none of his coworkers
responded to his injuries
D. It came to him in a nightmare about the
experience
Correct!
Click on the bar of soap to continue the quiz
Question 10:
What does the Narrator represent?
A. A victim of the times
B. Our inner desire to be someone else
C. The hollowed feeling materialism brings
D. The people of Generation X
E. All of the above
Correct!
Click on the bar of soap to continue the quiz
Question 11:
What age group from the 1990s would
represent Generation X?
A. Children ages 0-7
B. Ages 7-14
C. Ages 25-45
D. Ages 50-65
Correct!
Click on the bar of soap to continue the quiz
Interesting Fact:
According to about.com, members of Gen X
work to live rather than live to work.
Question 12:
According the novel/movie, what had a
pronounced effect on the men of Gen X
when they were growing up?
A. Introduction of home video game
consoles
B. President Reagan
C. Having to find jobs at an early age
D. Being raised by single moms
Correct!
Tyler Durden: We’re a generation of
men raised by women.
Click on the bar of soap to continue the quiz
Question 13:
Economic and financial prosperity marked
Gen X in the 90s.
A. True
B. False
Correct!
Click on the bar of soap to continue the quiz
Question 14:
The Narrator creates Tyler Durden to:
A. Help unleash his reckless nature
B. Reject the consumerism values of Gen X
C. Be a representation of how the Narrator
wants to be
D. All of the above
Correct!
Click on the bar of soap to continue the quiz
Movie Trivia:
Pitt and Norton both hated the Volkswagen Beetle,
and asked for it to be one of the cars they damage
during a movie scene. Norton explained that the
car had been a 60s symbol of freedom and youth,
but the youth of the 60s took that symbol and
unfairly repackaged it for the next generation.
Question 15:
According to Fight Club, one could say the
men of Gen X feel:
A. Hollow inside due to society’s drive to
own “stuff” but not seek personal
happiness
B. As if they are no longer real men, but
instead spectators
C. As if life has been fulfilled
D. Both A & B
Correct!
Click on the bar of soap to continue
The End!