Capitalism And Consumerism In Fight Club By Chuck Palahniuk

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Every day factors influence how each person lives life in even the most subconscious of ways, driving mankind in to a culture that puts emphasize on ideals that are a rare natural occurrence in society. The novel, Fight Club, by Chuck Palahniuk delves deep in to how the human subconscious is affected by these factors, with emphasize on a banal corporate setting. Fight Club gives the reader insight on how capitalism and mass consumerism shape the way people think and how cues created by marketing dictate how civilization participates in it. By creating a mass produced culture, consumerism drives people to buy in to what is marketed as “In” and can leave an absence of happiness by not possessing such items. Capitalism, and consumerism by proxy, will tend to create a divide in human emotion by allowing society to look past what is right and switch the focus on profiting off of one another. The detrimental effects of a capitalistic and consumer driven lifestyle are commented on in Fight Club by showing us the psyche of a character driven mad by his unwilled acceptance of his daily life. Driven to the submissive mentality of a corporate mindset, The Narrator feels as if life is meaningless. Instead of fighting for something worthwhile, he instead works in a job that profits off of the loss of others and participates in daily shopping rituals that seek to fix the contempt he has for that lifestyle. For this reason of bringing light to the issue, while also inspiring people to think about how a capitalistic lifestyle affects the world around them, Fight Club should be considered for literary study.
By portraying an unrealistic ideal of cultural normality, marketing creates a divide between how the average person perceives society and ho...

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...porate drone, he takes on a rebellious alter ego that is willing to do the dirty work The Narrator has so readily avoided. The piece of mind that is to be taken away from this novel is to seek happiness from within and that simply buying material possessions to fill the void that depression has created will simply continue to breed discontent. Rather than use violence to seek out change, make a difference in the lives of others through positivity. Take pride in individuality, as it sets a person apart from the mindless drones stuck corporate or consumerist mindset. Do not ever lose sight of personal goals and unique freedoms that can make up how an individual is. In the end, if a sense of self is lost, a person can be driven to the most absurd of extremes and can ultimately lead in to an unstable state that may just end up as disillusioned as The Narrator himself.

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