Fight Club Chapter 5

Chapter Summary

Our narrator is en route, by plane, from Virginia to his condominium. Packing the bare minimum, he lands to find his bag detained at Dulles having been found vibrating by throwers. Arriving at his condo, the narrator is to hear that a massive explosion took place during his travels. Everything he owned is demolished, save the items in his suitcase (six sets of clothing, an alarm, razor, and toothbrush). The narrator then proceeds to call and meet with Tyler Durden for drinks and advice. There he is instructed, by Tyler, to hit him as hard as he can.

Terms

• Throwers/Rampers - baggage handlers
• Space Waitress/Air Mattress - flight attendants

Masculinity

"The American Dream and the concept of success play central roles in American depictions of male accomplishment and masculinity in contemporary American culture" (Tuss 93). Which is to say that what is made power, through culture, is masculine; when possessing what others see as their own end goal, you are holding in essence a phallic symbol. This leaves room for error, when the ideals of power diverge from physical and mental prowess, to compassion and sensitivity.
Review of two key quotes in this chapter share the thoughts of those viewed by Tuss on the topic of masculinty:

"And I wasn't the only slave to my nesting instinct. The people I know who used to sit in the bathroom with pornography, now they sit in the bathroom with their IKEA furniture catalogue." (Palahniuk 33).

Tuss says of Durden: "... Return to plague their inventors, the cultures and value systems that shape them." (95).

Works Cited

Tuss, Alex. "Masculine Identity and Success: A Critical Analysis of Patricia Highsmith's The Talented Mr. Ripley and Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club." The Journal of Men's Studies 12(2004): 93-102.

Palahniuk, Chuck. Fight Club. New York, New York: W.W.Norton & Company,Inc.,1996.