Fight Club Chapter 30

In this chapter, our narrator is about on top of a building about to kill "Tyler". He figures out that in order to get rid of Tyler that he has to get rid of the person that he wants to be. He has to understand that Tyler is there because he wants him to be there. If he can get over what he wants to do, then he can accompish the goal of letting go of Tyler. He is on top of the building with "Tyler's" gun in his mouth. Marla and others are trying to stop him from killing himself. He says that he has to kill himself because all of them are up there. So then he shoots himself in the mouth and wakes up in "heaven". Heaven, yeah right! He says that the he talks to God and that God asks him why did he cause so much trouble. He is really talking to the doctor. He says that the people in "heaven" brings his food to him. These are really the workers of Project Mayhem who are serving him. "Tyler" has started a new generation. He has started a monster. He has let his inner self take control and there is no turning back!!!!!!!!!

Summary

In this chapter the narrator is standing on top of the Parker-Morris building trying to figure out a way to get rid of Tyler. The narrator feels like the only way to rid himself of Tyler is to shoot him. “I had to pull the trigger” (Palahniuk 197). Marla and the members from the support groups are trying to tell the narrator not to pull the trigger, but he does not listen and he shoots himself. He does not die from the gun shot, but he thinks he is in heaven. “Everything in heaven is white on white” (Palahniuk 196). In reality we find out the narrator is in the hospital, for shooting himself. “The angels here are the Old Testaments kind, legions and lieutenants, a heavenly host who works in shift, day, swing” (Palahniuk 198). Marla and members from Fight Club writes to him in the hospital to let him know that he will be release soon and the Fight Club and Project Mayhem will still be going on. The narrator does not want to leave the hospital yet because the aids in the hospital will occasionally drop little hints to him that nothing has changed. “We look forward to getting you back” (Palahniuk 199).

Notes

Marla- The narrator and Marla met at The Remaining Men Together group. The narrator ends up falling in love with Marla.

Support Groups- People in these groups have some type of illness or cancer and they got to the group for support. The narrator goes to these groups to cry, so that he can go to sleep at night.

Heaven- Heaven represents the hospital for the narrator after he has shot himself

Angels- The workers in the hospital that takes care of him.

Mr. Durden- In reality this is the narrator name, but it is also the name of the narrator split personality.

Black eye- Bruises on the men from fighting in Fight Club

Swollen forehead- Bruises on the men from fighting in Fight Club.

Commentary

The narrator has come to realize that Tyler and he are the same people. Tyler occurs because he wants to be all the things Tyler is, but he can’t because he is not that type of person. The narrator finds a way to get rid of Tyler, but he finds out that getting rid of Tyler did not get rid of Fight Club or Project Mayhem. Project Mayhem is still going strong at the end of the novel and it does not look like they will ever be destroyed.

Study Guide Questions

1. What does the Valley of the Dolls symbolize in this chapter?

2. Where is the narrator at in this place?

3. Why does the narrator compare the hospital to heaven?

4. What do you think the purpose of Project Mayhem was for?

5. Why doesn’t the narrator want to leave the hospital?

Works Cited

Palahniuk,Chuck. Fight Club. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1866.