Abstract

This chapter examines both the book and the film Fight Club, considering the main character’s quest for self-discovery in light of Sigmund Freud’s observations from Civilization and Its Discontents. The chapter considers whether or not it may be preferable for humans to remain repressed and in the grips of nihilism rather than unleashing the primal drives of eros and thanatos, which could potentially result in the disintegration of civilization. It is argued that Fight Club’s underlying message is ambiguous; at once revolutionary and conservative in appealing to our longing for individual liberation while also depicting the frightening consequences that follow from the emancipation of repressed human fury. The chapter closes with a consideration of how Plato’s account of sick societies from Republic mirrors the events in Fight Club.

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