Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
A Thesis
KHAERUL IKHSAN
F21109380
salam,
whoever him the artist of all this life and universe, who causes all the things I’ve
ever—and even haven’t—done in this ephemeral life. The Creator, who from him
comes all the power, health, knowledge, and all potential owned by the writer.
The Everything who from him shall all the help, guidance, support, and care,
whether from family, teachers, friends, or anyone else, who helped the completion
to both parents, who in whatever easy or difficult the situations are, always
patiently be my side. Nurmi Jafar, a mother who until whenever it is, will always
treated her one and only son like a child. Also Arifuddin Pasa, a father figure who
always accompanying his son walking the path towards maturity, even though not
infrequently with satisfied-laugh. Thank you profusely for what you provide all
this time.
my advisor, Dra. Herawaty, M.Hum, M.A, Ph.D and Drs. Abidin Pammu,
MA, who has always been patiently waiting, correcting, and guiding me in
completing this thesis. Also to Prof. Drs. H. Burhanuddin Arafat, Hum, Ph.D.
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Husain, M. Hum., Dra. Nasmilah, M.Hum, Ph.D., and Mr. Abbas, S.S.,
M.Hum., as the Head Board of English Department, for their guidance during my
University, especially for Kak Alwy Rachman, Pak. Assagaf, and Kak Iwan
Sumantri, as a teacher and all at once as an egalitarian interlocutor, and also for
Furthermore, and certainly not the last, gratitude is also expressed to all of
member of PERISAI FS-UH, Kosaster FS-UH, and all great friends in process
cannot mention one by one on this occasion. Thank you. You're all awesome!
Humbly, I realize and believe that this work is still far from perfect.
Therefore, all constructive criticism, suggestions, and corrections are things that
wanted or not should be accepted. Lastly, I hope that this thesis can give, even just
a little, beneficial to anyone in the future who take time even just for a while to
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ABSTRAK
Novel Fight Club karya Chuck Palahniuk, menunjukan relasi yang kuat dengan
pandangan dunia existentialisme. Pertama-tama, hal ini terlihat dari struktur yang
terdapat di dalam karya ini. Sesuai dengan yang disyaratkan Goldmann, struktur karya
direkonseptualisasi ke dalam bentuk struktur ruang dan aspek alur. Struktur ruang yang
terbangun di dalam karya sastra menunjukkan equivalensi dalam menunjukkan berbagai
tingkatan situasi dan kondisi kehidupan sang pengarang. Sementara aspek alurnya,
dengan sendiri di bangun oleh perjalanan eksistensial yang di lakukan oleh sang
problematic hero melintasi berbagai tingkatan kondisi kehidupannya.
vii
ABSTRACT
Thus, the overall variable in genetic structuralism research, namely, the structure
of the work, the world view, the collective subject, and the social structure, shows the
coherence at maximum extent, appropriate to the outcomes intended by genetic
structuralism theory. Therefore, Fight Club novel can be regarded as one of the ‘great
literary work’ of the late twentieth century.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Approval .................................................................................................................................. ii
Acknowledgement ................................................................................................................. vi
Abstract .................................................................................................................................viii
Chapter I Introduction
1.1 Background..................................................................................................... 1
ix
Chapter II Literature Review
2.2.1.1 Structuralism............................................................................ 19
2.2.1.2 Marxism................................................................................... 22
Collective Subject..................................................................... 28
Social Structure......................................................................... 34
Comprehension-Explanation .................................................... 34
x
2.4.1 Biography ............................................................................................ 49
2.4.2 Works................................................................................................... 56
Chapter IV Analysis.................................................................................................... 63
xi
Bibliography.............................................................................................................. 124
xii
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
One of the main reason in deciding Fight Club as an object of this research is
the lasting impression that was present during the first reading of this novel. There
are so many essential expressions that imply messages which represent certain
ideology. Messages that cannot be easily be ignored simply because, more or less, it
is considered quite disturbing the writer’s previous structures of beliefs that have
been ungainly established in mind. For example, some fragment of sentences that
were found in the initial paragraph of this work “[…]the first step to eternal life is
you have to die” (Palahniuk, 2010: 1). In short, this novel has immediately slapped
oration sentences posed by one of the characters in this work at the middle part of
this novel, "You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake. You are the same
decaying organic matter as everyone else, and we are all part of the same compost
pile (Palahniuk, 2010: 166)." By such initial reading, the writer concludes that this
novel is one of contemporary novels full of messages from certain ideological and
philosophical notion.
The anxiety toward this work extremely increased when the writer tried to put
a glimpse on the social conditions in the United States during the time this work was
written. As a result, there was a kind of similarity between the contexts of American
1
society with the depiction of the conditions of the society in this novel. Specifically,
white-collar worker who works at a company, alienated from his environment, and
Various scientific papers which discussed about the controversy of Fight Club
novel, which still tends to be partial, both on the substance and the social context,
also become the reason why the more in-depth research, about some of the things
that have been mentioned earlier, is necessary. And the most appropriate one—
can only be used to examine a ‘great literary works’. The literary works contained
expressions of some holistic and complex vision or ‘world view’. In its relation to
this study, the writer assumed—and all at once will be provenin this research—that
this contemporary novel is a ‘great literary work’ that expresses certain world view at
the holistic extent. This assumption later, is reinforced by the emergence of various
conditions including the condition and situation of modern society. This, according
to the writer, is not only relevant with American society, but also to the society in the
Third World Countries such as Indonesia, which are highly vulnerable to getting
2
contaminated by consumer culture created by the economic system of capitalism.
Thus, a valid research on what is the substance of this novel, seems important to be
In addition to the reasons described above, the writer also feels the necessity to
commit a study that tried to apply the proper use of genetic structuralism at the whole
From the elucidation of the background of the study above, the writer tries to
identify some of the main research problems aforementioned. Among them are listed
below:
1. The imaginary universe (the characters, the objects, and the relations) that
exist in Fight Club novel, through a glance reading, seems filled with some
relationship with the social reality in the United States, particularly those
To refine the analysis of this study, the writer intended to limit the issues that
will be examined. This study will focus on three main variables, namely the structure
3
of the work, a world view that has been expressed, and the social genesis of the
work. Overall, this study will show the coherence between the three main variables
After describing the problems identified in the Fight Club novel, along with the
scope of the problem, then the following has been compiled several questions that
1. How is the structure of the Fight Club novel authored by Chuck Palahniuk?
3. What kind of social structure lied behind the creation of this work, and
In harmony with the questions that have been formulated, the study aims to
1. To see how the imaginary universe shaped the structure of this novel.
3. To uncover the social genesis of Fight Club novel which includes the
Another purpose of this study is to try to use the genetic structuralism theory at
the whole and comprehensive extent, amid the scarcity of methodological reference
4
at the library of Faculty of Cultural Sciences Hasanuddin University. And equally
interpreting this novel. Because, however, literary works is a living entity which
work on the cognitive and affective level of human being. So that, more or less, the
will also be absorbed and then affecting beliefs and awareness of the individuals who
have read this work. Finally and inevitably, this research is certainly also dedicated
Whether it gives a new criticism for the practice of a theory in studying literary
works, or confirm the validity of existing theory in its application to the study of
literary works. While in the smaller scope, the results of this study are expected to be
Practically, this study is expected to give an alternative critical view for the
readers in interpreting the works that have been studied. Particularly, regarding
various major themes contained in this novel. By reveals the aesthetic value
(structure) and reveal the meaning of this work is based on the principles of genetic
5
1.7 Sequences of The Chapter
the previous study, the writer shows some previous researches that address both
theoretical basis. In the theoretical background, the writer gives an explanation about
genetic structuralism theory as the main theory underlying this study. This section,
then, ends by discussing the authorship of Chuck Palahniuk which contains a short
Chapter III reveals about the methodology which used by the author in
Chapter IV raises the explanation regarding the analysis of Fight Club novel by
using the principles of genetic structuralism theory. This chapter describes in high
detail the variables that used to be analyzed when conducting a research with genetic
structuralism theory, that is, the structure of the Fight Club novel, the world view,
and the social genesis which includes the social structure of American society, and
analysis which includes an explanation of the coherence between all the variables
6
that has become the main concern of genetic structuralism theory. In addition, the
writer also includes a bit of suggestion based on the inventory of this research that
7
CHAPTER II
LITERATURE REVIEW
Fight Club novel’s launching in early 90's made a lot of writers, critics, and
public at large, willing or not, begin to look over this new comer author. Through
this extremely controversial work of him, Chuck Palahniuk made new taste to the
literary world in the United States. By raising some major themes such as, de-
humiliation and consumerism, the novel, in a short time, flooding to book stores in
Washington DC. So that, two decades since it was first launched, is a very enough
time to make scholars become fascinated in placing this novel as an object of a study
Based on such facts, before doing this study, the writer first make a
comprehensive literature review to look back into any aspects that have been
researched in this novel. And then be used as a reference to determine the aspects
To facilitate understanding of the various studies that has been ever done, first,
the writer conducted a categorized searching of literature review. The first category
is a various studies that put the Fight Club novel as an 'object of research'. It is,
conducted to review any aspects that has been studied in it, and what kind of
approaches or theoretical framework that has been used in analyzing it. The second
category, is various studies using genetic structuralism theory as its surgical tool. It is
8
literary research. Besides that, it is also used as a reference to see sorts of results
In the first stage, the writer conducted library research in the scope of Faculty
of Letters, Hasanuddin University. And the result, the writer did not find any thesis
that puts Fight Club novel by Chuck Palahniuk as an object of study. Furthermore,
the writer conducted a library research in a wider scale, that is, from various
university in the state. This searching is, of course, facilitated by internet only. In
addition, the writer also tries to communicate with students in other universities to
The first study found was conducted by Atuk Nuroya Tiwan, student of
English Language and Literature at Semarang State University. The first thing that
will be disclosed from this thesis is the confusion between the title and the abstract.
The study was entitled "Multiple Personality Disorder and Insomnia as The
Reflection of Modern Life Problem as Seen in Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club Movie".
Yet, what was depicted in the abstract is that the object of the research is Fight Club
"novel". It is presented at first since there is a significant difference between the two
Apart from the confusion that has been presented, the writer finds this research
only focused on the psychological aspects of the work. Atuk formulates three
research questions, which all of them were still included in the realm of what is
purely psychological. The first is the characteristics of the character, in terms of the
characterization theory in psychology. The second one is, life pressure experienced
9
by the main character (Narrator) in Palahniuk’s work. The third is the effect of the
Something amiss in this research, according to the writer, is Atuk did not use
any theoretical concept in the contexts of literary sciences. Atuk only mentioned the
sources he used, which all of them is purely psychological, instead of, for example,
literature at the Malang State University. His research was entitled, "Marxism
the title, this study focused on the theme of 'alienation' experienced by the Narrator
in his imaginary universe. In this study, Denny using Karl Marx’s and Herbert
Marcuse’s theoretical frame work about alienation to dissect Fight Club novel. In the
study abstract, Denny did not mention the frame work of literary theory that is used
At the end, Denny concluded that capitalism is an absolute thing that causes the
Narrator of Fight Club experienced a total alienation in his imaginary universe. And
until the end of the story, the Narrator was notable to get out from such alienated
For the second category, the references on the practical application of genetic
structuralism theory, the writer finds a literary review in the scope of the Faculty of
Letters Hasanuddin University and various campuses in the states. The first research
10
Nasrullah analyzed an American Author’s work, John Grisham, entitled The
Street Lawyer. His research has titled as “Poor People Struggle In Grisham's 'The
Street Lawyer'." In his research, Nasrullah focusing his study only on “the struggle of
poor people and homeless to claim their rights and how its relationship between
research reached the conclusion remarked that the structure of The Street lawyer
novel shows a coherence with the social structure extended along the years where
this work were in creating process. Just like what Nasrullah remarked in his research
conclusion, “(…) many kinds of poor people struggle is found in the novel. John
Grisham obviously wanted to show the contrasts of the two world between the rich
From this research report, the writer found a little mistake in the application of
the concept of the structure of literary works (novels). Nasrullah, elaborate the
structure of The Street Lawyer novel using the theoretical concept expressed by
Abrams and Robert Stanton regarding the structure of the literary works, Which
divide the intrinsic aspect of the novel in partial explanation, such as characters,
plots, conflicts, etc. Whereas Goldmann, carries a different concept in the whole
his concept about the structure of the novel, Goldmann elucidates that description
about the structure of the novel consist of the coherence between the universe of
about the structure of the novel focus on the relations between the characters, and the
relation between the characters and objects around them, in a certain semantic field.
11
For more complete reference in terms of the application of genetic
structuralism, the writer adds some more previous study to serve as a methodological
Indonesian literature in Balai Pustaka tradition 1920-1942 that were later published
introductory chapter, the book explained the background of the study, identification
explanation of the theoretical basis in his book, Faruk explained briefly, solidly and
conveyed here is, in the book, Faruk give special attention to some of the criticisms
Lucien Goldmann. The criticism came from Laurenson and Swingwood, stated that
Goldmann miss the notion that the birth of literary works (novels) does not always
come from socio-ideological genesis, but also there is a possibility that the
between the individual and the literary tradition aforementioned not only about how
these individuals inherit the existing tradition, but also how an individual responds it.
Whether it absorb, develop, modify, or reject the existing tradition. The latter
12
that the literature is not only concerned about the socio-ideological genesis, but also
first is, the semiotic convention in the literary works, as has been criticized by
the tradition that has been mentioned before. In his dissertation Faruk remarked that
The second is the contribution of semiotics theory for the formulation of the
concept of structure of the literary works (novels). From here, the concept of the
idea of binary opposition. This concept comes from the semiotic notion carried by
Lotman and Uspensky. Although Goldmann had never mentioned Lotman’s name,
the concept of such binary opposition have often been used by him, particularly those
nothing but a report on the results of his research on tragic the world view in the
works of Racine. In the binary opposition concepts, the conventional terms such as
Besides two ideas explained above, according to Faruk, there is one more
structuralism theory. Namely, the idea of the relationship between text and context,
13
or more precisely, the relationship between the 'world views' (as the structuration
power toward the text) with the text (as the structure with relative autonomy). Faruk
refers to semiotic theory carried by Umberto Eco to explain the production process of
sign. Faruk said that Eco, first, put the sign as a material substance. The production
formed) with its possible substance, the correlate process of these signs with factual
events, objects, and the conditon of the world surrounding it. Faruk said that the
offer some kind of potential meaning toward the existing signs. It means that there
elements of literary works. Which mean, an element which allows the gap between
the text and literary conventions, or the ‘world view’ which build the structure.
some deconstruction process of a text by itself. From here Faruk then added
structuralism theory. But for the proper necessity of this study, the theoretical
Such was the theoretical basis used by Faruk to conduct research on the history
in this introductory chapter then continued with a presentation about the sequences of
14
In the next chapter (Chapter II) Faruk begin his presentation by describing that
tradition. Not so clear where these hypotheses are derived. Yet, in the next section,
Faruk reveals that the hypothesis is continuation from sources that have long been
Further discussion, still in the same chapter, Faruk adds some more other old
sources. Thus, in the afterwards discussions, the romanticism world view, which has
previously described, used as a global semantic models—in the sense that covers all
elements of the work under studied—to explain the other variables in genetic
structuralism theory. In this chapter, Faruk explain, almost in all section, mostly
In the next chapter, Faruk explains about the infiltration of romanticism in the
literary tradition in Indonesia and how it’s spreading in various literary traditions
existed in Indonesia. After that, as has been mentioned earlier that the world view
became a global semantics model, then comes the explanation about the structure of
the novels in BalaiPustaka tradition (in Chapter IV) and social genesis of the novels
in BalaiPustaka tradition (chapter V). Explanation about the social genesis also
includes the ideological circumstances of Indonesia at that time, and the social group
15
or ‘collective subject’ represented by the author, and social structures of the colonial
period. The chapter is also equipped with an explanation about literary circumstances
in Indonesia.
University who studied Asmaraloka novel by Danarto. Some important things that
discusses about 'Danarto and his authorship'. In this chapter Sitepu outlines, with
Furthermore, in contrast to what was done by Faruk, Sitepu started the research
to the writer, can be understood because, in contrast with the object that has been
researched by Faruk, there is not many study yet which analyzed Danarto’s world
view as an author. It can also be justified, because since the beginning Sitepu has
Sitepu then continues the discussion by outlining the social life of the author
birth of the novel. In the next section, then presented Danarto’s World View as the
author, based on various data that has been recovered from the discussion about the
16
In the thesis, there are actually an expanding of genetic structuralism theory
toward concept of linguistic theory, but related to the field of this study, the writer
sees that it is irrelevant and need not be described at length in this discussion.
At last, to add more reference, the writer also reviewed various articles, papers,
journals, or any writings on the websites, to enrich the literature review in this study.
All of them will be presented on the bibliography pages at the end of this research
report.
By all literature review that has been committed, the writer concludes that, all
researches on Fight Club novel ever done are still fragmentary. None of these study
that examine Fight Club novel as a whole by describing the coherence between all
the scope of Faculty of Letters, Hasanuddin University, the writer have not found any
thesis that used genetic strkturalisme theory appropriately, or at least, did not deviate
from what has been formulated by Goldmann. Therefore, in this study, the authors
will try to apply genetic structuralism theory at the whole and comprehensive extent,
In this section the writer will explain the theoretical basis that will be used to
analyze Fight Club novel by Chuck Palahniuk. The basis theory in this study, as
structuralism theory as a whole. Therefore, all the variables contained in the overall
17
conception of genetic structuralism theory will be presented here. More details about
important to first understand the core concepts of the recent theories, which
that literary works is a structure (Faruk, 2012: 56). Thus, it can be said that
Goldmann also believes the ideas that everything in this universe has a
from another larger structure in which a structure becomes part of it. For
series of structures.
humanity facts that occurred on this earth will never be understood if separated
from their social context (Goldmann, 1980: 35). However, if humanity facts
significant variables has a dialectical relationship patterns that forms the spiral
18
From the previous introductory description, the following will be
2.2.1.1 Structuralism
tradition which assumes that everything that exists in this world is essentially
anthropology. But, on the other hand, Levi Strauss’ ideas also cannot be
are a view terms which still belong to one meaning family that is almost the
same, but basically has a different concept of meaning. While in the utilizing of
many scholars, these terms often put in the use of less precise. The terms meant
19
by the writer, among others; Structure, Structuration, Structural, structuralism,
and structuralists.
named or refer to certain entity exist within a particular reality. Or it can also
serve to establish the reality in the conceptual level, both in the empirical and
be said possesed a structure if it, with various parts in it, forming a unified
whole, not just a mere accumulation of parts contained in it. Relations between
parts inside the structure is not quantitative, but qualitative in nature. It means,
if even one part is removed, the unity of the structure is not only reduced, but
creation process of the structure itself. Attention to the creation process of the
ideas focuses its attention on any efforts to reveal the inner structure of a reality
that seems chaotic and irregular and scientifically varied. By using any method
as objective as possible, follows the formula or the rules that have been
established, as well as keeping the distance between the observed and the
20
the concept contained structuralism, or use it as a foothold for any theories
they created. The last is structural. By its lexical meaning, this word is an
adjective, but still contained the meaning from its origin word that is, structure.
structuralism.
everything that can be said as a structure, have the ability to transform and
changes or adaptations without losing the integrity of itself, the main function
structuralism considers that every things in this world build its own world, its
from outside of itself; considers that every things exist are an autonomy power
who capable to build, develop, and maintain itself in its own way. In other
autonomous.
21
Structuralism in literary sciences believe that literary texts can be understood
and explained based on the evidence appeared in the literary text itself.
2.2.1.2 Marxism
theory. As a field of science that puts the society as its main object, there is
precisely Marxism take a position. Let us assumed that the social sciences,
philosophical tradition.
name—is firmly opposed to another sociologist who rooted his thoughts on the
idealism philosophical tradition, which tend to put science at the top of 'ivory
tower', far from giving benefits directly to the society. Marx argues that science
him, the main and the first struggle of mankind is a struggle to fulfill their
material needs. This struggle then bring people to treat nature as a source of
needs fulfillment. To make nature as something that can fulfill his needs,
people are required to commit the transformation toward the nature. Those
nature, called ‘productive activities’. All the tools needed for those efforts
22
efforts occurring called ‘production area’. While the totality of all these things
along with the social relations that built up in it, called the ‘conditions of
has been created are no less than a relationship between two fundamental social
groups existing in society, which is then called as ‘social classes’. Social class
is a social grouping and at the same time the division of labor which is based
bourgeoisie and the working class who do not have means of production,
which is then called as proletarian. In addition, Marxism also see that there are
always two significant structures that made up the order of the society. The
within the society, such as family, education, laws, politics and even religion,
art and so forth. In simple terms it can be said that basic-structure regarded to
author as an individual, but a subject that cannot be separated from his social
class. As a theory included within the scope of social theory, Marxism puts
literature equal with another supra-structure existed in the society, as has been
mentioned previously.
23
Karl Marx’s Theory of Value1
the theory of value (an explanation of the value is assumed persistent with the
another part of this study, an explanation of the theory of value has been
expressed as a starting point to explain part in analysis chapter, later, that will
it, there are two basic elements contained within each commodity. It means that
commodity that has been manufactured. The first is the ‘use-value’, the utility
For example, water contains use-value because the water can be used to relieve
thirst, or can also be used for bathing and washing clothes. As another
example, a comb has a use-value because it is useful to trim the hair more
easily, and so on. So the use-value of each object varies based on the physical
commodity when interchanged with other objects. For example, a bag of rice
1
Summarized from internet essay entitled “Bentuk Nilai (Value form atau form of Value)”.
24
two commodities lays the value as a factors of mediation. That is, such a sack
of rice worth umpteen (x), then, based on the previous example, five packs of
mentioned, there are other variables that also must be considered. Among
others, the amount of working time, number of workers, and the amount of
basis material needed. These variables, on this occasion will not be broke down
any further. The explanation of the theory of value for the purposes of this
with more detail and basic scientific concepts underpinned the overall genetic
which is still in line with the two grounded theory which its validity was still
believed by Goldmann.
of total coherence, which can be simplified into one form of the hypothesis
25
argued that the literary work is a humanity fact which has a specific structure
and contains certain world view of a particular social class which the formation
influenced by social structure where this social class is alive (Faruk, 2012a:
166).
outlined some of the main concepts that should be outlined more clearly. These
concepts are, , the humanity facts, the structure of literary works, world view,
social classes, and social structures. Goldmann has affirmed these concepts in
elucidate the description of the basic concepts mentioned above referred to the
not much different from other humanity facts that was created by
humans, Faruk (2012: 57) then divide it into two category, namely,
26
the individual facts and social facts. The individual facts are the
trans-individual subject.
structuration conflicted each other but all at once filling each other.
surrounding them.
27
activity as the subject. Furthermore, in this section, the discussion
that will become the main concern is regarding to the subject of the
humanity facts.
who stand alone, but a unity, a collectivity. Thus the social fact is
universe and groups of human lived within it. (Faruk, 2012: 63)
is still unclear. Because, the collective subject could also means the
review, such social classes has been proven that they have an
mankind.
28
2.2.1.3.3 World View
the society, since both are the result of human activity (Faruk,
between these two variables (the structure of literary works and the
29
then, generates and cultivate a certain world view. World view
theory not only includes a set of ideas about human life, but also
condition that was so complex and broad in scope, the world view
30
all activities, both social activity, verbal, or physical, of certain
the structure of literary works that was thematic. What is its main
31
where relations between characters, and the characters with the
2012: 71-76).
32
2.2.1.3.5 Social Structure
between classes; one social class controls the other. The unity of
theory.
33
the intellectual tradition long before Goldmann generation.
confirmed the view that there was never any such thing as a valid
up the whole. From this analogy now can be understood that the
34
structural homology relations with world view expressed in it.
dialectic relations has not led to the position of of the literary works
a larger whole.
background, the writer will delivered a series of theory that will going to be used
here. By choosing Fight Club novel as the research object, then, at the same time, the
novel has been regarded as something that has a structure. As genetic structuralism
delivered, the structure of a literary work has a genesis relations with the world view
35
expressed by the author. The world view itself, established due to the efforts of a
particular social group to create a balance with the conditions or situations where the
social groups are located. Such hypothetical description, will be proven concretely in
In addition to the explanation above, Goldmann has also been pointed out that
not all of the novel can be studied by using genetic structuralism theory. Those which
can be studied using this theory is only a ‘great literary works’, not a ‘halfway’ or
mediocre one. While what is meant to be a ‘great literary work’ is a literary work that
express a world view in a totality and at the maximum coherence extent (Faruk,
2012b: 32).
expression regarding to human situation at a particular space and time, the work was
able to move from any huge contradictions of mankind caused by man's relationship
with each other and with the universe. That is how the great literary work can
transcend space and time, as well as its socio-historical limits (Faruk, 2012b: 33).
In the context of this study, the writer assumes that Fight Club novel authored
by Chuck Palahniuk is a literary work that is sufficient to meet the definition asserted
by Swingewood. Although, the certainty of these assumptions can only be seen after
(which is not presented here), in this study, the writer still referred to pure concept of
genetic structuralism theory initiated and has ever been applied by Goldmann. By not
36
implementing improvements based on criticism aforementioned, the writer do not
intend to neglect such significance. In this study, the application of pure genetic
2.3 Existentialism
Existentialism, is one of the major streams of philosophy that ever colored the
criticism toward classic philosophical tradition carried by Socrates and Plato who
believed that there is something in this universe called a 'universal essence' or 'nature'
which applies universally to everything exists. Existentialism denied any such thing.
"Existence precedes essence" (Sartre, 2007: 20). There is no such thing called
‘essence’, or an absolute nature about things exist in this universe before those things
firstly exist. This notion, put the human / individual existential situation as its starting
earth. An individual is not 'something' until he makes himself into 'something'. "Man
simply is" (Kaufman, 1956: 291). There is no such things called destiny. Nor is a god
who determines the destiny of an individual. Sartre explains briefly, "... man first
exists: he materializes in the world, encounters himself, and only afterward defines
values, norms, or morals surrounding him. More radical Sartre said "... man is
Condemned to be free (Sartre, 2007: 29)." Condemned, because the man does not
37
create his own freedom, yet nonetheless free. Regarding that freedom, Webber in his
settled, they can change their goals and values at any time, and can do so without any
motivation based in their other goals and values ... "(Webber, 2013: 4).
regarding the concept of freedom and existence. Besides the themes that has been
mentioned, there are still some other major themes in the branch of existential
philosophy. Among them is the concept of bad faith, authenticity, existential crisis,
There is a very basic principle that distinguishes existentialism into two parts,
above, is a short snippet that often been discussed by the atheistic existentialism
thinkers, existentialist thinkers of the twentieth century. There are some names that
should not be missed when talked about atheistic existentialism. They are Jean Paul
Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Karl Jasper, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, and Albert Camus.
Besides these names, there are many other names—in journals or other scientific
However, for the purposes of this study, the discussion about existentialism only be
centered on two existentialist thinkers of the twentieth century, namely Sartre and
On the other hand, long before entering the era of Sartre and Camus, there are
38
labeled as existentialist thinkers. Starting from Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Franz Kafka,
Soren Kierkegaard, Martin Heidegger and others. Except of Friedrich Nietzsche, who
for Sartre, considered as a pioneer of atheistic existentialism. Again, for the scale of
this study, only Kierkegaard, Nietzsche and Heidegger that would be be elaborated
any further. The three thinkers, according to the writer, was sufficiently enough to
provide an overview toward the ideas co-founded in the past, that became the pioneer
of the birth of existentialism philosophy which become more complete in the hands
of Jean-Paul Sartre.
During the 19th century, one of the most influential names in addressing the
works which most of them discussed about human existence. The most important
philosophical work he ever presented is his theory about ‘the process of being an
individual’. Furthermore, Kierkegaard named this concept as the 'stage on life's way'
aesthetic stage, ethical stage, then the religious stage. He stressed his statement on
the word 'stage' because he believes that people can live in one or two stage, then
jump to a higher stage. But there are also people who are at the same stage
At the aesthetic stage, man are mostly secular. Man who live at this stage,
capturing every opportunity just to enjoy it. The highest happiness for them are
obtained from the beauty. Everything that boring is bad. People who live at this
39
stage, their life are entirely exist in the sensory world and ruled by lust and his own
feelings. Someone who lives in the aesthetic stage easily to feel weary, or empty.
positive. He called this state as 'existential situation'. In this situation, the individual
has just opened the possibility to make a leap to a higher stage of life. But, it was not
merely certain. It was returned to the choices and decisions of an individual, whether
The next stage, the ethics stage, is the stage in which man has achieved stability
in acting based on what they choose and decide. Man has come to the depths where
he has been aware of what the purpose and consequences of the actions he chooses.
In this stage, the important thing is not about how right or wrong our opinions are,
but our decision in having a certain opinion whether it be right or wrong according to
the values accepted in a certain social groups. At this stage, the individual faced a
risk of serious and boring life that potentially directed an individual to a condition in
which he had to make a choice (Flynn, 2006: 31). Many people decide to get back on
stage.
People who are on the religious stage, has entered a stage in which their lives
have been led by 'faith'. They had left the aesthetic pleasure or mind commands.
They chose to turn himself in God's arms. Because, according to Kierkegaard, that is
the only way led to forgiveness. However, it should be clarified that any concept of
40
The above descriptions are just a few descriptions regarding various
Elsewhere in the world, there is also a great thinker whose name is often
the late 19th century, known by his concept of 'Übermensch', in English often
an individual who have been able to bring into reality all of his possibilities
contained within his self. To attain that, therefore, man must liberating himself from
any moral attributions or any absolute truth that reined individual freedom during his
‘process of becoming’. This concept now deliver this German philosopher to come to
the conclusion that 'God is dead', the most famous dictum he conveyed in his
masterpiece, Thus Spake Zarathustra. The main point, is that Nietzsche was one of
the thinkers of the 19th century that put man back in his capacity as a subject for her
own life.
Still in the same land, Germany, also known a philosopher who is considered as
a pioneer who was very close to existential notion of the twentieth century, He is
his philosophy regarding the concept of 'being', which covered much broader scope
than the main concern of existential philosophy itself. Heidegger distinguishes the
41
term 'being' in its using for man and 'being' for everything outside of man. For
Heidegger, man is an entity who have an ability to realize and reflect his existence.
That is why he named 'being' for human with the term ‘Das sein’ in German. In other
words, man is something that is 'being', but all at once capable of questioning as well
as answering questions about the 'being' itself. While other entities outside of man is,
the entity that cannot understand its existence, does not have the awareness that he is
'exist'. This concept of existence is called by Heidegger with the term ‘Das man’. His
great work widely known in the intellectual world is Being and Nothingness.
Throughout his life, “Heidegger was critical of those who distracted our attention
and existence, cause and effect, subject and object, and theories of human nature”
One of most factors that makes Heidegger associated with the existential
presented in a public lecture in 1946. Heidegger criticizes Sartre that still defines the
human being as 'the animal that thinks' or 'animal endowed with language skills'. For
Heidegger, Sartre failed to escape from the old tradition of metaphysical philosophy.
In the eyes of his adherents, Heidegger was not regarded as one of the
concern in an attempt to find the meaning of 'Being', especially with regard to human
42
Entering the twentieth century, the manifesto of existentialism which is
considered as the most intact one, delivered by Jean Paul Sartre, through essay
short, this essay is also intended as a defense of attacks came from the Communists
and the Christian. This essay answering the question "what, then, is 'Existentialism'?"
(Sartre, 1946: 20). And to answer that question, further description presented is an
explanation about the slogan "existence comes before essence." Sartre, representing
‘atheistic existentialism’, explaining that the man is the owner and the determinant of
the essence itself. Man was 'thrown' into the earth, empty and without essence. After
he was at first ‘exist’, then he have an ability to take a journey to form his essence.
As described in his essay "first man exists: he materializes in the world, encounters
himself, and only afterward defines himself" (Sartre, 1946: 22). What is understood
as the essence here, are all formulations and universal qualities that is exist in human
or individual. As for Sartre, none of the individuals who have the same essence or
nature, or in other words, universal. "Man is nothing other than what he makes of
Humans are the only entities who moves his existence toward a future, and
consciously doing it. And in doing so, humans have a complete freedom to choose
what kind of individuals he wanted to be. The only thing that limits the freedom of
comes the 'responsibility'. The concept of freedom and responsibility are parts of the
43
With freedom and responsibility surrounding him, an individual will directed to
anxious, lonely, and began to question, any available choices and his responsibility as
other existentialist, Albert Camus, in his essay entitled 'Myth of Sisyphus' called this
situation as 'weariness'. Although look like so bleak, this stage is important for an
individual, because this stage is part of what is called "the process of awakening".
Authenticity “means the acceptance of our place in the cosmos, of the fact that we
are each alone, without excuse or reason for being, abandoned to choose our values
without reference to anything that could justify them in the eyes of the universe.
Authenticity means accepting our burden of radical freedom, the fact that values are
not, as Sartre says, inscribed in an ‘intelligible heaven’, and that therefore we must
create them ourselves” (Levy, 2002: 66). However, in his efforts to attain
individual “realizes herself as not being her own body […]contemplates it as though
from above as a passive object to which events can happen but which can neither
provoke them nor avoid them because all its possibilities are outside of it” (Sartre,
1956: 56). At this stage, an individual 'feels' like he has found an authentic life, but
in reality, he was trapped in the so-called 'bad faith'. There are various mediums
44
For example, violence, pretense, creative activity and so forth. But at certain level,
'weariness' will return and harassing individuals, and lead him again to questioned
whether he has become an authentic individual, who has found the meaning of his
existence.
Nihilism is a condition in which an individual finds that he was unable to find the
meaning of his existence on the earth. The situations when individuals find that life is
absurd, void, empty, meaningless, and only run mechanically in a circular pattern
that continuously repeated. This situation that makes an individual is faced a risk of
suicide or recovery. Suicide, as if life has no meaning, then what more reason to live,
and the recovery, when an individual has been able to achieve what is called
and the way he looked at things outside of him. Existentialism also have a concept
regarding to how people should live their life, which called as 'existential journey'.
Therefore, just like when Goldman concluded that tragicvision is the world view
45
expressed in works authored by Racine and Pascal, also when Faruk concluded that
expressed by Fight Club novel, and all at once will become a global semantic system
Chuck Palahniuk calls his writing style as ‘transgressive fiction’, which more
or less can be interpreted as a work of fiction that violate the law or norms generally
believed. Palahniuk often raised themes about people who are marginalized in social
life, and are often committed acts of self-destruction or other aggressive things. He
achieve something noble. By doing so, he intends to 'slap' any person who is so tight
in trusting the norms or values which considered 'good', while in the acts they’re
philosophical promptings that have been established and believed since long time
ago, either directly by the Narrator to the reader, or expressed through dialogues
occurred between the existing characters in the story. Stories created by him offer
are usually packed into themes such as death, moral, childhood, parenting, sexuality
and deity.
Tom Spanbauer, who advised Palahniuk's authorial career from 1991 to 1996. Beside
46
this name, there are also other writers such as Amy Hempel, Mark Richard, Denis
Johnson, Thom Jones, Bret Easton Ellis, and also philosophers like Michel Foucault,
and Albert Camus. His minimalist style, often materialized with the use of a limited
his authorial style by imitating the way of most people when telling a story in daily
life. Chuck Palahniuk is more frequently used verbs in sentences rather than using
adjectives. Besides that, he also frequently used 'repetition' in a few specific lines in
Chuck Palahniuk, in his works, often begin the story with the final piece of the
whole story, in which the protagonist of the story recounts a series of story plots and
directing the story to the point where the narration in the book begins.
While not writing fictions, Palahniuk usually write short non-fiction works. In
addition to working as a freelance journalist, he also writes essays and notes reports
about various things. He also sometimes include the results of his non-fiction writing
in his works of fiction to make the reader understand more about his works.
accomplished after reviewing a brief biography about his life which will be presented
2.4.1 Biography
21th, 1962. During his childhood, he lives with his parents. Fred Palahniuk, his
father and Carol, his mother. His father was a railroad worker, his mother
2
An interview documented in www.believermag.com
47
worked as an office manager at the nuclear power plants company. Chuck
Palahniuk childhood traversed fairly unlike most other children. He live and
Chuck Palahniuk, has already shown his talent in writing since he was still a
very young child. While sitting in the fifth grade of elementary school, Chuck
Palahniuk once wrote a poem. The poem was posted in Palahniuk's Short
stressed an advice which reads; “if you do something bad, then you should be
prepared to accept the return”. One time his father even threatened to cut his
fingers with an ax, over a bad thing he did. Since then Palahniuk actually
realized that, no one else would be responsible for the life that he lived except
himself.
Palahniuk’s predecessor family. When his father, Fred Palahniuk, was three
years old, his paternal grandparents killed his wife. On that fateful day, when
the grandfather was overcome with anger, he then look for the next victim, his
own son, Chuck Palahniuk’s father. But the boy was hiding under the bed.
And because he was unable to find the boy, Palahniuk’s grandfather shot
himself using the same shotgun he used to kill his wife. Some of the family
3
Biographical notes in Palahniuk’s official website.
4
An interview ini Believermag.com
48
members said it was not madness. This tragic story is described by Chuck
As Palahniuk entered the age of 14, when entering the first year at
Columbia High School (CHS) in Burbank, his parents was divorced. He and
his siblings then nursed by her mother's parents and stay on a farm in the
eastern Washington. But it does not affects the brilliance of Chuck Palahniuk
as a student. In his records when he was a student at CHS, written that he was
publishing, journalism class, and also involved in the North West Writer's
known as a witty child and a book maniac. In 1980 when he entered the age of
18, he graduated from CHS with the "Funniest Student" award during his
studies to the University of Oregon. This is the most influential period for the
development of his quality in the field of authorship. During the college years,
he honed his ability to write a lot, but he never showed any writings that he
made to others. During college years he also took an intern at National Public
Radio Station. He then graduated with a B.A. degree in the field of Journalism
in 1986.
Portland, Oregon. For some time he worked as a writer for a newspaper office
49
engine manufacturing company which produce diesel truck. At the company,
he also worked as a manual ‘how to fix the truck’ writer's. He worked there for
13 years. Besides work for life, he also brings his tenure as an opportunity to
workers. On the sidelines of his work he had started to write little by little
fellow visitors for ringing music at high volume at two o'clock in the morning.
Shouts turned punches. From there, his face bruised and swollen for about a
week. When he returned to work, he felt people did not dare look into his eyes.
He thinks that these people might assume that the bruises on her face was a
5
Biographical notes in Palahniuk’s official website
50
Life and work experiences he went through, makes him more obsessed
with observing the daily behavior of people surrounding him. His reading
habit which was also been long time did not stop, make him decided to try to
write a work of fiction. He did the attempt to realize his decision by following
a fictional writing workshop held by Tom Spanbauer, author who was became
Then, after receiving the support from some of the people close with him, he
Things went unexpected. The first work of Chuck Palahniuk got a bad
response from the many editors of publishing office. According to them, the
work of Palahniuk is too rough, violated ethical norms, and too much uncover
a taboo. Upset with such responses, Chuck Palahniuk then revised some parts
of his work. This time he makes a work that much more 'loud' than the earlier
work. He intended to disturb the editors who responded his work. Thus was
After a few editors read his work, some publishing companies are not
able to resist the urge to immediately buy that work. In 1996's Fight Club is
launched into the market. This is the first work of Chuck Palahniuk distributed
to the audience. This work also asserted his capacity as a writer, to then be
51
legitimated to continue to voiced his opinions through his works that followed
His first works were increasingly flying his flag after the novel was
adapted into a film by David Fincher, a director of Hollywood. Since that time
Amy Hempel, Gordon Lish, Ira Levin, Soren Kierkegaard, Jean Paul Sartre,
confronted with family problems that generated tremor. After his father, Fred
Palahniuk, divorced Carol Adele, his mother, Fred met with a model named
Palahniuk, they both were a great couple, he had never seen his father so
happy before. But unluckily, Donna, infact had a former lover, Dale
Donna while returning home from the trip date. Shackelford kill them both
dragged the bodies into the house and then burned it down. But the effort was
attending the trial, Chuck Palahniuk had given the right to determine whether
6
An interview documented in alternet.org
52
the murder will be executed or not. This story is in use as a raw material for
Washington. There, he met his sister, Heidi Weeden. In that region, there is a
street named Paper Street, in Richland. Which became the inspiration for a
Many tragedies he experienced often became a material for his work, both as a
and true story, no one ever knew about how Palahniuk passed his life during
of his time at his home in the Columbia Gorge with hishusband, Michael.
They have been together for more than two decades. He sosializes as much as
possible, opening his home to friends and family. He likes to tend to his
chickens when he is not writing, which is not very often. His novels keep him
busy, taking anywhere from six weeks to four months to complete. When he is
not crafting his fiction, he enjoys writing articles and essays to express his
strongly held and deeply considered views. He is a writer's writer and he will
53
2.4.2 Works
Fiction
Survivor (1999)
Choke (2001)
Lullaby (2002)
Diary (2003)
Haunted (2005)
Rant (2007)
Snuff (2008)
Pygmy (2009)
Tell-All (2010)
Damned (2011)
Doomed (2013)
Short Fiction
54
"The Love Theme of Sybil and William" in Modern Short Stories
(1990)
"Phoenix" (2013)
Non-Fiction
55
CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHOD
which can guide the flow of this research regularly, is required. Based on the
this chapter, the writer would explain about the method that is used in analyzing
Fight Club novel. This method includes method of collecting data, method of
Collecting data in this study refers to the variables specified in the ‘statement
of the problems’ of this research, namely the structure of the literary work, world
view, and social genesis including the social structure of American society, and
social groups represented by the author (collective subject). For the first variable, the
data which was collected derived from the novel that is being studied. The data
mentioned above obtained by using close reading method on the novel that is being
studied, which based on the general principles of the theoretical concepts underlying
this study. For the second variable, world view, the data obtained by doing library
that were considered relevant to this study. Furthermore, for the third variable,
social genesis, the data obtained by the same method, the library research. The data
for this variable obtained from books, journals, and writings on the internet which is
which pertinent to the author, the writer also reviewed references on various Internet
56
sites that published author’s interview documentation either in the form of audio,
video, or written documents. Although the source of the data as such is still very
rarely used in scientific research, here, writer assume that all of these sources can
argument that the author’s interview data in the form of audio-video is the data that
are less likely to be engineered than the references in the notes form as the
In addition, the writer also uses a variety of semantic dictionary to tracking the
meaning of sorts of difficult words found in the references text, both in the novel and
in various reading texts support. The entire data sources mentioned above, at the end
The data analysis in this study was conducted using the dialectical method. The
basic principle of this method is some part or structure would be abstract if it’s not
meaningful when it is placed into a certain totality, and a totality can only be
understood by knowing each facts that were partially construct the totality.
no absolute starting point is valid. This thought is not admitted a linear pattern, but
rather believe in circular patterns which did not questioned the starting point. In its
application to the literary study, researchers can begin their research based on the
57
In this study, the writer first started the analysis on the structure of Fight Club
novel, because, the most complete initial data held by the writer is the data which
related to this variable, that is, the novel itself. Refers to Goldmann’s theoretical
concept which remarked that the variable with direct homology relation to the
structure of literary work is world view, then, the next variable that would be
described is regarding to world view. As what has been said before, the data of this
variable derived from any ideological and philosophical texts. So then, the
elucidations in this section, will shows the dialectical relations between the structure
of literary works and any conception derived from ideological and philosophical
resources. Sorts of elements which has shown in the literary works (the characters,
certain world view which manifested in the literary work will now appear. After
describing the variables aforementioned, the writer will stepped to the next larger
variable which structurized the two previous variable, that is, the social genesis
Overall, the analysis using this dialectic method, aiming to seek the maximum
series of procedures served to keep the research process remains on track. A series of
58
First of all, the writer committed an in-depth reading of Fight Club novel
several times. From there, the writer subtly started to capture some problems
Furthermore, the writer enters the initial phase of data collection, by noting any
findings from Fight Club novel into a data card. From the data that has been
obtained, the writer limit the scope of the issues which going to be analyzed and then
At this point, the writer determined genetic structuralism theory as the most
novel. Thus, the next stage is the analysis process based on the basic principles of the
theory mentioned. The first is to analyze the structure and relations between the parts
within Fight Club novel. From the analysis, it has been able to conclude the world
view that is expressed in this work. Therefore, in the second stage, the writer goes on
to describe in detail, a world view that was expressed by the author through this
work. The third, to complete the dialectical process of all variables that are
recognized by genetic structuralism theory, the writer continued to analyze the social
genesis that is the background of Chuck Palahniuk's life, and then his position as an
author in a particular social group or social class. The three of this process is lay
accordance with the principle of genetic structuralism, the main target of the literary
research is to achieve the maximum degree of coherence between all the variables
that have been analyzed. After all, the writer completed the overall results of research
59
into the form of an intact thesis for later submitted as a condition to sit final
examinations.
60
CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS
As mentioned in the previous section, this study uses the dialectical method.
Thus, the analysis can begins at any variables, whether from the world view, the
structure of literary works, or can also be started from the analysis of the social
genesis of the work. In the ‘previous study’ section, has been presented a study
conducted by Faruk who began his analysis with an explanation of the world view.
explain the structures of literary works. Goldmann in research to the works of Pascal
and Racine also started his research report with the same arrangement, by first
Fight Club novel analysis in this study conducted with different systematics.
Due to the limitations of the data in determining or concluding the world view of the
author, so this research does not begin with explanation of the world view.
Nevertheless, it does not mean that the explanation of the other variables do not have
a global semantic models in the whole imaginary universe of the works that has been
studied. The Significant structure of the novel, predicted—based assumption that the
Fight Club novel is one of a great literary works that has conditioned by
Goldmann—still boils down to a certain world view, but, it will be concluded and
61
By considering the availability of the data, the analysis of Fight Club novel
starts by describing its structure with, of course, refers to the concept of the
describing the world view expressed by the novel. Such sequences is determined
based on Goldmann’s theory that the variables which have a direct homology
relations with the structure of the literary works is none other than the world view
itself. After that, then we can move to analyze the social genesis of this novel, as a
larger structure that drives the structuration process of the world view and the
discussion about the structure of Fight Club novel divided into two phases. The first
is, a discussion of the aspects of the ‘spatial structure’, the second, a discussion of the
aspects of the ‘plot’. Both aspect that will going to be discussed, in the end, will
show the semantic system / semantic model underlying this novel. This semantic
The space structure aspects of literary work, consist of ‘semantic fields’ which
framed by a certain semantic system (which will be discussed later). In this section is
the writer will describe objectively the semantic fields contained in Fight Club novel.
62
In many studies that have been conducted before, the semantic fields that build
sorts of semantic fields are also called the ‘imaginary universe’ where the
‘problematic hero’ undertaken his journey. In this Fight Club novel, the problematic
hero is the Narrator, whose name was unknown until the story ends. The Narrator in
his journey, and its relation to his circumstances (the whole imaginary universe in the
literary works), by itself, build a plot aspect of Fight Club novel. That is why the two
Although the discussion on the structure of Fight Club novel at this stage
assumed that it has not been framed by any global semantic system, or in other
words, a world view, semantic fields that is encountered in this novel have shown a
certain models. After conducting in-depth and intensive reading, the writer found that
the semantic field contained in this novel is not a binary opposition or horizontally
opposed each other. Semantic fields contained in this novel depicts the conditions
and circumstances surrounding the life of the Narrator, and featured in multiple
levels. Then, from each of the levels mentioned, the Narrator tried to make a
breakthrough to get out of it. Out of the previous level, Narrator then confronted
again with semantic fields that show the conditions and situations at different levels.
Then the Narrator try again to make a breakthrough, and, again, confronted with the
‘semantic fields surrounding the life of the Narrator in several levels’. Thus, the
spatial structure of this novel will also be presented in multiple level pattern.
63
First, the author will present a series of semantic fields that depicts the
conditions and circumstances surrounding the early life of the Narrator. These
semantic fields is not an opposite relation but shown the equivalency of one and
and circumstances surrounding the early life of the Narrator’. That semantic fields
consumer culture.
The first semantic field that is going to be discussed is work. In this novel, the
work is described as one of the semantic field that causes the Narrator alienated from
his surroundings. The whole time he had, he spent to working. "We all work so hard
all the time" (20). From the beginning of the story, the Narrator is dipped into this
Doing relentless travel to visit the areas where many car accidents happened (36).
The Narrator hates his job, and always wished he could quit his job (180). This
semantic field, clearly describes the conditions and the initial situation experienced
The next semantic field is office. This semantic field is equivalent to the
previous semantic field, work. The office is a place where the semantic field work
occurred. The office also described as a place where the Narrator forced to be
confined by the existing rules. The place where the Narrator must appear with an
64
Next, the semantic field Boss. This semantic field, also equivalent to the
previous semantic field, and concurrently describe an invariant meaning, that is, the
initial conditions of the Narrator. Semantic field Boss in the novel is described as a
semantic field which helped exacerbate the conditions experienced by the Narrator.
If the semantic field work and office suppresses the Narrator’s life passively, then the
semantic field Boss presented as a factor that actively suppresses the life of the
Narrator hates his boss. The boss often asks the Narrator to attend meetings while she
went on vacation (36, 171). This semantic field is present in varying degrees of
conditions and circumstances surrounding the Narrator’s life. With the same
Outside the three semantic fields above, there are also semantic field
(49). There he was, when he is out of the struggle with the three semantic field
described before. This semantic field is also equivalent to semantic field consumptive
culture. All the money he got from his work was spent to consumptive habit that
surrounds his life. In semantic field condominium, the narrator accommodate all the
things he bought.
His condominium filled with variety of furniture. The Narrator knows all the
details of what was in his condominium very well. Seemingly, he spent his whole life
just to collect all the luxurious furnishings items displayed in the catalogs.
The next semantic field is the IKEA catalog. IKEA is a well-known furniture
brands in the United States. IKEA catalog is being equivalent to semantic field
65
consumer culture. This semantic field becomes a kind of chain which mediates the
Narrator with consumptive culture. Thus, the three semantic field is also equivalent
to one another in describing the conditions and circumstances surrounding the early
life of the Narrator outside the third semantic field first described.
All the semantic fields that has been described above, be equivalent in one
characteristic, that is, plunging the Narrator into a state of alienation. Alienated by
the work and by the desire to consume a wide variety of commodities (54) and
causes the Narrator lives become empty and meaningless. In the end, all this
Semantic field that will be discussed next is Insomnia. This semantic field,
manifests into the story as a kind of disease suffered by the Narrator. Acute insomnia
suffered by the Narrator, makes him difficult to sleep for couple weeks, so he feels
difficult to discern what is real and what is unreal. Insomnia suffered by the Narrator
and "you cannot touch anything and nothing can touch you" (15). The disease then
forces the Narrator to immediately consult a doctor for his illness. Then, he met a
doctor who said that "Insomnia is just a symptom of something larger. Find out
In this novel, insomnia shown as a semantic field which interrupt the Narrator
from the conditions and circumstances surrounding his early life. The Narrator
insistence to the doctor to immediately gave him drugs, "I just wanted to sleep" (21),
66
describe the urgency to get out of his early life conditions and circumstances that
have been described by previous semantic fields. His early life is indicated by
genetic structuralism, in this study, the writer call the semantic field insomnia as
"trans-semantic field", which took position among a series of semantic fields that
describe the level of the conditions and circumstances surrounding the life of the
Narrator. Semantic field insomnia repeatedly appear in this novel. This indicates that,
when the Narrator is in one condition and situation, and his insomnia comes back, it
means that the Narrator was not satisfied with the conditions and circumstances
The next semantic field is the Support Group. Support groups are a kind of
association of people who have the same illness. Deadly diseases. So that the sufferer
has no more hope for living (21). Support group meetings are held on certain day and
place. During the meeting, people are encouraging each other, gives motivate, share
There are various kind of support groups presented in this novel, among others,
groups of patients with testicular cancer, groups of patients with leukemia, a group of
patients with blood cancer, and groups of patients with a brain parasite (20). Support
restlessness caused by the semantic field that previously described. In other words,
67
this semantic field is an escapement for the Narrator. Semantic field support group
described as a semantic field that able to answer the initial conditions of the
Narrator’s life. This novel told that, after attending support group meetings, the
Narrator began to feels his life back. The Narrator free from insomnia he has suffered
(25-26).
Before discussing further semantic field, the writer needs to emphasize that
every level of conditions and situations that surrounds the Narrator’s life which
doesn’t means that the Narrator’s has left the conditions and situations described
previously. The semantic fields came latter, is in addition to the previous semantic
fields. This indicates that the complexity of the Narrator's life has increased.
The semantic field support group, is also equivalent with other small semantic
fields such as hugs, tears, chronic diseases, meditation, and the ground floor of the
church. The semantic field hugs and tears, present in the excerpt below.
“This should be my favorite part, being held and crying with Big Bob without
hope.” (20).
therapy that can give the sensation of calm for the members of the support group.
The Narrator himself can sleep soundly after he cried while attending support group
meetings (20).
Semantic field chronic disease, which can also be said as a condition for
entering the semantic field support group, describes worse situation and hopeless.
Chronic diseases selected in this novel is a kind of disease that is much less likely to
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be cured. Thus, the people who were present in this semantic field support group can
The next semantic field, meditation, is a semantic field that has been presented
as a kind of sedative for people with chronic diseases. So that these people can
sincerely live the rest of his hopeless life (22-23). Another semantic field that is also
equivalent to previous semantic fields is the ground floor of the church as a venue for
all the semantic fields above. All of this semantic fields, is equivalent to describe the
Besides the semantic fields manifested in the material form, there is also a
who reached the peak of his career, but he felt "All my life, (…) why I do anything, I
do not know" (19). Bob figures is a semantic field that reflects the conditions
experienced by the Narrator. The presence of Bob characters in the story, made the
Narrator can actually simulate the suffering and grief experienced by other people in
Semantic field that has been presented at this stage, showed the same pattern
with the previous level, which describe the conditions and circumstances surrounding
the life of the Narrator, but this time, on a more complex extent. At this stage, the
conditions and situation of the Narrator’s life described as a passive conditions, gave
Semantic fields that has just been mentioned, haven’t made the Narrator
succeed to get out of the initial conditions, indeed adds a new conditions and
situations faced by the Narrator. With the presence of semantic field support group,
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along with other semantic fields that is equivalent, making the narrator merely
'feeling' that he had found the conditions and situations that he wanted to.
The next semantic field is a semantic field that has a same function with
semantic field insomnia which were presented at the beginning. This semantic field,
personified in the figure of Marla Singer. Marla Singer was present as an interruption
to the life lived by the Narrator. Marla Singer is a female figure who also attended
the support group. However, he did not suffer at all, like the other participants of the
support group. The presence of Marla Singer at this stage, interrupting the Narrator
that he himself also an impostor, fake, do not suffer from chronic diseases at all. His
presence in the support group is just to simulate the suffering experienced by other
participants in the support group. Thus "(...) Marla's lie Reflects my lie, and all I can
see are lies" (27). Therefore, the Narrator cannot cry in support group meetings were
The presence of this semantic field in it’s addition with the re-presence of
semantic field Insomnia, then insist the Narrator to get out of the conditions and
level, the semantic field support group is an escapement of the Narrator, furthermore,
the semantic field he thought could take him out of the conditions and situations he
Semantic field fight club, as well as the semantic field support group, is an
Narrator. In other words, fight club is the hyper-masculine version of the support
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group. Fight club is also a same association as support group. However, in Fight
Club, people gather to engage in a one on one fight. Those who attend fight club is
male.
after Tyler Durden, one of a character in this novel, also present in the story. Tyler
experienced. Tyler Durden exists as a kind of savior for the Narrator. Tyler Durden is
a character who mediates the presence of the semantic field fight club. Meaning,
fight club first occurs between the Narrator and Tyler Durden. After their first fight,
Semantic field fight club, at this stage, for the Narrator, is the answer of the
conditions and situations of life he experienced. The Narrator described that “You
aren't alive anywhere like you're alive at Fight Club” (64). There are many
impressions described by the Narrator after attending fight club. His life, and how he
At this stage, the semantic fields which previously described the life of the
Narrator, one by one began to disappear, and be replaced by a new semantic fields.
Semantic field IKEA catalog, as well as consumptive culture has also been disappear
as the presence of the semantic field fight club. The point is, at this stage, the
Narrator ‘felt’ that he had found what he was looking for in response to the
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Other small semantic fields which is also equivalent to the semantic field fight
club is, fists, screams, bar basement, Paper Street house, old magazines.
fight club. If in a support group people hugging and crying each other, then in fight
club men hitting and screaming each other. This actions, which tend to portray
violence, is not a violence with 'evil' meaning. People came to fight club because
they are too afraid to fight. The fight in fight club is not a win or lose fight, but rather
The next semantic field is the bar basement. This semantic field is described as
a place where the Narrator along with all members of fight club gathered and fight.
The next semantic field is the Paper Street house. This semantic field shows
the conditions of the Narrator's life that has changed drastically. If previously the
Narrator lives in a condominium that is filled with luxury stuff, then the Paper Street
house is the opposite. At Paper Street house, there is no furniture. In addition, there
are no items that are still functioning normally. The roof leaked, the toilets were
Another semantic field which is equivalent to the semantic field above is, old
while in the condominium, the Narrator spends time with reading the IKEA catalog,
at the Paper Street house the Narrator spends time by reading this old magazines.
At this stage, all the semantic fields that has been described, seems depict an
what was described by semantic fields at previous levels. The conditions and the life
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of the Narrator at this level, reflecting one sentence uttered by Tyler “It's only after
you've lost everything, (…) that you're free to do anything" (82). This semantic field
indicates the more optimistic conditions, aggressive, full of violence, free, and tend
to be cynical (150).
The next semantic field is cynical trait who personified into a scene in which
the Narrator was in a fight, beating out a character named Angel's Face. Angel’s face
revealed from the quote "(...) and I was in a mood to destroy something beautiful”
(150). Also in the quote "I wanted to destroy everything beautiful I'd never have.
Burn the Amazon rain forests. Pump chlorofluorocarbons straight up to gobble the
ozone. Open the dump valves on supertankers and uncap offshore oil wells. I wanted
to kill all the fish I couldn't afford to eat, and smother the French beaches I'd never
see” (151).
This semantic field, then, perform the same function as insomnia, and Marla
Singer. The cynical trait interrupting the Narrator in the conditions and situations
which he thought as the conditions and situations he was looking for. This semantic
field then push again the narrator to move on to the next level. This movement is
shown by the quote “Tyler told me later that he'd never seen me destroy something
so completely. That night, Tyler knew he had to take Fight Club up a notch or shut it
down” (151).
The next semantic field is Project Mayhem. Semantic field Project Mayhem, is
the answer to the condition and life of the Narrator, at the more complex levels. As
mentioned before, fight club which it’s portion begin to increase, make Tyler
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Durden—through the body of the narrator of course—thinking about developing
fight club to the greater level. Project Mayhem is a kind of an organized association
(146). Project Mayhem is no longer just an association with one on one fight to each
and consisted of people who fight well in fight club (224). Each of these
Mayhem aims to disenchant people that they have the ability to control history (150).
To commemorate the people how much potential he has (146). Project Mayhem
life.
Besides semantic field Project Mayhem, there are also small semantic fields
equivalent with Project Mayhem, such as, fights, terror, Paper Street Soap Company,
Semantic field fights, at Project Mayhem is not like in fight club. This semantic
capabilities exist within himself. Each member of Project Mayhem going out into the
public area and make any disturbance to other people, they sparked a fight, but they
must be defeated in that fight. It also aims to introduce people how does it feels to be
a winner (146).
Another semantic field that is equivalent to portray the Narrator's life at this
level is terror. The Narrator is also part of Project Mayhem, often assigned to
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conduct terror to certain people. This semantic field personified into a scene where
Raymond Hessel to the most terrible fear. Tyler called it: ‘one second before death
experience’. But terror here is a tool used to remove someone from artificial life,
such as the life Raymond Hessel lived. Hessel is actually a students who have a
dreams to become a veterinarian. Through the terror Tyler waking up Hessel from
artificiality, then made him promises to return to the pursuit of life he really wanted
to (189-195).
The next semantic field is the Paper Street Soap Company (103). This semantic
field is the replacement of semantic field work. Paper Street Soap Company is a
soap-making place which is builtin semantic field Paper Street house. All members
of Project Mayhem live and doing their duties in that house. This semantic field is
the satire version to criticize the consumerist life style in America. The soap they
made is a soap made from the best fats belongs to the most beautiful people in the
United States. Then processed back into a soap and then sold to people with
The next semantic field is history. History here is seen as something that
confining the Narrator. Human beings are always controlled by the history, therefore,
history is one thing that Project Mayhem intend to destroy. This semantic field, then,
Therefore, Tyler, or actually the Narrator himself, placed the museum as the main
target of Project Mayhem. It then makes semantic field explosion also equivalent to
the previous semantic field. Project Mayhem are about to blow up the high-rise
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buildings located around the museum, with the main purpose, is to make the building
The next semantic field is the rooftop. This semantic field, is an opposite of
semantic field bar basement, or semantic field the ground floor of the church. The
rooftop in this novel is the place where the Narrator with the illusion of Tyler Durden
rooftop also shows that the Narrator has reached a high level in life.
All semantic field mentioned above, equivalent by the same function, that is,
describing the situations and the conditions experienced by the Narrator at the most
complex level contained in this novel. The situations and conditions, described as a
condition that tends to be fascistic, destructive, offensive, and refusal to the history.
The next semantic field, which again performs the same function with,
Insomnia, Marla Singer, and Cynical trait, is Consciousness. At this stage, what was
interrupted the Narrator from the conditions and situations he experienced is his own
consciousness on the illusion of Tyler Durden personality contained in his self. Thus,
the Narrator pushed again to get out of the conditions and situations he faced.
Narrator—which is also the same body with Tyler Durden, try to thwart Project
Mayhem which he created himself when his body is controlled by the personality of
Tyler Durden. The Narrator pointed the gun into his mouth, pulled the trigger, then
causes sores that form a jagged smile from ear to mouth (257). He did that as an
attempts to eliminate the 'personality of Tyler Durden' from his mind which had
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ruled much part of his mind. Thus, the Narrator now arrived at his final conditions
The next semantic field is a semantic field which describes the final conditions
and situations experienced by the Narrator, in which he has arrived at the stage of his
final searching for the meaningful life. The conditions and the situations described by
The semantic field mentioned above present at the final part of the novel.
Semantic field heaven, that is possibly a hospital, is described in the novel as the
the excerpt:
The angels here are the Old Testament kind, legions and lieutenants, a
heavenly host who works in shifts, days, swing. Graveyard. They bring you
your meals on a tray with a paper cup of meds (257).
Semantic field God mentioned above, that is possibly a doctor. As stated in the
excerpt:
I've met God across his long walnut desk with his diplomas hanging on the
This semantic fields describe the state of the Narrator at the end of his
problematic journey in his searching for value and meaning of life. And, as a
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conclusion of the searches contained in his conversation with semantic field god
listed below:
That is how series of semantic fields that have been mentioned, describing the
conditions and circumstances surrounding the life of the Narrator. The conditions
and circumstances which are intended, none other than the spatial structure of the
imaginary universe in this novel. In the above presentation, it was mentioned that the
imaginary universe that surrounds the Narrator, structured into several levels, and the
Narrator is always making efforts to move from one level to the other. Thus, the
Narrator's effort through every level of the imaginary universe that surrounded him,
The plot aspect in this novel shows a kind of ‘transcendent’ movement of the
Narrator in his searching for a value that has been degraded in the environment that
are also been degraded. The plot of this novel shows the Narrator’s journey which
begins with the conditions and circumstances in which he lived an empty and
meaningless life, and lead to a meaningful life he lived with full awareness.
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This novel begins with a scene in which the Narrator, the central character in
this novel, was at the end of the whole story, remembering and reconstructing the
events and the occurrences contained in the novel in the form of fragments which are
not sequential. Presents a glimpse of the important characters that were also exist in
this novel. At first reading, this section will gradually understood after reading page
by page of this novel. It can also be said that the plot of this novel, can only be traced
As has been said before, the whole part of this novel is a journey of the
Narrator from one conditions leading to other conditions. The initial part of this
novel (chapter 2) begins with the depictions of the initial conditions of the Narrator's
life which shown by the semantic fields mentioned above, namely, work, office, boss,
and condominiums. All of this semantic fields describes the monotonous life of the
worker in a company. His job requires him to always go to the places where a car
accident caused by functional failure happened (36). Besides that, it is also to attend
the meetings that cannot be attended by his boss (36). Out of his life at the office, and
while grappling with a work trip, the Narrator is also surrounded by semantic field
Inside the condominium there are various kinds of furniture he bought with money
he got from his work. During his life, he collects these items just to make him feels
comfortable with his condominium. Moreover, all the things he had in his condo,
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considered as the manifestation of his identity (135). All of this semantic fields
caused the Narrator alienated with its surroundings. In the novel, in the description of
the Narrator's initial conditions, there is no figures or objects other than those
mentioned. This is what makes the Narrator feels empty and meaningless.
Since the beginning of the story, the Narrator is described as suffering from
insomnia. That makes him difficult to fall asleep for a couple weeks. The insomnia
he suffered, then deepens the alienation he experienced. For him, the daily
him cannot touch him, and he could not touch anything around him. (21)
The Narrator feels really suffer from the insomnia that he experienced. Several
times, he went to the doctor to consult, and urged the doctor to give him any
medicine. He just wants to sleep well (21). Seeing the exaggerated attitude of the
Narrator about his suffer, the doctor told him that insomnia he had experienced is just
told the Narrator to come to the ground floor of one of the churches on Sunday
conditions that surround the life of the Narrator with other conditions at a more
complex level.
Then, the Narrator really come to that place on Tuesday night. The church
was named First Eucarist (21). It is a scene that marks the first connectedness
between the Narrator and the semantic field support group. As described in the
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people who suffer from chronic diseases. At the meeting, members of the support
group conduct various processions, such as sharing stories, hugging each other,
There are various kind of support groups that were held, based on various
chronic diseases suffered by the participants, such as testicular cancer, brain cancer,
leukemia, and others. The Narrator attends all existing support group. In his initial
visits, the Narrator simply follows the procession there, but cannot cry like any other
participants of a support group who truly suffer from deadly disease. Then he met
with a character named Bob, a former bodybuilder affected testicular cancer (23).
At the meeting, Bob tells about his past, the triumph he had achieved. But in
the end, he lost all of them (24). Bob also tells how he felt that everything he did is
futile. He did not understand why he doing all things he has done. The presence of
meeting, Bob hugged the narrator, then, for the first time, the Narrator crying in the
arms of Bob (19). With the presence of Bob character, the Narrator increasingly
realized that her life, everything that he lived, is nothing but trash, useless, and does
Thus, the Narrator now truly feel the despair similar with what has been
experienced by other members of support group that almost no longer have a life
expectancy (21). The sensation made him feel that he just found a very real
experience of despair and suffering. He felt that there was no place that can made
him relax as he experienced in the support group. Then, his life goes on with the
support group as his escapement and recreation from the conditions of alienation he
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experienced. Therefore, at this stage, the narrator has entered a more complex
Such life conditions, experienced quite a long time by the Narrator, until
finally present Marla Singer. Marla Singer character is a semantic field that has the
same properties and functions with insomnia, interrupt the Narrator from the
which the Narrator and Marla Singer met, the Narrator can see that Marla Singer was
not the real sufferers of chronic disease. He was just a ‘tourist’, visiting a support
group for other purposes. Such thought then leads the Narrator to realizes that he is
no different at all from Marla Singer. Marla Singer’s lies reflect the Narrator’s lies
(27).
It causes the Narrator can no longer cry in support group meetings that were
also attended by Marla Singer. The Narrator, again, experienced insomnia. Which
means, an indication that he starting to feel the urge to get out of the current living
conditions that are filled with artificiality and falseness. Then Tyler Durden now
present.
Regarding the Tyler Durden character, there are several explanations need to
be considered. For the Narrator, in the earlier parts of the story, the Tyler Durden
character are present separately from him. Owning all of the ideals envisioned by the
Narrator. However, when it seen from the perspective of reader, Tyler Durden and
the Narrator are two personalities who share the same body. It is became clear in
later sections of the novel in which the Narrator has realized that Tyler is a
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After previously interrupted by Marla Singer character, the Narrator then
occurred in many work trips committed by the Narrator. The scene occurs when the
Narrator went to a beach. It was there he saw Tyler Durden, pulling logs from the sea
and stirring it up such a way to form a perfect palm shadow at certain times and only
occurs for one minute. For one minute, Tyler Durden then sitting on the perfect
palms shade. The Narrator amazed at Tyler Durden in the first time they met. The
scene then ends with Tyler Durden gave a phone number to the Narrator (38-40).
Shortly after the meeting, the Narrator got an unfortunate. His condominium
was exploded, caused by a gas leak. None of his luxury goods was left (54-55).
Because of losing his mind and do not know where to go, the Narrator call the phone
number gave by Tyler Durden. They then met in a bar. At this meeting, the Narrator
start to that Tyler Durden is the savior for him. Tyler Durden provide a wide range of
advice for the Narrator. Until finally the Narrator asked if Tyler allowed him to stay
at Tyler Durden’s house. Tyler agrees, but he asked for one condition to the Narrator
(57).
Tyler, asks the Narrator to hit him as hard as possible. At first, the Narrator
hesitant, but after Tyler assured him, the Narrator cast his first punch. Tyler replied,
and there was a fight between two of them. The fight makes both battered, and
finally they both go to Tyler’s rented house at Paper Street. That was the first
The Narrator feels some kind of different sensations with what he has found
when visiting support groups. This time, he felt something more remarkable. He
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never felt like he felt about living life after his fights. They both felt addicted. After
doing battle, the Narrator feels like he lost his fear. He is no longer bent in front of
his boss. All voice sounds very low. And he was not easily become upset. Now the
Narrator feels that he already found the most appropriate escapement from the
conditions that he experienced. He is now lived a life with different view (59-62).
Their habits to fight every weekend, out of their consciousness began to attract
other men who often visits the bar where the first time they have a conversation. This
club is increasingly growing. At first, the battle is done in front of the bar, but when
there were more people join the club, the next battles now moved to bar basement.
Then Fight Club now established. In every weekend, when the bar closed, they met
there (62).
The presence of semantic field fight club, along with other semantic field that
is equivalent, such as fists, screams, blood, Paper Street house, bar basement,
marking the stage where the Narrator has now entered another living conditions that
were more complex than ever before. Now he felt that he had found what he was
looking for in life. He felt that he had been freed from the shackles of the previous
semantic field of his life. In the novel, this phase described as the process of
enlightenment.
Narrator is a scene where Tyler Durden made a chemical burning in the back hands
of the Narrator with a mixture of caustic soda and water. During the painful chemical
combustion process, Tyler leads the Narrator into a procession similar to meditation
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in a support group. However, this time is different, the Narrator are led to surrender
and live the pain, do not try to run away or deny it (87-92).
the message that is often said by Tyler that, "It's only after you've lost everything,
Such condition, gradually began to experienced by the Narrator. He has lost his
furniture items, or other objects that are not useful. The Narrator even freed from
consumer culture that entrap him while staying at his condominium. This can be seen
in the scene where the Narrator no longer buy soap to clean clothes, but makes his
own soap. In the midst of this life conditions, the Narrator and Tyler Durden
optimistic, and tend to be cynical. The Narrator’s assumption that this is the life he
was looking for, now become unstable. At this stage, things that can disturb the
Narrator’s assumption is a cynical trait that always haunting him. He found himself
becoming increasingly aggressive and hates beauty. He hates all the beauty that he
The cynical trait reached the climax, and shown in the scene where the
Narrator, at a meeting of fight club, fight with the character named Angel’s Face.
Angel’s Face character is, as the name suggests, described as a handsome young
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man. At the fight, the Narrator seems like very upset while beating Angel’s Face
character until his face is no longer shaped a faces (150-151). The desire to destroy
performed by the Narrator, then became a turning point for the Narrator to move on
Seeing the desire to destroy performed by the Narrator in the last fight, and as
more and magnitude fight club grows in various cities in the United States, Tyler
Durden, developes fight club into Project Mayhem. The presence of the semantic
field Project Mayhem is then marked again the Narrator process in entering the living
In Project Mayhem there are several committees. Tyler gave the name of the
and Misinformation Committee. First Rule of Project Mayhem is ‘no one should
asked a question’. Thus, only Tyler knows what was the purpose of Project Mayhem.
Tyler and the Narrator began to recruiting members for Project Mayhem which all of
it’s activities hosted in the Paper Street house. In a short time, the house was filled
with people who, in the novel, named as ‘space monkey’, including Bob and Angel’s
destruction, terror, and various forms of violence. And it’s main objective is to blow
Project Mayhem began to interrupt the Narrator when one of its members, Bob, got
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The next semantic field that inspires the Narrator is his own consciousness. The
conditions and circumstances surrounding the Narrator's life at this stage, again, got
interrupted. What he has done, infact, have not answer his question and searching for
a meaningful life. The consciousness then drove him to stop the Project Mayhem
(223). His consciousness is also leads him to realizes that Tyler Durden is an illusion
he has created. Tyler Durden is just another personality who share the same body
Tyler Durden, who initially was a savior for the Narrator, is now become a
barrier to achieve what he was looking for. In his efforts to thwart Project Mayhem,
the Narrator dealing with himself. He realized that the character he has considered as
Tyler Durden is the same person with himself. Thus, he began to realize why
everyones consider him as Tyler Durden (247). His efforts to thwart Project Mayhem
culminated in a scene that has appeared in the early part of the novel, in which he
tried to shoot himself in order to eliminating Tyler Durden from his mind (255). The
shot does not make him dead, but ended the story with the ambiguity whether Tyler
before, in the last chapter of the novel, the Narrator described to be in heaven and
also in a conversation with God (257). Conclusion of the Narrator's quest, presented
through a conversation with the God. The Narrator finally realize, that humans are
not garbage or special entity. A meaningful life will not reached only with passivity
and pessimistic trait, active and optimistic, or even destructive and cynical tendency.
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The final part of the novel, remains ambiguous conclusions about what kind of
life will then be undertaken. And how the Narrator perceives life that he lived next.
the problematic hero in his searching for the values that has been degraded, and
presented linearly. The plots in this novel is not as straight as what is described
above but uses a complex way of storytelling. The story often shown likely
remembering or reconstructing the events that occurred in the past. Or can also be
described like randomly arranged mosaics. So that the plot pattern of this novel is not
That is the whole description of the spatial structure and plot aspects of Fight
significant structure, that is, a structure that will only be meaningful if the parts that
make it up have coherence with one another. In addition, at this stage, one side of a
theoretical explanation regarding the relations between the structure ant the part, that
a structure can only be built by the parts that have coherence, has also been proven.
The structure of Fight Club novel, thus, can be drawn into simple chart below.
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The final conditions and circumstances
surrounding the life of the Narrator.
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4.2 World View
expressed by Fight Club novel. Thus, all elements contained in the structure of this
novel, (spatial structure and plots aspects) is framed by a series of complex and intact
manner the coherence between the structure of Fight Club novel and existentialism
as a world view, the writer will described the concepts of existentialism expressed in
this novel.
meant here, is an individual’s journey in his searching for a meaningful life, the
Narrator’s life which being in the 'absurdity of life'. The Narrator, told as a
empty with his ‘mechanical life’. He hates his job, and always hoping to quit
in the United States. The insomnia he has suffered makes him having an out-of-
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experienced. He lived in a luxury condominium, and fill it with a variety of
IKEA furniture catalog and then purchase a wide variety of furniture listed
there which he thought could describe his identity. All of these descriptions is a
The 'existential crisis' mention above revealed in the novel through the
phrase 'something larger' which is said by a doctor when the Narrator want to
larger. Find out what's actually wrong" (12). This insomnia make him unable to
sleep in a fairly long period of time. These conditions make him feels like he
misses so much how does it feel to be able to sleep well. Insomnia is a parable
individuals, have entered the 'process of awakening'. His desire to get out of
'existential crisis' situation that he experienced made him follow the doctor’s
advices.
“My doctor said, if I wanted to see real pain, I should swing by First
Eucharist on a Tuesday night. See the brain parasites. See the
degenerative bone diseases. The organic brain dysfunctions. See the
cancer patients getting by.
So I went”. (21)
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In that place, the Narrator joined the "support group", a gatherings
attended by people who suffer from chronic illness, dying, and without hope.
The Narrator join the groups, pretending that he really having a chronic
diseases similar to those who were there. He listened to the story told by other
participants, hugging each other, meditate and cry along together. But at the
first meeting, the Narrator cannot cry. Insomnia he experienced made him feels
that "everything is so far away, a copy of a copy of a copy. (...), you cannot
At the next support group meeting, the Narrator meets another character
named Bob. Bob reflect a hollow life lived by the Narrator when Bob said, "All
my life, (...) why I do anything, I do not know (19)." Bob’s words make the
questioning his existence. Then he cried with Bob. “It's easy to cry when you
realize that everyone you love will reject you or die (19).” The Narrator thought
that he can feel the anguish, despair, abandonment, experienced by others who
were present at the meeting. The Narrator eventually conclude that this is the
life he was looking for. “This is the one real thing in my life” (28), “And I
slept. Babies don't sleep this well” (26). This situation is a depiction of what is
he has found the meaning of life he was looking for, but in fact, it was not.
early stage, and also become the first step of the Narrator in the 'process of
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awakening'. Such situation happened in a long enough period, until the Narrator
The Narrator sees Marla as a "faker" (19), "tourist" (28). Marla does not
really suffer from any illness. Marla’s presence in each support group who
was no longer able to sleep soundly. He, again, experienced the 'sickening' or
'weariness'. This is because he feels that "(...) Marla's lie Reflects my lie, and
all I can see are lies (27)." The presence of Marla also shake the conviction of
the Narrator, “In the middle of all their truth. Everyone clinging and risking to
share their worst fear, that their death is coming head-on and the barrel of a gun
is pressed against the back of their throats (27).” The Narrator realizes that
The stage that has been described above is the stage of 'bad faith' which
tend to be passive. In this stage, the Narrator considers himself as an object that
can only passively accept a situation he experienced. As stated earlier, the stage
returned to work routines, traveling to various cities for the sake of work. On
one of his travels, when he awoke, the Narrator meets Tyler Durden. “How I
met Tyler was I went to a nude beach. This was the very end of summer, and I
Here, the writer should emphasizes, that the Narrator and Tyler are not
two physically separated figures. The Narrator and Tyler are two characters
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who shared the same body. However, when seen from the Narrator’s
perspective, Tyler Durden is a different individual, with his own mind and
body, except in the final part of the novel (Chapter 20-21), when the Narrator
has realized that Tyler is another character that actually only exist in his mind.
Because of acute insomnia he has suffered, the Narrator cannot realized which
are the real experience and which experience that is only a hallucination. Tyler
By consume (buying) objects, the Narrator feels that he can actualize himself.
buy furniture. You tell yourself, this is the last sofa I will ever need in my life.
Buy the sofa, then for a couple years you're satisfied that no matter what goes
wrong, at least you've got your sofa issue handled” (54). The Narrator becomes
"a slave to the nesting instinct" (52). Even at the more radical extent, the
Narrator realizes "the things you used to own, now they own you" (54). All of
The narrator realizes that he “(…)was tired and crazy and rushed, and
every time I boarded a plane, I wanted the plane to crash. I envied people dying
of cancer. I hated my life. I was tired and bored with my job and my furniture,
and I couldn't see any way to change things” (215). Or in other words the
Narrator experienced what is called anguish and despair. But for the Narrator,
Tyler is not so. Tyler does know how to change things. “I love everything about
Tyler Durden, his courage and his smarts. His nerve. Tyler is funny and
charming and forceful and independent, and men look up to him and expect
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him to change their world. Tyler is capable and free, and I am not” (217). Tyler
condominium have been destroyed, along with all the furniture he collected
during his life. “Everything blasting out from the fifteenth floor in a sort of
solar flare” (55). His condominium exploded due to a gas leak and a spark from
“The police think maybe it was the gas. Maybe the pilot light on the
stove went out or a burner was left on, leaking gas, and the gas rose to
the ceiling, and the gas filled the condo from ceiling to floor in every
room. The condo was seventeen hundred square feet with high ceilings
and for days and days, the gas must've leaked until every room was full.
When the rooms were filled to the floor, the compressor at the base of
the refrigerator clicked on” (54).
Under conditions where he do not know what to do, the Narrator meet Tyler
Then 'fight club' present. Fight club, first held on a night after the
Narrator meets Tyler Durden. At first, Tyler asks the Narrator to do him a
favor, "I want you to hit me as hard as you can" (57). The Narrator hit him,
Tyler replied, then the Narrator reply again. Finally the fight happened, until
they both were exhausted. Thus, fight club starts and continues to grow and
The formation of fight club is the Narrator’s attempts to get out of the
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‘self-destruction' in order to achieve 'authenticity'. (But keep in mind, 'the
levels). After the first fight, the Narrator and Tyler Durden continue to have
one on one fight. People who were joined fight club becomes more and more.
The Narrator feels like he already found the answers of his life weariness while
continuously. He even feels that “(…) you aren’t alive anywhere like you’re
If the support group is a manifestation of bad faith which tend to be passive and
desperate, then fight club is another form of bad faith which are more likely
because of something they're too scared to fight. After a few fights, you're
afraid a lot less” (68). For Tyler himself, he did fight club first because he
As well as the support group, the Narrator also live their life with the
presence of fight club in a considerable period of time. In the stage of bad faith
in this different levels, the Narrator’s destructive desire become increased, and
culminate when he hit battered a member of fight club called Angel's Face.
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have to fight. I knew that so I tagged him because the insomnia was on
again, and I was in a mood to destroy something beautiful” (150).
His destructive desire at this stage is a little bit cynical. He was having
Angel's Face, is one of the beauty that is appear in front of him. And he
After constantly attend fight club, the Narrator, again, harassed by feeling of
anguish, and despair. He started to questions his basic desire. Tyler saw the
tendency of the Narrator, and then quietly improving the 'destructive' energy in
themselves or body. Now Tyler was about to destroying every scrap of history"
(13). "Tyler says (...) man is "the crap and the slaves of history, that's how I felt
"(151). The history is a cage that locked man from of the possibility to realize
all the potential he has. Project Mayhem sued history, and “The goal was to
teach each man in the project that he had the power to control history” (150)
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During undergoing this stage, especially when Bob, his old friend, was
Project Mayhem (222), the Narrator began to feel again the 'weariness'. He
began to feel interfered with the actions carried out in Project Mayhem. These
Project Mayhem got an assignment to do with them. For instance, "the splicing
of pornography into family feature films", the manufacture of soap from human
fat liposuctioned, and the hospitality terrorism, all of which, though grotesque
and provocative, never endanger anyone's life. Thus, the Narrator confronted
The Narrator seek answers from his weariness by deciding to thwart the
Project Mayhem, initiated by Tyler. In this section, the Narrator finds a terrible
reality throughout his life: realize that Tyler Durden is another characters that
are also exist in his self. "We both use the same body, but at different times"
(204). When the Narrator had been aware of it, Tyler Durden disappeared, but
the Narrator continued its efforts to stop Project Mayhem that has mushroomed
to almost every town in United States. He went to each town to find where
Tyler Durden is located. But what he found was confusion because every
by the Narrator, as what has Camus said in The Myth of Sisyphus, in the
well as the possibility for recovery. The Narrator is at that stage now. The
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The world is going crazy. My boss is dead. My home is gone. My job is
gone. And I'm responsible for it all.
and determine his fate is entirely in his hands, then, he cancels his intention.
This time, he considers Tyler is no longer as a savior, but as the hardest 'bad
faith' that restrained him in achieving 'the authenticity of life’. Therefore, the
Narrator intends to eliminate Tyler from his mind, by shot his own mouth.
"And I pull the trigger" (255). The shot was missed from his brain, and leaving
After the incident, at the end of this novel, the Narrator ends somewhere
which is called as a "paradise" (256) which possibly a hospital. "I can sleep in
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heaven" (256). Meanwhile, the final results of the Narrator searching for
authenticity means
"(…) the acceptance of our place in the cosmos, of the fact that we are
each alone, without excuse or reason for being, abandoned to choose
our values without reference to anything that could justify them in the
eyes of the universe. Authenticity means accepting our burden of
radical freedom, the fact that values are not, as Sartre says, Inscribed in
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an 'intelligible heaven "(EH, p. 353), and that therefore we must create
them ourselves" (Levy, 2002: 66).
If observed in the overall scope, this novel seems never separated from
the Narrator as an individual who become the center course of the story. The
At this point, it’s also can be said that, the imaginary universe of Fight Club
novel and the entire semantic fields contained in it, is the structuration result of
existentialism world view. The semantic fields do not appear in the form of binary
opposition, but appeared in several levels that represent a condition called by Camus
as ‘the absurdity of life’ or ‘existential crisis’ that surrounds the life of the Narrator.
Multiple levels of semantic fields is also a conditions that surrounds the Narrator
journey in his searching for the ‘meaningful life’, or ‘authenticity of life’. In other
words, the spatial structure and the plots aspects of this novel coherent with the
Thus, the structure of Fight Club novel’s chart, as described earlier, can now
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Conclusion of the Narrator’s searching for
meaning of life (Authenticity).
(Suicide or Recovery)
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4.3 Social Genesis of Fight Club novel
Various political events such as World War I and World War II, for example,
continues to be a tension not only in the political but also in the economic field.
Such political and economic tensions became commonly known as the Cold
War, a war that was no longer appear in the form of military power battles, but
rather in the ideological field and economic power contentions. In the Cold
War, "the United States and its allies, including the proponents of economic
ideological war against the Soviets and their allies with the concept of the
situations, also had an impact on the economic situations within the states, both
the economic growth and crisis. One of the most severe economic crisis ever
happen is the economic crisis occurred in the 1930s, known as the ‘Great
Depression’. This severe crisis affects not only the United States, but also many
countries in Europe. Some experts believe that the fall of the stock market
(stock market crush) on Wall Street on 29 October 1929 was the main cause of
the Great Depression (Grace, 2005: 236). Furthermore, the stock market crush
also decrease the purchasing power of the lower middle class, reduced housing
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in raw material prices, increasing number of unemployment and the bankruptcy
of major companies.
of economic theory of Adam Smith and his followers who believe that
economic growth will be achieved if the state does not intervene the market
that time, forced the state to finally intervene in determining the market
This major crisis event, then, triggers the emergence of new economic
thought that became the antithesis on Adam Smith’s ideas. In general, the later
emerging thoughts, believes that the state should indeed intervene in regulating
market mechanism. One of the main figures of this thought is John M. Keyness
other words, the state should be balancing the flow of money and capital that
used to expanding the demand if the economic downturn was about to threaten,
and cutting the demand when the situations approaching an economic boom.
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In addition, another antithesis emerging is the economics thought called
Fordism, taken from its founder’s name, an American industrialist, Henry Ford
production sector that considers mass production and mass consumption. Mass
There are several things that characterizes the Fordism system. First,
the significant changes that succeeded in encouraging the growth little by little,
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and managed to normalize the production cost. The economic conditions of
Europe and Asia, which are equally defeated by the crisis, to implement a
economic system then brings the U.S. and some of European countries to
As the previous economic system that were also collapsed due to the
crisis, the Fordism economic system also suffered the same fate. In general, the
causes of the Fordism economical system crisis was the ‘oil crisis’ in the U.S.
which is caused by the embargo made by Saudi Arabia around 1970s. Fordism
make it hard to avoid collapse when energy needs are not fulfilled.
antithesis ideas to overcome the crisis. The next one is post-Fordism. The
skilled worker in utilizing a number of strategies that can answer the market
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a result of the competition between the economic actors to dominate the
economic system above, also requires the emergence of mass consumption, and
by Karl Marx, is no longer able to explain the phenomena that occur in the
Indeed, this argument seems no longer new in the world of science, but
society, no longer merely addressing to fulfill the needs, but also as a proof of
the consumer society, people are consuming to establish the identity of their
existence.
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boldly dismantle the theoretical buildings carried by Marx in accordance with
values contained in each commodity items. For Baudrillard, the aspect of 'use
value' and 'exchange value' that has been proposed by Marx, is no longer
community. He then filed a new concept regarding to the aspects of the value
contained in each commodity; the ‘sign value’ and ‘symbolic value’. In simple
term, in every single commodity that has been consumed, people are about to
individual.
has pervaded almost every aspect of human life. Because, according to him, in
this era of advanced capitalism, in which the 'profit maximization' motif has
been a key driver of every human activity, all aspects of human life has become
a commodity that can be exchanged and traded. In the midst of this situation,
also played a central role in the formation of this consumer society. Moreover,
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with easy access to a wide range of technologically advanced tools, the society
this time, no longer able to escape from the consumer culture that undermined
equivalent with objects, dragging human being into the situation of alienation,
which is also the core concepts in existentialism. Or in other words, the social
aftermath of the Cold War, has dragged human into existential crisis.
by the political and economic system that stands firmly in this state.
from soldier to statesmen" (Cotkin, 2003: 54). Not only that, existentialism also
through exposure of his research results which stating that the works with
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Episcopal named Walter Lowrie (Cotkin, 2003: 54). American public
birth mother, Carol, works as an office manager at the nuclear power plants
Palahniuk himself, before he became a writer, had spent more than 13 years of
trucks. If it seen from the social background of the three generations in his
groups, simultaneously. In the social sciences, Marx, have left one theoretical
concepts related to class divisions in the social structure. According to him, the
fundamental thing that differentiates two classes that existed in society, the
means of production. In simple terms, Marx stated that, anyone who does not
arguably as a working class or the proletariat. Thus, for the first step, it is not
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wrong if Chuck Palahniuk, is said to belong to the group of the working class in
feel the impact of the social structure that forces people to enter into an
his life in the middle of the existing social structure. Ranging from the
dynamics within the family that is fairly extreme, to the story of his own
quite enough. Chuck Palahniuk, though can be said came from the working
class social group, he also has other qualities that allow it to not only be
biographical notes (which are listed in Chapter II), can be found information
groups in general which were never reached the higher education level.
so, he has the ability to understand the position of his social group in the middle
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existential nuanced works of Kierkegaard and Albert Camus, including the
works of Jean Paul Sartre. In fact, he also admitted that his authorship style is
ideological terms, that is how existentialism entered and internalized into the
social interaction and social phenomenon exists around him, he finally decided
States, can be accepted by various social groups. Then, so does the social group
author who comes from an educated working class social group, conscious of
his class position in the social structure of the U.S. He is also a representation
of his social group who able to express his social group’s world view that is
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CHAPTER V
CONCLUSION
5.1 Conclusion
theory who stated that, the literary works that has been studied had a significant
structure, which is an expression of the world view of particular social group whose
formation is influenced by the social structure surrounding it, can now be validly
proved. Automatically, this research has, more or less, confirmed the validity of
genetic structuralism theory as one of the most sophisticated theory in the realm of
literary sciences.
In the hypothesis mentioned above, can clearly be seen the four main
variables, namely, the structure of literary works, world view, social groups, and
social structure. The four variables, in this study has shown a maximum coherence,
The structure of Fight Club novel, showed a different tendency with other
findings obtained by many studies that also uses genetic structuralism theory. In this
study, the structure of Fight Club novel is no longer shows a binary opposition
pattern such as the findings of previous genetic structuralism studies. But more likely
showed a multilevel stage where each level is a depiction of the situations and
conditions of the Narrator’s life (as the central character). Each level consists sort of
semantic fields which is equivalent each other in describing the stages of the
situations and conditions of the Narrator’s life. In between each of these levels, there
are also other semantic field that serves as a link between the levels. Inside such
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structure, then, the Narrator—problematic hero, in Goldmann’s term—undertaken
his searching for values that were degraded in an environment that is also degraded.
Structure model that has been described above, is the result of a structuration
process from the existentialism world view. In the view of existentialism, the
Narrator's journey through the multilevel stages of the circumstances of his life was
to what is called ‘the authenticity of life’. ‘Authenticity itself is one of the important
concepts in existentialism which means the acceptance of our place in the cosmos, of
the fact that we are each alone, without excuse or reason for being, abandoned to
choose our values without reference to anything that could justify them in the eyes of
the universe. Each multilevel stages contained in the structure of Fight Club novel, is
which an individual begins to feel ‘weary’ and ‘sick’ with living conditions that run
in a mechanical ways, empty, void, and without meaning. The ‘existential crisis’
Existentialism world view itself, is a world view that is accepted by almost all
layers of social groups lived in America. However, in its relation with the study of
class social group as one of the social groups that receive and internalize
existentialism as their world view. This fact can be seen in sorts of the work of
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The author’s social group, was not by itself embraced existentialism as their
world view, but rather influenced by the social structure of the United States, which
is also formed by the economic and political conditions. Educated working class as
the social group of the author, is one of the social groups who directly feel the
construction of life within the social structures which tend to shows some
the objects or goods. It is caused by, the existing economic system has ferociously
experiencing, what is called existential crisis. Man began to question the meaning of
his existence in this life and longing for a conception of how man should live his life
as an individual.
Now it can be seen clearly that, each variable outlined above have a coherent
relations with each other. Because in genetic structuralism theory, the relations of
each variable is a dialectical circle that cannot be separated from one another.
structuralism theory. By such method, can then be found a valid result of a coherent
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If Goldmann requires that a novel that can be studied by using the
structuralism genetic theory confined to major works only, that is, works that express
a world view in a total and maximum extent of coherence, so now, the writer can
propose a thesis that Fight Club novel is a ‘great literary work’—as conditioned by
Goldmann—in our period. The thesis, is proven by the above description which
showed that all the main variables in genetic structuralism theory, contained in the
writer, it is not wrong if Fight Club novel was studied by using genetic structuralism
theory.
5.2 Suggestion
Based on the long description of the overall analysis, the reader would have
Fight Club novel within the framework of existentialism view. Whether messages
symbolic parables, which is often unwittingly entered, precipitated, and then forms a
new structure of beliefs within our subconscious. It was also hoped, with such
understanding, the reader can contemplates various messages and reflect its
relevance to the context of the social structure of the society in which we live.
also suggests to anyone who would conduct the literary research by using genetic
structuralism theory in the times to come, to consider that, the genetic structuralism
theory is a literary theory that has a very large scope, so the studies using this theory
should be a studies that is intended for greater coverage and by a higher level of
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study. Because basically, the major targets of this theory is to understand a
variables with a very broad scope, should be included in genetic structuralism study.
early works and following the theoretical developments in the literary sciences.
Because only by doing so, we can actually come into the contemplative processes of
the science that takes part in the domains of mind. Literature is a deposition of a long
process of civilizations turnover. By reading the literature, one can read the condition
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