Fight Club: Dualism/Doubleness

Fight Club: Dualism/Doubleness

  • Submitted By: Britneyizer
  • Date Submitted: 01/24/2010 2:25 PM
  • Category: English
  • Words: 434
  • Page: 2
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Topic #2: How the film treats ideas about dualism/doubleness
First and foremost, the theatrical elements in the movie such as the costumes and props emphasize the dualism of the main character and its ill fate and consequences. For instance, a lot of the featured costumes in the film reflect the inner nature of the characters, such as Tyler’s black furry coat which appears towards the end of the movie and symbolizes the animalistic nature of Tyler and how he uses it against the narrator. On the other hand, the protagonist’s attire is usually decent, hygienic, but bland, making Tyler’s outfits stand out much more. This gives the audience an impression of the superiority of evil in the deceitful antagonist. Moreover, we can see this being reinforced by the overall appearance of the mansion where a good part of the movie takes place. The first impression the audience gets of the mansion is how filthy and sordid it looks, even though it is a very attractive building in itself. This relates perfectly to how the audience sees the narrator, whose true nature seems to be diminishing more and more over the course of the film: as a good person restrained and tainted by the evil persona haunting him. Another symbol of the superiority of evil is found in soap, which is often brought to our attention in the film. While soap may seem like a regular household item which can do us nothing but good is used as a destructive weapon – an explosive – in this case, which demonstrates how disparaging something as seemingly simple and harmless as soap can be. Consequently, these minor yet significant theatrical elements greatly serve the director’s purpose of symbolizing the unstable connection between Tyler and the narrator.
In conclusion, through the effective and creative use of symbolism and imagery, among others, in the cinematic, theatrical and literary elements in Fight Club, David Fincher manages to develop and reinforce the persistent theme of dualism of human nature and...

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