Fighting With Gatsby

FIGHT CLUB AND THE GREAT GATSBY

Is Fight Club just a re-imagination of The Great Gatsby?

[SPOILER ALERT: This blog has major spoilers for the novel Fight Club, if you haven’t read the book (or seen the movie), I wouldn’t recommend reading this blog.]

Fight Club is a dark, powerful story written by Chuck Palahniuk. The book (and later, movie) are filled with fighting, destruction, multiple personality disorder, and insomnia; an obvious deviation of the ‘classiness’ of Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, and definitely not a novel that could be pinned as a rewrite. So what exactly is it that makes Palahniuk say the following in the afterward of his book?:

   “Really, what I was writing was just The Great Gatsby updated a little. It was "apostolic" fiction - where a surviving apostle tells the story of his hero. There are two men and a woman. And one man, the hero, is shot to death.“It was a classic, ancient romance but updated to compete with the espresso machine and ESPN.”  (215)

It seems that Palahniuk is just drawing a few parallels to each of the characters where The Narrator and Nick, Tyler and Gatsby, and Marla and Daisy are all grouped together. The Narrator and Nick seem to be a good match for the hero-worshiping and retrospective narrations they both provide. Tyler and Gatsby, however, appear to be extremely different. One is “an elegant young roughneck” who possesses charm and wealth. The other believes that "self-destruction is the answer". Marla and Daisy, too, look as if to have little in common other than being the most significantly ladies in both narratives. Marla is grungy and says things like, "I want to have your abortion," while Daisy posses a voice "full of money."

Jay Gatsby as represented by Leonardo DiCaprio in the upcoming movie of The Great Gatsby due to be released in 2013.

Tyler Durden as represented by Brad Pitt in the 1999 movie version of Fight Club.

However, if one looks closer at these pairs, more radical comparisons come to light. Such as how both Daisy and Marla are ultimately responsible for the respective heroes being shot, both Gatsby and Tyler charismatic and infamous, and both Nick and the Narrator start out as relatively conservative (compared to Gatsby and Tyler, respectively), lonely people.

Even armed with this information, though, it must be taken into account that Palahniuk’s comparisons do not actually make much sense when replacing the characters directly. Daisy was not interested in Nick, nor was he in she; and, more importantly, Gatsby and Nick were two completely separate people, unlike Tyler and the Narrator. So with a few parallels and a flawed casting assignment, can one truly argue that Fight Club is actually just a modern version of The Great Gatsby?

The answer is yes. As the books were written around both the end and the beginning of the twentieth century, an evolution has taken place that, while not an exact copy of the Fitzgerald’s much earlier work, Palahniuk has created something more fitting with more modern day times while keeping much of the premise of The Great Gatsby close at heart.

In Fight Club, the mechanic repeats Tyler Durden’s words when he talks about the lack of “a great war in [their] generation, or a great depression” but rather, a “great war of the spirit. [They] have a revolution against the culture. The great depression is [their] lives. [They] have a spiritual depression.” (49) This is unlike the actual great war present in The Great Gatsby that both Nick and Gatsby participated in. Instead of a past of fighting in the literal sense, Palahniuk gives us a past of emotional fighting. A fight against culture, and, perhaps, not having to fight about anything in the first place. Palaniuk seems to be suggesting here that because of the lack of any outlets, people felt even more "restless" than Nick did when he first came back from the war. This is one of the ideas that has changed people’s perspective in the seventy year gap between novels. 

The book’s style, word choice, and imagery differ considerably because of the different time periods they were written in. A comparison of Daisy and Marla shows the huge difference between the two: the difference of seventy years- of keeping up with ESPN and the espresso machine. Although even in our time Marla isn’t seen as a particularly desirable human being, the Narrator’s affection for her makes her out to be the desirable character in the narrative. She’s nothing like Daisy, but she’s seen as an acceptable love interest in modern times, easily showcasing the difference in characters as a way to underline the difference in time. In the end, both of these characters are also indirectly responsible for getting the "heroes" of the story killed. Marla for showing up and letting the Narrator finally get the strength to "shoot Tyler" (actually shooting himself because he and Tyler are the same person). Daisy for running over Myrtle and causing Wilson enough pain to retaliate by shooting Gatsby and himself.

Paul is The King of Spain

The Tallest Man on Earth, or Kristian Matsson, is a singer-songwriter from Sweden. He is known for his Bob Dylan-esque music and poetic songs. In one of these songs, The King of Spain, he sings about how he would change who he is for his lover. In many ways, this song parallels Paul in Six Degrees of Separation.

In The King of Spain, Kristian sings “I am not from Barcelona, I am not even from Madrid. I am a native of the North Pole, and that can mess up any kid.” This shows how not only is he not from Spain, but that that is a bad thing. In terms of Six Degrees, this is like Paul not being from the upper class. Another similarity is that both Paul and the character from this song both change because of another person. Paul is taught by Trent, while in the song, the person is taught by his lover. This is evident in the chorus of the song, “Well if you could reinvent my name, well if you could redirect my day, I wanna be the King of Spain.” In another section of the song, the lyrics are “And all the senoritas sighing, will be the fountain of my lies.” The meaning of these words is that as people believe him more and more, that is what would make other people believe him, in a sort of snowball effect. The “senoritas sighing” about him and believing his stories will lead him into a “fountain of lies.” The “fountain of lies” is an abundance of lies that people immediately trust, because other people trust them. This, too, exists in Paul’s ability to wiggle into these families’ lives. Paul being the “son” of a famous actor is what makes other people believe him more. In effect, the story about being an actor’s son was Paul’s sighing senoritas, which led into his fountain of lies, for example his lie about being able to be in the movie version of Cats. 

Paul, like the character in the song, does not stop too long in one place. Paul moves from family to family, creating new lies to go with each one. The singer does the same, evident in the quote, “Oh while I'm tightening my crown. I'll disappear in some flamenco perhaps I'll reach the other side.” Just as people start to trust him, he moves on. “Perhaps I’ll reach the other side” is an especially interesting quote. For the singer, it’s about how maybe he’ll make it with the next people, as the current one failed. This is exactly like Paul. After he failed with Ouisa and Flan, he moves on to Rick and Elizabeth as soon as he can. And before that he moved on to Ouisa and Flan from Kitty and Larkin. In an earlier verse, the words are “But while we're floating in siestas you search for bottles and for knives.” The verse shows how people are starting to doubt him, and maybe planning to betray him, which is why he must leave. Finally, he sings “Why are you stabbing my illusion? Just cause I stole some eagle's wings. Because you named me as your lover, well, I thought I could be anything.” This is about how he overextended himself being “The King of Spain.” This desire to be the King of Spain is his “illusion,” and “stealing some eagle’s wings” is his elevation into royalty. When he became his lover’s lover, he thought he could seduce anyone he wanted into believing him. Paul is similar, in that his illusion was moving into the upper class, and it was “stabbed” when he is found out as a fraud. 

While these two characters are similar in many manners, they are also very different. Mainly, Paul wants to move into higher society for, what he says, “everlasting friendship,” while the singer wants to be the king of spain for his lover. Also, the singer learned from his lover, which was who he was trying to impress. Paul also learned from a lover, but it was purely physical and unrequited.

"Free" Enterprise and the 2012 Election

America's Economic System 

and the Presidential Race

A brief background:

Free enterprise is the heart of American economics, and has been since the founding our founding, but though our love of the idea behind free enterprise has remained the same, our love for its applicability have not.  When originally defined, free enterprise was an economic system in which the government has very little power over private businesses, and is only capable of intervening when the public interest is at stake.  This allowed for poor people and small businesses to achieve success through the means of hard work, which many did, and thus our economy grew strong and we became a world power.

Just 5 years ago in 2007 the top one percent of Americans owned  33.8% of the wealth while the bottom fifty percent owned only 2.5%, and these figures have only gotten more extreme today.  This presents a difficult question: does free enterprise still work, or does it need to be changed to fit a modern society.  

The 2012 Election:

In his campaign for reelection, President Barack Obama has embraced the philosophy that free enterprise does not work, at least not on its own.  Obama believes that free enterprise can work, but in order to do so the poor need to be helped, and the government needs to be the one to help them.  He argues that if the poor are not helped, they cannot achieve their potential or fulfill their American Dreams.  


Alternatively, Mitt Romney has decided that free enterprise does work, and that it only needs to grow for the poor to be able to succeed.  He bases his thinking on the fact that free enterprise on its own created an even distribution of wealth, and the belief that it can do it again.   

Obama and Scholarships:

In his acceptance speech for presidential nominee at the DNC, President Obama spoke about how important the average American person is to those who are poor.  He listed several examples on how through the people's funding of collegiate scholarships, people who wouldn't have been able to go to a college now have that chance, saying, 

"We believe the little girl who's offered an escape from poverty by a great teacher or a grant for college could become the next Steve Jobs or the scientist who cures cancer or the president of the United States, and it is in our power to give her that chance."

Though Obama himself was not a little girl, his words still tell his story: young minority child, who was raised by his retired grandparents, and through scholarships was able to first attend a private school for 5th through 12 grades, and then later Columbia University, and then finally become the President of the United States of America.

Obama with his grandparents

Though probably intended for guys
trying to get a date, the hat's words
still apply to a more general audience

Obama believes that without that help he would not be where he is today, and he's probably correct: without affirmative action the percentage of black students in selective schools such as Columbia would drop down to only 2% of the student body, and students such as Obama might not get in.  Because the less fortunate would be deprived of their opportunities to compete against the more fortunate without help from the government, free enterprise is essentially broken.



Citizenship:

Obama's belief that Americans must help each other derives from his perception of the word 'citizenship.'  In his acceptance speech he said, "this country only works when we accept certain obligations to one another and to future generations," and "that a freedom which asks only, what's in it for me... is unworthy of our founding ideals."  


This, however, is what our modern society has come down to.  Studies have shown that the upper class, the class that owns a third of the wealth in the U.S. is also the most selfish.  It is this selfishness that prevents the lower class from acquiring more wealth and success, and thus Obama feels that the upper class must act unselfishly, for the good of the country, and help the poor get on their feet.  Otherwise free enterprise will only apply to the wealthy, and free enterprise will not work as a system for social growth, the way it once was.  


Glengarry Glen Ross:

When David Mamet wrote Glengarry Glen Ross in 1984, he called into questioned the reality of free enterprise.  He proposed that free enterprise was not as free as everyone thought, and rather that success through this system was restricted to those who had already made it, i.e. the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.  The main demonstration of this in GGR is in the leads, where only the top closers get the good leads.  When Williamson tells Levene that the other closers will get good leads once they pass a certain mark, Levene responds by asking,

"Then how do they come up above that mark?  With dreck . . . ?  That's nonsense" (20).

How are the lower classes supposed to catch up to the rich when they start off with so much less?  This is the same argument that the President has made for the failure of free enterprise.  Obama's opponent Mitt Romney might assert that Levene is simply part of the 47%, a group of people who feel entitled to benefits and will not work for their living, but Levene counters this when he says,

"Do I want charity?  Do I want pity?  I want sits.  I want leads don't come right out of a phone book" (22).

All that Levene wants is an equal opportunity to compete with the other workers, but he cannot get this through the current system.  Levene then becomes so desperate that he decides to rob the office for some of the good leads, but this backfires on him when he is found out and arrested.  Through this chain of events Mamet shows that the poor are helpless to their fate, and that they need outside help if they are to survive.

Right before Levene is arrested it seems as though Roma is this outside help, and that Levene is going to be alright, but as soon as Roma knows Levene's fate he asks for half of Levene's commissions.  Roma is wealthy and successful, but is greedy and selfish, and it is this that prevents him from offering any real help to Levene.
 By showing the greed of the wealthy, Mamet possibly offers a warning towards people such as Mitt Romney, who, though they promise help and relief, intend to do this in ways that could help further their own wealth.

Styx Degrees of Separation

Come Sail Away- Styx

Styx, the band, was forming in January 1971. They quickly became known for their bombastic rocker attitude. The band is composed of four musicians: Chuck and John Panozzo (bass & drums), and James Young and Tommy Shaw (vocals & keyboard). They have been one of the most famous American Rock Bands. Come Sail Away was ranked #8 in 1977.

In this song, James Young sings about the determination that one has to leave behind his old, exhausted life and become free to discover his new life and all of its possibilities and discusses the struggles along the way. It connects to the American Dream and the immigrants' journey:

Set an open course for the virgin sea,
'Cause I've got to be free,
Free to face the life that's ahead of me

This stanza represents the hope that was put into everyone's mind about America. Everyone was so ecstatic about the new opportunities that they would have in America and they needed to break free from their old lives. The "virgin sea" can represent the idea of America: pure, vast, and fresh.

 

Reflections in the waves spark my memory,
Some happy, some sad,
I think of childhood friends and the dreams we had
We lived happily forever, so the story goes,
But somehow we missed out on the pot of gold

This shows how the immigrants had hope steaming all the way back to when they were children. They had dreams where they "lived happily forever." In the next line, it shows how real life has ended up differently than his dreams because he "somehow missed out on the pot of gold." This symbolizes the confusion that people had upon arriving in America and receiving terrible treatment. They thought that they would have everything in the world if they made it to America and once they did they experienced extreme dissatisfaction, missing out on the expected pot of gold.

A gathering of angels appeared above my head,
They sang to me this song of hope and this is what they said,They said come sail away, come sail away, come sail away with me lads

 

The "angels" in this stanza represent the encouraging words that the immigrants heard before their journey to America. We later see that these "angels" were deceptive and tricked them.

 

I thought that they were angels, but to my surprise,

We climbed aboard their starship, we headed for the skies

Since angels are thought of as being ultimate saviors, this shows how the hopeful immigrants thought they would be forever content and safe in a heaven when they came to America. It seems like in this song, these "angels" are really aliens. The aliens took the people away from their old lives, but while they were expecting something perfect, they arrived in "the skies." 

Come Sail Away by Styx connects to Six Degrees of Separation by John Guare through the constantly fed hope that the American Dream was attainable.

In Six Degrees of Separation, all Paul wants is "everlasting friendship" from the people he's been betraying (Guare 99). This is controversial because in the scence where Paul and Trent are together, Trent only wants to be with Paul but Paul is more interested in the address book full of rich people's names. It is evident that Paul is looking for everlasting friendship because Trent was basically offering it to him and he completely shut him down.

When Paul meets Trent, an upper-class ivy-league student, Trent promises to make him "the most eagerly sought-after young man in the East" (79). This quote is evidence for the hope and confidence that Paul has in order to obtain his desires. Trent also teaches him that he'll be able to fit into the upper class is he talks a certain way. This gave additional hope to Paul, showing him that it was "easy" to get in with the upper class. But it was only easy for those already in the upper class to stay in the upper class. Throughout the play, Paul remains in the upper class for nights at a time, but never more. His lies and deceit are then found out and the members of the Upper East Side lash out on him and get him arrested. This is the ultimate reality check for Paul because he came in with Trent's ideas in his head that "rich people do something nice for you, you give them a pot of jam" (78). Trent made it seem so possible to receive everlasting friendship from the Upper East Side. Paul believed from there on out that rich people would do nice things for him and all he had to do was bring them a pot of jam. We see later, that not even parent-children relationships are considered "everlasting friendship." Flanders and Ouisa neglect their children and we see that most obvious and clear everlasting friendship is not even present in the Upper-East Side.

In both this song and this play, the theme of fantasy versus reality is present.

From Five Finger Death Punch

 to The Great Gatsby

Five Finger Death Punch is a modern hard rock band, whose new album has reflected the values of America's capitalist society. The members of the band are known for their intensely "American" image, supporting guns, beer, the military, and other stereotypical images of American Pride. In their song "The Pride", they simply illustrate that their pride derives from consumerist brands and that those brands define the American Dream.

First Chorus:

I will not be forgotten, this it my time to shine. I've got the scars to prove it, only the strong survive. I'm not afraid of dying, everyone has their time. I've never favored weakness, welcome to the pride.

Direct Meaning

In a quote from Bathory, one of the guitatist of the band, he says,

America adopted a form of capitalism that closely resembles the dynamics of nature. Darwinism and capitalism share many similarities.

This quote suggests that man is not equal, and that in order to survive and prove you are dominant, you must succeed in life. The "Pride" in the song refers to the pride in American capitalist values because the song goes on to list a bunch of popular icons: Johnny Cash, PBR, Jack Daniels, NasCar, Facebook, Bill Gates, Smith and Wesson, NRA, Dimebag, Tupac, Heavy Metal, Hip Hop, White House, JFK, John Wayne, Springsteen, Eastwood, Coca cola, Playboy, NFL, NBA, Brett Favre, King James.

Clint Eastwood Pride

These icons, are seen as the end result of a consumerist economy, an economy where corruption and greed are not flaws if success is gained. Looking at the album cover, it alone suggests that corruption is needed to make the American Dream of economic success possible. The Machiavellian ideology that the ends justify the means, allows for individuals to have moral freedom. Clint Eastwood is an example of this moral freedom, or this absence of strict moral guidelines that often gets praised by Americans. Clint Eastwood often portrays in his films a "true" American man who is a master of guns, women, and whiskey. He is, however, the hero. His character, who often smears the line between right and wrong, has "never favored weakness," is "not afraid of dying," and most importantly, inspires all Americans to praise violence.

Bill Gates Pride

While Eastwood portrays the most basic praise of social evolution where man kills man and the last man standing wins, in modern society, the individual with the most money is celebrated. The use of Bill Gates in "The Pride" illustrates the self-admiration that Americans have for being the wealthiest. This admiration of wealth derives from original puritan thinking from the first settlers of colonial America. Puritans believed in Predestination which is the doctrine that all events are predetermined by God. This belief led many original settlers to spend their time working to succeed economically in life to prove that God had predestined them or "chosen" them. These thoughts have led to modern worship in wealth, creating a sense of inequality between economic classes. Those who have more money are greater than those who have less because they have proved their worth with their accomplishments. This thinking has forced individuals to base their self evaluations on their dollar value which, in turn, creates a moral deterioration, giving birth to icons like Clint Eastwood and speeches like Alec Baldwin's in Glengarry Glen Ross.  

The Great Gatsby

Gatsby, like all Americans, believed that if he worked hard and bettered himself, he would be able to succeed  in life and achieve greatness. He followed the correct path of corruption to get to the top as illustrated in "The Pride" and once he got there he showed his superiority indirectly though all the love he received from the people at the parties. The reason why Gatsby failed in the end is because a system of corruption had already been set up by the old wealth. Fitzgerald takes a different view point from Five Finger Death Punch and illustrates that the time of the American Dream is dead. Those who have already succeeded in America determine whether or not some one else will rise. Consumerist Darwinism is gone and we are all at the will of the rich, forever stuck in the valley of ashes.