Nala Cyriac
Mr. Cohen
ENG3U
January 22nd, 2025
A Search for Purpose: Comparing Hamlet and the Narrator from Fight Club
People with depressive tendencies occasionally cope by turning to religion for comfort, hope, and meaning. This sentiment can be proven by comparing the depictions of madness and the search for significance in Fight Club and Hamlet. Despite their profound feelings of inadequacy and insignificance, they both discover a sense of agency and direction by embracing religious philosophies. In Fight Club, the narrator’s perceived inadequacy and lack of control result in the birth of Tyler Durden, the manifestation of his desires. Through this distinct identity, he searches for meaning by deliberately defying God's will in the hopes that God will eventually recognize him and want him back. Similarly, Hamlet, burdened by existential despair and grief, finds a purpose in the ghost's call for revenge, channelling his feelings of futility into a quest for justice and a wish for divine significance. By examining the narrator’s self-loathing, feeding Tyler's ambition for purpose through seeking God’s recognition, and Hamlet’s search for meaning by becoming a minister of justice, it is clear that both characters attempt to turn to religion in order to look for direction in their lives.
Examining the nameless narrator in Fight Club allows us to identify his perceived insignificance, manifested through his alter ego as a way to gain control and search for purpose. After initially meeting and falling in love with Tyler’s character, it only motivates his disdain towards himself as he believes that he is “nothing in the world compared to Tyler.” (Palahniuk, Fight Club, 146) This perceived inferiority is very prominent in his character, as he consistently notes his flaws and commonality, similar to how he describes himself as “nothing in the world.” Later, the narrator remarks on the traits he is envious of, saying,
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 him to change their world. Tyler is capable and free, and I am not. (Palahniuk, Fight Club, 174)
Since the story is presented through the narrator's stream of consciousnesses, we are continuously exposed to his self-loathing. He communicated a desire to die after developing this ulterior personality, as he lacks many of the elements and traits that he admires in Tyler. By expressing suicidality, it highlights his insecurity and internal narrative, viewing himself as worthless in comparison to Tyler. In an article published by the Penn State University Press, Suzanne Del Gizzo comments on the lens that the protagonist views Tyler from, noting that, “For the nameless narrator of Fight Club, the hero is Tyler Durden, a charismatic loner who works odd jobs as a movie projectionist and a banquet waiter.” (Gizzo, 72) The narrator’s core dehuminizing beliefs, coupled with Tyler’s superiority, explain why he subconsciously provides Tyler greater authority. This allows him to combat his alter ego’s inferiority complex, culminating in the creation of Project Mayhem so that “this way, at least, God would know our names.” (Palahniuk, Fight Club, 141) Believing that recognition and attention were the only things that could offer him purpose, he surmises that “the lower you fall, the higher you’ll fly. The farther you run, the more God wants you back.” (Palahniuk, Fight Club. 141) As religious beliefs continue to decline, our society seems to be moving away from traditional authority. There has been a focus on increased individual freedom and a rejection of established norms with the rise of media movements that prompt reform and deepen political mistrust, such as people receiving their news from media outlets rather than reputable sources. Tyler Durden exemplifies this common desire to break the mold and defy traditional beliefs; perhaps this is a result of society’s collective insecurity, wanting desperately to achieve recognition and find significance through acts of rebellion. In his own words, “getting God’s attention for being bad was better than getting nothing at all. Maybe because God’s hate is better than His indifference.” (Palahniuk, Fight Club, 141)
Hamlet similarly feels lost and depressed at the beginning of the play, contemplating his will to live; however, after encountering the ghost, he focuses on his newfound sense of purpose. The initial deliberation of morality indicates his belief that life is unbearable and the only way to escape this suffering is death.
To be, or not to be? That is the question—whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles and, by opposing, end them? (3,1,57)
As Hamlet contemplates his next course of action, he encounters a profound internal conflict. The contrast between suffering and action, life and death, and the known and the unknown is the basis of the soliloquy. This structure presents his confliction through a genuine perspective, as his feelings are openly displayed without fear of judgement. The metaphor "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" is used to compare life's hardships to physical attacks, thus emphasizing the intensity of his suffering. Hamlet, possessing this religiously tainted perception of right and wrong, is conflicted with his desires to die, as that very wish goes against the morals of God. In an article published by The Journal of Speculative Philosophy, it states:
As Hamlet's whole being is wrapped up in this moral world, he feels that he possesses no bond which can tie him to existence; hence he is continually contemplating suicide, from which however that same ethical nature holds him back. (Snider, 68)
Thus, after receiving this quest, he wholeheartedly devotes himself to it in an attempt to reignite his passion. This change in attitude is clear when speaking to his mother, where he describes his duty. “But heaven hath pleased it so, to punish me with this and this with me, that I must be their scourge and minister. I will bestow his and will answer well the death I gave him.” (3.4.176) While he still possesses this depressive lens on life, by describing this heavenly task as punishment, he appears to have discovered a newfound purpose through acting as the heavenly minister of justice. Similarly, his use of the word “must” indicates his perceived duty to enforce this divine ruling, both as a way to avenge his father and perhaps also as a way to give his life meaning. During this time period, religious devotion was an important aspect of daily life; as noted in The Time Traveller’s Guide to Elizabethan England, “not believing in God is like not believing in trees.” (Mortimer, The Time Traveller’s Guide to Elizabethan England, 73). Thus, Hamlet’s search for direction through religious devotion was likely a method to answer his questions born out of depression in a socially acceptable way.
Within both stories, these important characters begin unhappy yet discover an outlet to escape their miserable lives, finding purpose through turning to religion in opposite ways. In the beginning, both characters exhibit similar mentalities, feeling lost and no longer seeing the value in life. For the narrator in Fight Club, living feels like a neverending cycle of pain and temporary contentment, causing him to feel lost and hopeless. “Anything you’re ever proud of will be thrown away. And I’m lost inside.” (Palahniuk, Fight Club, 17) Due to his melancholy, he passively wishes to die to escape the pain. “Every takeoff and landing, when the plane banked too much to one side, I prayed for a crash.” (Palahniuk, Fight Club, 25) Hamlet displays a similar mentality, first appearing in a depressive state, believing that life is meaningless and wishing he could end his suffering.
Oh, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt, thaw and resolve itself into a dew, or that the Everlasting had not fixed his canon’ gainst self-slaughter! Oh God, God! How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable seem to me all the uses of this world. (1,2,129)
Comparing the statements, “Anything you’re ever proud of will be thrown away,” to Hamlet's, “How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable seem to me all the uses of this world,” highlights their identical world views. Both characters believe that there is no meaning in the world and that anything enjoyable is either genuinely worthless or unhelpful, or will eventually be taken away. While the narrator uses a metaphor for feeling "lost inside," effectively conveying a feeling of internal conflict and confusion which implies that the speaker is confined and unable to find himself again, Hamlet uses repetition of the word “God” to amplify the sense of distress and the plea for relief. Their respective structures also illustrate their deep sadness as in Fight Club, the narrator’s exhaustion and melancholy is evident through the vague, depressing tone of his early stream of consciousness. In Hamlet, however, through his soliloquies, we are introduced to his true, unfiltered thoughts and feelings, painting him as a depressed character with no motivation to live. Notably, both of these initial passages include religious overtones: the internal struggle between misery and the divine prohibition of suicide in Hamlet, and the narrator’s prayer in Fight Club. This serves as a catalyst for each character's journey of purpose, with Hamlet fully dedicating himself to God while the narrator seeks meaning by having his alter ego turn away from Him. However, the extremity to which they take on this task results in the label of madness for both characters. Charles Kimball examined the shift from benevolent religion to devotion with sinister consequences, concluding that “religion is like a cow. It can kick and it can provide wholesome milk." (Kimball, 74) The main takeaway was that utilizing religion, as long as it is done in an appropriate manner, can be a good thing. However, to use the cow analogy, although the milk from cows offers numerous health benifits, attempting to milk that cow too much could result in getting kicked.
In conclusion, both Hamlet and the anonymous narrator in Fight Club, who struggle with existential dread and intense feelings of inadequacy, look to religious philosophies in distinctive ways for guidance and purpose in their lives. Through his alter ego, Tyler Durden, the narrator seeks recognition and purpose by deliberately defying God's will, believing that even divine hatred is preferable to indifference. Hamlet, burdened by grief and a sense of futility, channels his despair into the ghost’s quest for vengeance, choosing to pursue justice as a means to seek divine significance. While both characters find temporary solace in their chosen paths, their actions ultimately lead to self-destruction, highlighting the dangers of seeking meaning through extreme acts of rebellion or blind obedience. This emphasizes the complexity of the human experience and the fine line that separates turning to faith for comfort from giving in to its possibly harmful influence.
Works Cited
Gizzo, Suzanne Del. “The American Dream Unhinged: Romance and Reality in ‘The Great Gatsby’ and ‘Fight Club.'” The F. Scott Fitzgerald Review, vol. 6, 2007, pp. 69–94., JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41583129. Accessed 21 January 2025.
Kimball, Charles. “When Religion Becomes Evil: Five Warning Signs.” Comparative Civilizations Review, Brigham Young University, 1 April 2006, https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1659&context=ccr. Accessed 20 January 2025.
Mortimer, Ian. “The Time Traveller’s Guide to Elizabethan England.” Random House: UK, 2013. Accessed 21 January 2025.
Palahniuk, Chuck. Fight Club: A Novel. WW Norton, 2018.
Shakespeare, William, and Sparknotes. Hamlet: Deluxe Student Edition. SparkNotes, 2020.
Snider, D. J. “HAMLET.” The Journal of Speculative Philosophy, vol. 7, no. 2, 1873, pp. 67–88., JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/25665831. Accessed 20 January 2025.
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