The Narrator

"This is your life, and it's ending one minute at a time." -The Narrator.

The Narrator serves as both the protagonist and main antagonist in Chuck Palahniuk's 1996 novel "Fight Club," its 1999 film adaptation, and the subsequent comic books "Fight Club 2" and "Fight Club 3." The character is an insomniac with a split personality, and is depicted as an unnamed everyman (credited in the film as "the Narrator") during the day, who becomes the chaotic and charismatic Tyler Durden at night during periods of insomnia. The Narrator symbolises the twisted version of a modern society's anti-"Everyman."

Goals and Ideals

When the story begins, The Narrator is a recall coordinator for a major car company (shown to be named "Federated Motor Corporation" in the film). He starts out suffering from chronic insomnia, causing him to slog through life in a flat, half-asleep state of depression. He finds temporary relief by attending various support groups under false pretenses; but when this stops working (thanks to Marla Singer) his insomnia returns with a vengeance. It's shortly after this when he "meets" Tyler Durden, and his average, boring life is turned upside down.

Throughout the story, The Narrator is subject to Tyler Durden's attempts to force him to hit bottom, and therefore reach a state of enlightenment. However, The Narrator is slow to grasp Tyler's lessons. At one point he convinces himself that he has indeed become "enlightened," only to be frustrated by Tyler telling him that he is self-deluded and isn't even trying to hit bottom. It eventually becomes apparent that his feelings for Marla are what keeps him from progressing further. He doesn't want to embrace Tyler's goals or destroy society; he just wants Marla. After Tyler disappears, The Narrator becomes more and more unsettled about Project Mayhem. This comes to a head when Bob winds up dead after getting shot in the head by a murdered cop. The Narrator decides to find Tyler, hoping to convince him to shut the whole thing down. He then acknowledges that Tyler is not only is a part of himself, but that he plans to "take over," replacing The Narrator completely. He also discovers Tyler's plan to blow up major credit card buildings. All of this sends him into a panic, and he frantically tries to stop Tyler's plans from succeeding.

At the end of the story, Tyler makes it clear to The Narrator that he plans to kill Marla, on the grounds that she stands in the way of The Narrator's freedom. This is the final straw for The Narrator, who opts to kill himself and destroy Tyler in the process. Tyler (apparently) dies, but The Narrator survives because the bullet merely goes through his cheek. Marla then arrives (in the book she came with members of a support group to save The Narrator; in the film she was brought there by members of Project Mayhem under orders from Tyler). The movie version of the story ends with Marla and The Narrator's hand in hand, silently watching buildings explode as Tyler's plan takes effect. This is in sharp contrast to the end of the novel. In that version of the story, the building explosions fail. The Narrator then shoots himself right in front of Marla. He subsequently winds up locked in a mental ward, wrongly assuming that the gunshot killed him and he's in Heaven.

Appearance

The Narrator, pre Tyler.

The contrasts in appearances.

The narrator is Portrayed by Edward Norton. The narrator is a deliberate juxtaposition to Tyler Durden.

The Narrator is a thin man, presumably in his thirties. He is of average height with a considerably pale complexion. He has short, dark brown hair, light stubble and a hooked nose. His most prominent feature are his eye bags which are likely from his insomnia. His tired, flat expression is often attributed to his insomnia, though it also stems from his depression.

The narrator embodies the archetype of the average businessman, with a somewhat clean cut and average appearance. His lack of fashion makes him plain and emphasises his lack of individuality. Tyler Durden, on the other hand, is a handsome, well built man who carries himself with an eccentric sense of style and flair that sets him apart from the crowd in contrast to the narrator's conformity. Tyler is who The Narrator wished he was and looked like.

Prior to meeting Tyler, The Narrator is almost always in a suit and tie or mostly just a collared shirt but after meeting Tyler and starting Fight Club, his appearance becomes more unkempt. He often sports bruises or injuries from Fight Club, gradually loses the tie, his clothes become wrinkled and stained with blood and he leaves his top buttons open. He also starts smoking.

The Narrator's change in appearance.

Towards the end of the movie, The Narrator is bruised, bloody and dishevelled. He wears just his undergarments and a robe.

Name

The Narrator's real name is never revealed. Throughout the film, he refers to himself several times as Jack (in the novel and the screenplay it's Joe). He does this as a nod to a series of articles he read that were written about the first person perspective of a body part. Edward Norton himself refers to the character as "Jack" because of this. In the screenplay, he is referred to as Jack. Due to copyright, they weren't allowed to use the name Joe, so they changed it and chose Jack, because that was his name in the screenplay.

• "I am Jack's Raging Bile Duct"
• "I am Jack's Cold Sweat"
• "I am Jack's Complete Lack of Surprise"
• "I am Jack's Inflamed Sense of Rejection"
• "I am Jack's Broken Heart"
• "I am Jack's Smirking Revenge"

It's also possible, if not probable, that his real name is in fact Tyler Durden, although this is most likely another alias considering he associated the name with his alter ego, although it's also possible he's so mentally damaged he forgot his own name was in fact Tyler.

Support Group Aliases

In the film, The Narrator uses several false names when he participates in the support groups.

Partial list of aliases:

• Cornelius - used in the testicular cancer group where he met Robert Paulson
• Rupert - used in the cancer group frequented by Chloe.
• Lenny
• Travis
• Mr. Taylor - used when confronted by Marla Singer.
• Trevor - Fight Club 2
• Beelzebub - Fight Club 3

Sequel

In a July 2013 interview about the upcoming Fight Club 2 graphic novel, Chuck Palahniuk specifically referred to The Narrator as "Jack":

"Nowadays, Tyler is telling the story, lurking inside Jack, and ready to launch a comeback. Jack is oblivious. Marla is bored. Their marriage has run aground on the rocky coastline of middle-aged suburban boredom. It's only when their little boy disappears, kidnapped by Tyler, that Jack is dragged back into the world of Mayhem."

The Narrator is also directly called "Jack" in some places (but not others) on Palahniuk's official website. However, in a February 2014 Hustler interview, Palahniuk stated:

"The sequel will be told from the-- at first-- submerged perspective of Tyler Durden as he observes the day-to-day tedium of the narrator's life.  Because 20th Century-Fox created the convention of calling the protagonist Jack, I'm calling him Cornelius."

Quotes

• "This is your life and it's ending one minute at a time."
• "On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero."
• "Tyler sold his soap to department stores at $20 a bar. Lord knows what they charged. It was beautiful. We were selling rich women their own fat asses back to them."
• (to Tyler, while looking at a Gucci ad on the bus) "Is that what a man looks like?"
• (while being embraced by Bob at the testicular cancer therapy session) "Strangers with this kind of honesty make me go a big rubbery one."
• "A guy who came to Fight Club for the first time, his ass was a wad of cookie dough. After a few weeks, he was carved out of wood."
• "I ran. I ran until my muscles burned and my veins pumped battery acid. Then I ran some more."
• "If you wake up at a different time in a different place, could you wake up as a different person?"
• "And then, something happened. I let go. Lost in oblivion. Dark and silent and complete. I found freedom. Losing all hope was freedom."

Trivia

• Some copies of the film have subtitles which refer to the Narrator as "Rupert."
• In January 2014, a collection of props from the film were sold at online auction (the ended auction is still viewable here). Among the props were two Federated Motor Company paychecks issued to "Jack Moore."