Is It All in My Mind or Not?

A detailed Summary of Is It All in My Mind or Not?

Once you get past the initial violent context of the movie, Fight Club, the viewer bears witness to an intriguing narrative about a man with Multiple Personality Disorder. Revolving around three central characters; a nameless narrator (Edward Norton), his alter ego Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt), and his girlfriend Marla Singer (Helena Bonham Carter), Fight Club is a movie about an individual who is engrossed in everything around him he does not know where it ends and he begins. He not seeks to redefine himself in Tyler's image, but also everyone and everything in society. The narrator uses his imaginary friend, Tyler, and his following, Fight Club, as a means to escape everyday life and embark upon a journey of self discovery filled with mischief and mayhem. Using several key elements concerning the film's plot line, like story time and narrative time, flashbacks, action time and suggestive language, the narrative is able to manipulate the storyline. Keeping the viewer in suspense as to not only the events of the narrative but also whether or not the narrator is actually the one telling the story.

The movie begins in a most ambiguous state with the narrator and Tyler Durden waiting what is to be the climax. Almost immediately, t

If a cowboy has the reigns of a horse, he or she dictates its actions and movements in a sense he or she controls the horse. Tyler is everything the narrator is not but so greatly desires to be; handsome, smart, ambitious, and a leader. The narrator looks to Tyler as a role model. He trusts him, emulates him, and does what he says no matter what it is. Through the use of several tests; getting into his first fight, the chemical burn, the car crash and preventing him from acknowledging his existence, Tyler influences the narrator and eventually gains control of him. Seen in a conversation between the narrator and Marla, he mimics Tyler as he says; "This conversation is over" (Fight Club). Once he has control Tyler can and does change what the narrator reveals to the viewer. He effects what the viewer sees, hears, knows and comprehends, by doing this Tyler keeps his identity secret until the climax. By controlling the narrator, Tyler controls the narrative and thusly controls the audience.

Tyler manipulates the narrative time so easily because not even the narrator knows that it is occurring. Immediately the movie goes into a continuous flashback sequence told from the point of view or narrator's conscious mind. Influenced by his subconscious the narrator conveys the plot as instructed and hears only what he is told. Events are not rearranged like in As I Lay Dying or Beloved, rather details are excluded or changed based on the perspective of the narrator all in effort to keep the viewer from knowing the entire truth. When members of Project Mayhem kidnap the police commissioner to convince him not to pursue the prosecution of Fight Club, the narrator sees his alter ego leading the charge so that is what he conveys to the viewer. In actuality, he is the one who orchestrates everything but only his subconscious mind is aware of that. Duration of sequences is also crucial to the manipulation of the narrative paying close attention to the amount of time Tyler spends alone with the narrator. The viewer discovers that these lengthened, while the narrator's interactions with the world are exceedingly con

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1436
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Movies