What's Up with the Ending of Fight Club? The Movie Explained

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Plus, how the film compares to Palahniuk's novel
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Fight Club is a 1999 cult classic film directed by David Fincher, based on the novel by Chuck Palahniuk. The story follows an unnamed Narrator, played by Edward Norton, who’s forced to move in with eccentric anti-conformist Tyler Durden, played by Brad Pitt, after the Narrator’s condo burns down. Together, they squat in a dilapidated house and start a fight club (which we’re not supposed to talk about), setting a dangerous chain of events in motion that quickly begin to unravel. So, what exactly happens at the end of the film? Keep reading for a complete breakdown of the movie’s final plot points, how it compares to the book, and answers to all of your burning questions. Warning: spoilers ahead.

What happens at the end of Fight Club ?

At the end of the movie Fight Club , Tyler Durden reveals he and the Narrator are the same person. The Narrator tries to stop Project Mayhem, but it's too late. He "kills" Tyler by shooting himself in the face. Tyler's goons bring Marla to the Narrator; they hold hands and watch as the buildings in the distance explode.

Section 1 of 4:

Fight Club Ending Explained

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  1. 1
    Tyler Durden is revealed to be the Narrator’s alter ego. In the final act of the film, the Narrator is frantically chasing after Tyler all over the country in an effort to thwart Project Mayhem. Shortly after, it’s revealed that he hasn’t been able to catch up to him because the person he’s looking for… is himself. In a scene at the Narrator’s hotel room, Tyler appears sitting in a chair in full eccentric regalia. That’s exactly when Tyler explains that he is the Narrator and the Narrator is him— they are one. Tyler claims that the Narrator created him out of a need to become someone completely different from the weak, paralyzed man the Narrator perceives himself to be. [1]
    • Tyler shares that there’s no way to stop Project Mayhem, as Tyler has set up several hubs around the country, each informed with their own plan to destroy their respective cities.
    • The Narrator still tries to stop Tyler with very little success, as he is not able to recall how to dismantle a bomb when presented with it outside of one of their targeted buildings.
  2. 2
    The Narrator shoots himself, killing Tyler Durden. Once the Narrator realizes that he can’t stop Project Mayhem, but he can prevent another similar plot from forming by “killing” Tyler. The Narrator shoots himself in the face, to which Tyler replies, “Do you smell smoke?” Tyler seemingly dies, and some of his Project Mayhem goons arrive at that precise moment. They express concern for the Narrator’s facial injury, but he tells them he’s fine. The goons bring in Marla Singer, who is trying to fight them off but quickly stops, shocked by the Narrator’s appearance.
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  3. 3
    The Narrator and Marla hold hands and watch buildings explode in the distance. The Narrator assures Marla that he’s okay, even with a smoking gash in his cheek. In front of large glass windows facing the city skyline, the Narrator turns to Marla, who is visibly shaken, and delivers one of the film’s classic lines: “You met me at a very strange time in my life.” They hold hands and watch as the buildings in the distance explode and collapse, signaling to the audience that Project Mayhem has gone off without a hitch, presumably in all the other cities, too. The final scene suggests the success of Tyler Durden’s plan and the resulting crash of consumerism… literally. [2]
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Section 2 of 4:

Message & Meaning Behind Fight Club

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  1. Fight Club deals with consumerism, toxic masculinity, and mental health. A highly cerebral and thought-provoking piece of media, Fight Club highlights the nuanced relationships between society, suffering, and repression of the self. After first reading the novel, Fincher remarked on how much he related to the feeling of emptiness after achieving financial and material gain, as society has encouraged us to. This is depicted in the Narrator’s split psyche: one part of him is a conformist worker bee of the corporate world, and the other, a raging maniac who starts a national terrorist organization. These two characters are in total opposition, illustrating the true damage done to the Narrator’s mental health. [3]
    • Tyler’s founding of the fight club functions to uphold longstanding ideals about the violent nature of masculinity and how dangerous it can be.
    • Moreover, there is social commentary on how easy it is to start a cult and get people to join, especially if they themselves are struggling with mental health issues.
    • In the world of Fight Club , which was likely inspired by Palahniuk’s perspective on modern capitalist America, the men who join the club are hopeless, lonely, and desperate to belong.
    • Tyler’s terrorist association provides these men with the feeling of belonging and purpose, which is why they don’t think twice about bombing a building.
Section 3 of 4:

How the Fight Club Film Compares to the Book

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  1. 1
    The initial meeting between the Narrator and Tyler In the film, the Narrator meets Tyler in an airplane. They exchange pleasantries and the Narrator is immediately drawn to Tyler’s unconventional and irreverent point of view. In the book, the Narrator and Tyler meet on a nude beach while Tyler is putting together a wooden beam structure designed to cast the shadow of a hand on the sand.
  2. 2
    Marla’s literal call for help In the film, the Narrator stops frequenting the support groups, causing Marla to reach out to him. In true dramatic Marla fashion, however, she takes some Xanax and calls the Narrator to reveal her suicide attempt, hoping he goes to save her— from herself. The Narrator is seen picking up the phone and then leaving it off the hook, and Marla rambles on. The phone is shortly thereafter picked up by Tyler, who goes to see her, thus beginning their turbulent love affair. In the novel, Tyler is the one who picks up the phone from the first ring. [4]
  3. 3
    The chemical burn incident In the film, Tyler makes it a point to pour lye on the Narrator’s hand, giving him a matching chemical burn— one of the telltale signs that they’re both the same person. In the book, Marla accidentally comes into contact with the lye and burns herself.
  4. 4
    The ending There are a few major differences between the ending of the film and the book. For one, Tyler’s last act of terrorism is meant to destroy a museum in the book, not a credit card company as it is in the film. This may have been changed in the film’s screenplay to better portray the anti-consumerism aspect of the narrative, as Tyler wanted to blow up the credit card companies to wipe everyone’s debt. Moreover, the iconic final scene of the Narrator and Marla holding hands in front of the skyline as the bombs go off in the distance never takes place in the book. [5]
    • The book’s ending features the Narrator waking up in a hospital. At first, he believes he’s in heaven, but then the nurses and orderlies around him reveal themselves to all be members of Project Mayhem.
    • They tell the Narrator that they thought Tyler would be the one to come back, suggesting that the Narrator’s “murder” of Tyler may not be permanent.
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Section 4 of 4:

FAQ

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  1. 1
    What was Tyler Durden’s real identity? In both the film and the book, Tyler Durden is the Narrator’s alter ego, representing his inner conflict. The Narrator is an insomniac working in corporate America, admittedly obsessed with curating the perfect apartment, based on capitalistic norms. Tyler Durden is born out of the Narrator’s secret, yet rampant desire to break free of society’s shackles, potentially brought on by insomnia-related psychosis. This explains one of the most iconic lines from the film, as delivered by Tyler: “All the ways you wish you could be, that's me. I look like you wanna look. I f**k like you wanna f**k. I am smart, capable, and most importantly, I am free in all the ways that you are not.” [6]
  2. 2
    Does Tyler Durden die at the end? Yes—sort of. Tyler Durden symbolically “dies” at the end of the film and in the book. While Tyler Durden has no actual physical body to kill since he shares one with the Narrator, the Narrator manages to “kill” his destructive alter ego by shooting himself in the face. The Narrator is wounded, but survives, and views it as a victory over Tyler, who is presumably “dead.” Still, Tyler’s “death” is still up to interpretation for some. [7]
  3. 3
    Was Marla Singer real? Marla’s existence is up to interpretation. In both the film and book, Marla Singer is portrayed as a real person. Marla and the Narrator first meet at one of the Narrator’s support groups, all of which he attends simply to make himself feel better about his own life. Marla, who has her share of mental health struggles, is drawn to the Narrator, who oscillates back and forth between his two personas: Tyler, who likes her, and the Narrator, who can’t stand her. This ends up confusing her and giving her emotional whiplash, causing her to break things off with the Narrator more than once, although she joins him in the end. [8]
    • Ultimately, however, the film makes the Narrator out to be an unreliable one, as the plot unfolds under the veil of the Narrator’s highly questionable and volatile point of view.
    • Some viewers speculate that Marla is yet another one of the Narrator’s figments, like Tyler, and the film leaves this question purposely unanswered.
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      References

      1. ↑ https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/fight-club-ending-explained/
      2. ↑ https://www.cbr.com/fight-club-ending-explained/
      3. ↑ https://lithub.com/everyone-misunderstands-the-point-of-fight-club/
      4. ↑ https://sites.psu.edu/comm150honors/2016/05/01/fight-club-vs-fight-club-important-changes-between-the-book-and-the-movie-adaptation/
      5. ↑ https://majorspoilers.com/2019/02/28/fight-club-3-2-review/
      6. ↑ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0137523/quotes/?item=qt0479107
      7. ↑ https://popdose.com/being-admired-through-being-misunderstood-the-movies-the-internet-gets-wrong/
      8. ↑ https://www.jackdurden.com/

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