How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from Fight Club.
Quote #1
NARRATOR: Like so many others, I had become a slave to the IKEA nesting instinct.
Our narrator spends his nights flipping through furniture catalogs and ordering tons of stuff…but it doesn't make him happy at all. No wonder he blows the place up later.
Quote #2
NARRATOR: Marla's philosophy of life was that she might die at any moment. The tragedy, she said, was that she didn't.
Marla is unhappy with life for a much more vague reason. With her, we never get insight into why she's dissatisfied with life…just that she is.
Quote #3
NARRATOR: Everywhere I travel, tiny life—single-serving sugar, single-serving cream, single pat of butter. […] Shampoo-conditioner combos. Sample package mouthwash. Tiny bars of soap. The people I meet on each flight, they're single-serving friends.
Our narrator equates people with stuff, which is a sad thought. But since he views himself as being made of stuff (like IKEA) it's not a surprising comparison coming from him.