What's in a name? Would a violent anarchist by any other name still be as volatile?
In order to figure out this little conundrum, we'd first have to know our main character's name. And our main narrator character in Fight Club has no actual name. He wears a bunch of different name tags and, as a result, adopts different identities. And by the time we find out that his best friend is his imaginary alter ego, we're left wondering if his real name is actually Tyler Durden…or is that just what he tells people?
Questions about Identity
- What prompts our narrator to unconsciously split himself into two personalities?
- Which personality traits do our narrator and Tyler Durden share?
- What do men learn about themselves in fight club and Project Mayhem?
- Why do men join Project Mayhem, a movement where they are nameless, faceless entities?
Chew on This
Many of the characters in the movie, like Angel Face and The Mechanic, have no actual name because they are merely members of a movement—whether it is consumer society or Project Mayhem—and not individuals.
Without furniture or a wardrobe to define himself our narrator becomes more and more psychotic because he is not sure how to create a new identity.