The world we live in now is about as far from "natural" as you can get. People have liposuction to remove fat. We have Botox to stop aging. We use a telephone or the Internet to order modular furniture and have it shipped to our air-conditioned apartments. People think they're going to die if they run out of salt n' vinegar chips, or if Netflix fails for even an hour. (Although, now that we think about it—what good is life without potato chips and seven hours of Call The Midwife?)
Tyler Durden wants to introduce real survival back to the world. He wants people to feel the struggle of man vs. elements. He wants to blow up credit card companies and bring us all back to square one. Who would be at an advantage if he were to do that? Not the 1% who can buy everything they need, but the 99% who fight (literally, in this movie) for success.
Questions about Man and the Natural World
- Why does Tyler want to "reset" humanity and what are the steps he takes to do so?
- Can society ever truly go back to the state it was, pre-capitalism?
- How do you think society will progress after the end of the movie? Will things change?
- Who will thrive and who will struggle?
Chew on This
Tyler isn't interested in resetting society for the good of everyone. He's interested in resetting society for the good of people like himself. It's survival of the fittest: and he intends to be the fittest.
Tyler is less concerned about creation and more focused on destruction. He'll keep finding new ways to destroy the world, because aggression comes naturally to him.