Aidan O’Connor

Investigating English Language: An examination of applied irony in ’s .

1.0 Introduction

As a writer who grounded many of his works in the genre of transgressive fiction, Chuck

Palahniuk wrote to transcend the typical boundaries of novels stories. In doing so, Palahniuk developed characters confined by the conventions and expectations of their surrounding society that sought to escape their confines through anti-heroic and rebellious methods entailing a number of social taboos. Fight Club parallels this direction of content in its literary linguistic makeup, using multiple strains of the concept of irony as rhetorical devices to complement Palahniuk’s transgressive work. Irony offers an alternative concealed method of conveying information that does not render the reader submissive to direct expression in a fashion that discourages the reading audience from formulating their own assertions. Analysing the presence of irony in Fight Club, which manifests in a multitude of capacities including Romantic, dramatic, situational, verbal and Socratic irony, this essay will formulate its examination of these qualities using the following thesis: Chuck

Palahniuk’s application of irony in Fight Club conveys information through a concealed means of encoding language that is integral to establishing a transgressive opposition to social norms and expectations endorsed by the narrating protagonist.

2.0 Romantic Irony

Chuck Palahniuk’s incorporation of a main character who frequently transitions between the roles of protagonist and narrator provides a delivery that includes elements of metafiction akin to Romantic irony. Romantic irony is achieved in Fight Club through the employment of second person narrative during period when the unnamed main character serves as a narrator:

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“…the first step to eternal life is you have to die… To make a silencer, you just drill holes in the barrel of the gun, a lot of holes. This lets the gas escape and slows the bullet to below the speed of sound. You drill the holes wrong and the gun will blow off your hand…

You take a 98-percent concentration of fuming nitric acid and add the acid to three times that amount of sulfuric acid. Do this in an ice bath. Then add glycerin drop-by-drop with an eye dropper. You have nitroglycerin.” (Palahniuk (2006: 11-12))

A second person narrative mode, through the narrator acknowledges the reader, creates an element of interactivity with Palahniuk’s audience that is more often present amongst works of non-fiction. This notion is aided by the second person narrative’s coupling with other linguistic devices conventionally associated with non-fiction, instructional works.

These include short sentences introduced by and including adverbs and transitive verbs that create a chronological sequence of imperatives; as if components of a self-help guide: “Do this in an ice bath. Then add glycerin drop-by-drop with an eye dropper.” (Palahniuk (2006:

12))

In the process, this voice rejects the novel genre’s conventional efforts to immerse readers in an alternative reality that suspends their self-awareness (Ryan (1999)). Instead, the likes of second person pronouns transcend the narrative boundary and subsequently draw attention to its existence as a work of fiction. This exposes the novel’s illusory world; encouraging reader’s to critically reflect on their own existence in a manner reminiscent of epic drama’s Marxist approach to visual performance (Counsell (1986: 106-107)). The effects of this ironic distance between the novel’s content and the audience exposed to its fictional status by the narrator’s use of a second person narrative voice are addressed by

Colebrook (2004: 3) who cites irony’s distancing function as a method of determining the meaning behind an utterance without directly disclosing the necessary context. In doing so, elements of sincere immediacy are avoided, allowing readers to extract hidden meaning from text.

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Colebrook’s citing of Romantic irony being separated from any sincere commitment to the text closely relates to the novel’s transgressive genre storyline; a documentation of similar efforts to displace loyalty to pre-existing conventions through their destruction. As part of this process, the incorporation of second person pronouns emulates the imperative addressing of potential consumers applied by advertisers of material goods that encapsulate traits of capitalism the unnamed narrating protagonist attempts to erase with his anarchistic scheme to bring about the downfall of America’s debt system. Imperative addressing communicates a sense of authority over the reader that recreates the suppressive nature of a consumer society. This association between Chuck Palahniuk’s transgressive ideological content and the implementation of a second person narrative as a method of Romantic irony that dispels the illusion of fiction is sustained by similar connections in two of Palahniuk’s other works, the novel and the “Foot Work” short story of his Haunted collection. With similar sentiments between literary presence and linguistic implementation, the notion of rebellious dislocation from the norm is conveyed both superficially and ironically; appealing to the popular and intellectually elite readers of Fight Club.

2.1 Situational Irony

Fight Club’s narrative development concludes with the manifestation of situational irony arising out of Palahniuk’s non-chronological sequencing of pivotal scenarios in the novel.

This most aptly exhibits itself regarding the revelation pertaining to the relationship between the unnamed narrating protagonist and the character Tyler Durden, which is only revealed following extensive interaction between the two as opposed to prior to any interfacing. This variation conveys the significance of context in fully understanding linguistic utterances. Palahniuk commences the novel incorporating the use of the first person plural pronouns ‘we’ and ‘us’ as the narrator transitions into his role as a character:

“We both stood there, Tyler rubbing the side of his neck and me holding a hand on my chest, both of us knowing we'd gotten somewhere we'd never been and like the cat and

3 Aidan O’Connor mouse in cartoons, we were still alive and wanted to see how far we could take this thing and still be alive.” (Palahniuk (2006: 53))

Out of the unnamed narrating protagonist’s use of plural pronouns, situational irony arises as it communicates a meaning that transcends its literal interpretation. The author exploits the lack of context surrounding the protagonist’s use of ‘we’, alongside the incorporation of Tyler Durden as a speaking personality within the opening chapter to force the reader to solely rely on their conventional assumption of the word ‘we’ as addressing multiple individuals. This in turn heightens the dramatic climax of the novel’s revelation that the protagonist, as one person, transitions between two forms of consciousness that have each developed personalities. Inverting the circumstances under which the plural pronoun

‘we’ is conventionally applied, the process is evidence of the significance of contextual information. According to the theory of relevance, context is integral to deciphering the presence of irony and accurately understanding the intended implicatures behind one’s utterances, motivating Palahniuk’s audience to continue reading in the process. Sperber and

Wilson (1986: 15-16, 176) assert the importance of context in the interpretation process of decoding hidden communication that is essential to the comprehension of irony, citing context’s psychological construct as superior to reality’s actual state in affecting the interpretation of an utterance. Subsequently, coded communication’s subservience to the autonomous inferential process is a predominant power hierarchy in the interpretation of irony. This relationship parallels the one shared by Chuck Palahniuk and Fight Club’s reading audience.

When applied to the transgressive ideologies behind Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club, the deliberate withholding of context related to the dual-personality of the narrating protagonist exposes the weaknesses of social constructs and the assumptions readers draw from them within the popular understanding of fiction. The revelation that Palahniuk’s use of ‘we’ does not relate to multiple people as conventions would have one believe forces the reader to acknowledge and reflect on the uninformed position they have assumed throughout the

4 Aidan O’Connor novel until the climactic scene. Also, incorporating a protagonist who shares the same level of understanding as the reader, learning of his condition as Palahniuk’s audience does, allows them to relate to the unnamed narrating protagonist instead of interpreting the withholding of information as a belittling of their susceptible position to the decisions of the author. Through its application, this example of situational irony relates to the revolutionary anarchistic elements of the novel’s content and Palahniuk’s association with transgressive fiction. This serves the practical purpose of creating a plot development that attempts to inspire his audience to finish reading the novel.

2.2 Dramatic Irony

In contrast to situational irony’s rendering of the reader subjective to the prolonged delivery of contextual information pertaining to the narrative Chuck Palahniuk offers in Fight

Club, dramatic irony also manifests in the novel. This plot device is notably achieved through passages that incorporate the frequent repetition of Tyler Durden’s name as a means of topic shift. Its excessive use within a limited space and lack of relation to preceding content flouts the maxim of relevance in a manner that impairs the fluidity of the narrative. This creates an anomaly that sustains the audience’s acknowledgement of Tyler

Durden in scenes where he is neither present nor relevant. The anomaly encourages

Palahniuk’s readers to challenge the narrator’s connections with Durden until they can conclude that this fascination stems from them sharing the same consciousness, a revelation significant to the narrative’s story that readers who are capable of comprehending dramatic irony should recognise before it is disclosed to the unnamed narrating protagonist.

“Marla and I walk on raked gravel paths through the kaleidoscope green patterns of the garden, drinking and smoking. We talk about her breasts. We talk about everything except

Tyler Durden…Every night, Marla and I walk in the garden until I'm sure that Tyler's not coming home that night…So many people are moving inside, the house moves…someone

5 Aidan O’Connor was drilling bank machines and pay telephones and then screwing lube fittings into the drilled holes and using a grease gun to pump the bank machines and pay telephones full of axle grease or vanilla pudding. And Tyler was never at home…” (Palahniuk (2006: 132-

133))

Dramatic irony’s establishing of a distinction between the utterance of the unnamed narrating protagonist and how it is interpreted by the novel’s reading audience inverts the reader’s position from one of reliance on the author’s greater understanding of the narrative, to one where he or she accurately comprehends a scenario through interpreting the thought processes dictated by the protagonist, who is unable to adopt this same interpretation of his situation. The audience’s superior perception from beyond the narrative enables dramatic irony as defined by Peter Goldie (2007: 72). Goldie’s comprehension of dramatic irony bases itself on the reading audience’s empowering ability to independently distinguish between the differing circumstance of actual reality and the alternative one that the uninformed narrating protagonist interprets. This notion adheres to Palahniuk’s efforts to prevent his audience from suspending their awareness of reality, whilst complementing the novel’s transgressive rejection of social suppression.

Through Palahniuk’s inclusion of dramatic irony, he is able to counter the suppressive effects of situational irony’s withholding of contextual information from the reading audience that is contrary to this essay’s interpretation of the transgressive fiction as an effort to encourage self-reflection and activism on the part of the audience through its focus on revolutionary activity and critique of corporate America. This ensures that Palahniuk can exploit situational irony’s contribution to establishing a surprising outcome without hypocritically discrediting its own intent. With this potential dilemma neutralised, dramatic irony encourages the reading audience to develop their own conclusions through the cognitive process of formulating a hypothesis drawing from the narrative’s context and the unnamed narrating protagonist’s utterances. This process surpasses most novels’ efforts to immerse their audience in a fiction where connections with reality can be suspended in a

6 Aidan O’Connor manner that parallels Fight Club’s transgressive association with the notion of escaping from a life of exploitation and manipulation by higher powers. This method ensures that the communication of self-awareness and encouraged activism is not applied through a direct written representation of the ideology that would contradict itself by keeping the audience subjective to the narrative (Lukács (1974: 70-84)).

In conjunction with Fight Club’s emphasis on realism, which is conveyed through a combination of subdued modes of speaking characterised by short, unimpressive sentences and content relating to the mediocrity of most people’s everyday lives, communication of the truth through the medium of irony transmits a dissatisfaction with the social impulses of popular convention that is represented by a more direct alternative of sharing information.

This disillusionment parallels the protagonist’s frustration with Western society’s decent into subjectivity to the forces of consumerism (Hirschkop and Shepard (1989: 33)).

2.3 Verbal Irony

Verbal irony within Fight Club offers the best representation of dramatic irony’s rhetorical qualities through its establishing of inconsistencies between utterances and their intended meanings related to context. (Bennett and Royle (2009: 323)) Its deception supports the notion that verbal irony is an elitist concept that requires consideration of relevant context for an utterance’s concealed implicatures to be accurately comprehended.

Within the novel, Palahniuk employs unique examples of verbal irony as opposed to incorporating conventional figures of speech familiar among to his reading audience. Their application complements this transgressive fiction’s efforts to document the rejection of social norms in a manner that does not require Palahniuk to acknowledge these customs in order to convey his message. This process is acknowledged by Colebrook (2004: 47), who recognises the dilemma of challenging reason without relying on the methods one’s stance set out to delimit. This predicament is resolved by irony’s claim to be heard whilst gesturing to its own limits. Subsequently, a concept can be cited and discredited in a single utterance;

7 Aidan O’Connor an accessible means of conveying implicature that Palahniuk exploits to enforce the novel’s transgressive message.

Instances of verbal irony pertaining to this outlook established in Fight Club notably revolve around the socially taboo concepts of destruction and death. One example is the unnamed narrating protagonist’s utterance, “Oh all those crazy car bombs.” The quote possesses underlying ironic connotations related to the contextual popular association of explosives with anarchy and the transgressive, illicit nature of the novel in general.

Conventionally, it is not the explosive that is ‘crazy’ but the chaotic reaction that ensues; a notion pertinent to the content of this novel, which follows a radical outfit’s attempts to create disorder through the medium of detonating explosives. In addition, the colloquial term ‘crazy’ is more commonly associated with the mental condition of an individual and their personality as opposed to an object. Consequently, irony arises out of Palahniuk’s use of this term through the vessel of the mentally unstable unnamed narrating protagonist.

Because the novel’s protagonist and its status as a transgressive fiction are entities associated with the anti-social ideology Fight Club details, their attempts to impose anti- consumerist destruction on a western society that they consider too submissive to the influence of corporate America is in itself a process that one could interpret as ‘crazy’ because of its contrariness to the majority social norm. The casually informal nature of the utterance “Oh all those crazy car bombs” is indicative of an outlook so opposed to the common attitude of fear towards terrorism that it encapsulates the intentionally confrontational characteristic of an ironic utterance. Wayne Booth (1974) supports this claim, citing the evidently false nature of an utterance as being integral to a reader’s recognition that there are other underlying implicatures to be identified.

Palahniuk’s making of this ironic utterance accessible through its distinctively relaxed delivery of a socially unconventional notion encourages further examination into the unnamed narrating protagonist’s mental stability. Furthermore, utterances including the extract listed above serve as a subtle form of prolepsis alongside other examples including

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“From upstairs, Tyler watches me…” (Palahniuk (2006: 129)) that foreshadow the climactic revelation of the protagonist’s damaged psychology dividing his consciousness into two separate entities. This empowers the concept of verbal irony as both a linguistic and a literary feature in Fight Club that highlights the significance of irony in this novel.

2.4 Socratic Irony

The application of irony in Fight Club also extends to the manipulation and disregard of conventional power hierarchies within discussion. Simulating a lack of knowledge, which would conventionally imply a dependence on other parties and undermine one’s own authority, the unnamed narrating protagonist feigns ignorance. This notably arises in the protagonist’s allusion to Jesus and the gospels that the protagonist compares to his anti- social endeavour to erase social conventions through the destruction of corporate America:

“Maybe we would become a legend, maybe not. No, I say, but wait.

Where would Jesus be if no one had written the gospels?” (Palahniuk (2006: 15))

Socratic irony is another means of directing the reading audience’s attention towards a concept without directly addressing it within the body of the text. It is a particularly effective device in the transgressive fictional novel Fight Club through its provocative eliciting of irony, which complements the author’s aggressive condemnation of multiple facets of society. Portraying a lack of knowledge using an open-ended question with no specified recipient, the reading audience have the opportunity to interpret the query as a challenge directed towards themselves. The combination of the question and this response transcend the narrative boundary between fiction and reality in a manner similar to

Romantic irony.

The extract seeks to promote an interpretation that is not related to the direct answering of this rhetorical question. Using Jesus as an iconic figure that is familiar within

9 Aidan O’Connor western society, Palahniuk, through the unnamed narrating protagonist, conveys the notion that it is not an impressive feat that establishes its own legacy, but a recounting of it that allows the deed to grow in prominence. In line with Fight Club’s narrative, this example of

Socratic irony, as well as metafiction if Palahniuk’s transgressive work stems from a personal rejection of social convention, justifies the counter-productive nature of Project

Mayhem as an endeavour that will be appreciated and established a legacy with as the story of Jesus’ existence has become.

This notion’s lack of direct correlation with the ambiguous quote listed above demonstrates an element of encoded implicature within the unnamed narrating protagonist’s utterance that requires contextual understanding to successfully decipher.

Identifying the utterance’s implicatures sustains the maxim of relevance essential to establishing relevance theory, through which irony can be successfully interpreted. Socratic irony creates the benefit of encouraging the audience to reflect on their own reality without compromising the narrative’s fluidity by directly addressing the issue of how a legacy is established through a rhetorical question. The encouragement of the reading audience to reflect on their own opinion and understandings of this ambiguous utterance prevents them from freezing their own interpretations of reality as they read Fight Club, which correlates with Palahniuk’s efforts to establish a transgressive story of individuals empowering themselves in opposition to the direction of social functions. This further solidifies

Palahniuk’s implementation of irony as a linguistic construction and a literary device related to the novel’s content.

3.0 Conclusion

The literary technique of irony has been examined in Fight Club because of the book’s prominent transcending of superficial narrative through the encoding of information. This correlates with the transgressive content of Fight Club while encouraging the broadening of the reader’s perception to accommodate concealed meaning in the novel’s story. This

10 Aidan O’Connor encoding of contradictory meaning in thought processes, utterances and narrative sequencing is the nucleus of irony in politically motivated texts such as Fight Club; that which makes its nature rhetorical. Identification of five variant strains of irony discloses the extent to which Palahniuk’s incorporates irony in his text. This analysis of irony through the observation of both linguistic structure and experimental content offers a means of evaluation that accounts for both the individual’s reading of Fight Club and a communal understanding of the novel that recognises and exploits social conventions.

4.0 References

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Booth, W. (1974) A Rhetoric of Irony. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Colebrook, C. (2004) Irony: The New Critical Idiom. New York: Routledge Publishing

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Counsell, C. (1986) Signs of Performance. London: Routledge Publishing Company.

Goldie, P. (2007) Dramatic Irony, Narrative, and the External Perspective. In: Hutto, D.

(Ed.) Narrative and Understanding Persons. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Glazener, N. (1989) Dialogic subversion: Bakhtin, the novel and Gertrude Stein. In:

Hirschkop, K. and Shepard D. (Ed.) Bakhtin and cultural theory. Manchester: Manchester

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Hirschkop, K. (1989) Introduction: Bakhtin and cultural theory. In: Hirschkop, K. and

Shepard D. (Ed.) Bakhtin and cultural theory. Manchester: Manchester University Press

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Lukács, G. (1974) Theory of the Novel. Trans. by Anna Bostock. Cambridge: MIT

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Palahniuk, C. (2006) Fight Club. London: Vintage Publishing.

Ryan, M. (1999) Immersion vs. Interactivity: Virtual Reality and Literary Theory.

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Sperber, D. and Wilson, D. (1986) Relevance: Communication and Cognition.

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Tendahl, M. (2009) A Hybrid Theory of Metaphor: Relevance Theory and

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Vlastos, G. Socratic Irony. The Classical Quarterly (New Series) 42(1): pp.79-96

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