The Meaning of Joe's Dual Personality As Seen in Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club

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THE MEANING OF JOE’S DUAL PERSONALITY AS SEEN IN CHUCK PALAHNIUK’S FIGHT CLUB

A SARJANA PENDIDIKAN RESEARCH PAPER

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree in English Language Education

Paulus Erwan Ardi Naya

Student Number: 131214089

ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA 2018

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THE MEANING OF JOE’S DUAL PERSONALITY AS SEEN IN CHUCK PALAHNIUK’S FIGHT CLUB

A SARJANA PENDIDIKAN RESEARCH PAPER

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree in English Language Education

Paulus Erwan Ardi Naya

Student Number: 131214089

ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA 2018

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THE MEANING OF JOE'S DUAL PERSONALITY AS SEEN IN CHUCK PALAHNIUK'S FIGHT CLUB

By PAULUSERWAN ARDINAYA StudentNumber: 131214089

Defended before the Board ofExaminers on 16 July 2018 and Declared Acceptable

Board ofExamioers

Chairperson : Yohana Veniranda, S.Pd., M.Hum., M.A., Ph.D. .f=;~~== Secretary : Christina Lhaksmita Anandari. S.Pd. Ed.M. Member : Dr. Antonius Herujiyanto, M.A. Member :Yohana Veniranda, S.Pd., M.Hum., M.A., Ph.D. Member : F. X. Ouda Teda Ena, S.Pd., MPd., Ed.D.

Yogyakarta, 16 July 2018 Faculty ofTeachers Training and Education Sanata Dharma Universi

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DEDICATION PAGE

I dedicate this undergraduate research paper to:

Jesus Christ

My beloved parents

and

My beloved sister

“Worker bees can leave

Even drones can fly away

The queen is their slave”

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ABSTRACT

Naya, Paulus Erwan Ardi (2018). The Meaning of Joe’s Dual Personality as Seen in Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club. Yogyakarta: English Language Education Study Program, Department of Language and Arts Education, Faculty of Teachers Training and Education, Sanata Dharma University.

Novels are works of fiction written in prose. The novelist tells an invented story, offering not merely a representation of reality but also a response to it. Fight Club which was written by Chuck Palahniuk is one of the responses to reality that is currently happening. Basically, the story mainly tells the life of the main character named Joe who has split personality.

The objective of the study is to find out the true meaning of Joe’s dual personality. There are two formulated problem questions in this study. They are “How is Joe and his split personality, Tyler Durden described in the novel?” and “What is the meaning of Joe’s dual personality?”

This study uses the psychological approach to answer the formulated problems. Besides, the researcher also uses biography of the author and theories which are relevant to the study.

There are three conclusions of the study. The first is about the characterization of Joe and Tyler. Joe is drawn as a subservient and fainthearted person, whereas, Tyler is drawn as an independent and fearless person. The second is the surface meaning of the novel which tells that the meaning of Joe’s dual personality is to experience freedom. Meanwhile, the deeper meaning of the novel shows that the meaning of Joe’s dual personality is to have a meaningful life.

Keywords: novel, Fight Club, meaning, Joe/Tyler character

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ABSTRAK

Naya, Paulus Erwan Ardi (2018). The Meaning of Joe’s Dual Personality as Seen in Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club. Yogyakarta: Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, Jurusan Pendidikan Bahasa dan Seni, Fakultas Keguruan dan Ilmu Pendidikan, Universitas Sanata Dharma.

Novel merupakan sebuah karya fiksi yang ditulis dalam bentuk prosa. Seorang novelis menceritakan kisah yang dijumpai, tidak hanya memaparkan suatu realita tetapi juga respon terhadapnya. Fight Club yang ditulis oleh Chuck Palahniuk merupakan salah satu respon terhadap realitas yang sedang terjadi. Cerita pada Fight Club umumnya menceritakan seorang tokoh utama bernama Joe yang memiliki dua kepribadian.

Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui makna sebenarnya dari kepribadian ganda yang dimiliki oleh Joe. Terdapat dua masalah yang dirumuskan dalam penelitian ini. Masalah tersebut yaitu “Bagaimana Joe dan kepribadian lainnya, Tyler Durden dideskripsikan dalam novel?” dan “Apa makna dari kepribadian ganda Joe?”

Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan psikologis untuk menjawab masalah yang dirumuskan. Selain itu, peneliti juga menggunakan biografi penulis dan teori-teori yang relevan terhadap penelitian.

Ada tiga kesimpulan dari penelitian ini. Yang pertama adalah penokohan Joe dan Tyler. Joe digambarkan sebagai seorang yang tunduk dan penakut, sedangkan Tyler digambarkan sebagai seorang yang mandiri dan tak kenal takut. Yang kedua adalah makna tertulis dari novel yang menceritakan bahwa makna kepribadian ganda Joe adalah untuk memperoleh kebebasan. Sedangkan, makna tersirat dalam novel ini menunjukkan bahwa Joe ingin memiliki suatu kehidupan yang berarti.

Keywords: novel, Fight Club, meaning, Joe/Tyler character

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, I would like to give a great thanks to Jesus Christ, who gives me his blessings and guidance so I can finish my study. Because of his blessing until this time, I can finish my research paper.

My deepest gratitude goes to my advisor Dr. Antonius Herujiyanto,

M.A.for his guidance, support, and his time. He helps me to find the ideas when I do not know what to write. All of his suggestions really helps me in writing my research paper.

My gratitude goes to my academic advisor F.X. Ouda Teda Ena, M.Pd.,

Ed.D. for his time and guidance for about five years. I thank him for always being a friendly teacher in the class and a good parent as an advisor.

I dedicate this thesis to my beloved parents: Yuliana Muryani and

Cornelius Karyana and my beloved sister Margaretha Sherly Naya

Kusumawati and her husband Cosmas Kusuma Dewa for always giving me motivation and supports to finish my research paper.

I would also like to give my biggest thanks to my friends who help me to finish this research paper; Antonius Kristiyanto who gives his time in explaining the characterization, literal, and deeper meaning of the novel. He also helps me to recheck my final works before the registration, Bernadeta Erwips who proofreads my research paper, Gustav Ndolu who helps me to complete the registration, Ensa Puspita Sari, Yulius Galih Bagus Sujiwa, Gustav Viko

Radityatama, Dicky Wisnu Pradipta, and Robertus who reminded me to finish

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my research paper, and Yohanes Hastya Ekaristiadi, Andreas, and Yoshi who always support me when I did not want to write my research paper.

I would also like to thank my classmates who gave me a lot of experiences and memories during these four years. May God bless us for the rest of our life.

Paulus Erwan Ardi Naya

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page TITLE PAGE...... i APPROVAL PAGES ...... ii DEDICATION PAGE ...... iv STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY ...... v PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI ...... vi ABSTRACT ...... vii ABSTRAK ...... viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...... ix TABLE OF CONTENTS ...... xi

CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study ...... 1 B. Approach of the Study...... 6

CHAPTER II. DISCUSSION A. Review of Related Literature ...... 8 1. Psychoanalysis Theory ...... 8 2. Theory of Motivation ...... 9 3. Character and Characterization ...... 10 B. Research Result and Discussion ...... 12 1. The Characterization of Joe and Tyler ...... 12 2. Surface Meaning of Joe’s Dual Personal...... 17 3. Deeper Meaning of Joe’s Dual Personal...... 19

CHAPTER III. CONCLUSSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS A. Conclusions ...... 21 B. Recommendations ...... 22 REFERENCES ...... 23 APPENDICES ...... 25

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LIST OF APPENDICES

Page

Appendix A. The Summary of Fight Club ...... 26

Appendix B. The Biography of Chuck Palahniuk...... 31

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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

This chapter consists of two parts which are the background and approach of the study. The background of the study discusses some explanations and reasons in choosing the topic, formulated problems, and an overview of the study strategy. Second, the approach of the study describes the approach that is used to answer the formulated problems.

A. Background of the Study

What comes in mind when we hear word literature? Some may answer poem, play, novel, or many other literary works. However, what is actually the definition of literature? According to the article from Scribd, the origin of the word “literature” itself comes from Latin word named littera which means writing formed with letters. From this origin, a definition ocuured that states literature is anything written. On the other hand, to say that literature must be written is too narrow, because it excludes oral literature, for example; plays that are performed on the stage and ballads that are sung.

Robert Frost (1962, p.2) proposed another definition of literature. He defines literature as performance in words. Let us first see Robert Frost’s point of view by his very short poem named Immigrants (1920):

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Immigrants

No ship of all that under sail or steam Have gathered people to us more and more But Pilgrim-manned the Mayflower in a dream Has been her anxious convoy in to shore.

After reading this short poem, we can know that there is something different with the language. It cannot be found in an article in the newspaper or any written information about crimes or events. In brief, the language is highly patterned. First, we can find that each line has the same number of syllables, ten for each line. Second, at the end of the line we get repetition of sounds: “more” rhymes with “shore” and “steam” with “dream”. Besides, repetition of s in “sail” or “steam” also has a big contribution to the rhyme. The two words are somewhat alike from the angle of meaning, sound, and syllable. Imagine that the word “sail or steam” are changed to “sail or gas” or “sail or engine” we will probably agree that the original one is more catches the ear. Third, each line is written in a single grammatical sentence even for the poem’s title.

Many theories and books have defined the word of literature and it has a lot of meanings. S. Barnet, M. Berman, and W. Burto (1963) states that, “One of the things that literature does is to make us see-hear, feel, love- what the author thinks is a valuable part of the experience of living.” Through the explanation, the book put the emphasis on the performance of literature- that literature is something to be experienced and enjoyed.

To sum up, literature can be defined as the performance in words that can make its audience enjoy and experience what the author is thinking.

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The audience may find something rewarding; meaning of life, self-satisfied, or extremely, a truth that no one wants to know.

M. H. Abrams (1985) through his book A Glossary of Literary Terms has described the term of novel specifically.

The term “novel” is now applied to a great variety of writings that have in common only the attribute of being extended works of fiction written in prose. As an extended narrative, the novel is distinguished from the short story and from the work of middle length called the novelette; its magnitude permits a greater variety of characters, greater complication of plot (or plots), ampler development of milieu, and more sustained exploration of character and motives than do the shorter, more concentrated modes (p. 130).

Referring to the statements above, novel is one of the literary works. M. H.

Abrams (1985) has answered the term of novel, but how about its content? S.

Barnet, M. Berman, and W. Burto (1993) reveals that the story of the novel is not only about what people overtly do but also about what they think (i.e., their mental doings) and about the society in which they are immersed and shaped. The novelist has an attitude toward his world; he is not compiling an almanac but telling an invented story, making a work of art, offering not merely a representation of reality but response to it, and he therefore selects and shapes his material (p. 407). In other words, novel is still connected with our daily life. It is important to know its meaning or what is valuable for the author to make the reader realize the actual reality that is happening.

The researcher picks the novel titled Fight Club. It is written by Chuck

Palahniuk, an American author and freelance journalist. He was born in Pasco,

Washington on February 21th, 1962. After the divorce of his parents, Fred and

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Carol, Palahniuk and his siblings are sent to live with their maternal grandparents on a cattle ranch in Eastern Washington State. After his graduation, Palahniuk moves to Portland and started several jobs including being a; journalist for a local newspaper and diesel mechanic for truck manufacturer Freightliner. Palahniuk began writing in his thirties while attending a writer’s workshop.

Like any other writers, Chuck Palahniuk experienced ups and downs in his career before his well-known novel Fight Club published. In 1990, he wrote a short story named Negative Reinforcement but then he decided to produce a novel after knowing that it is difficult to find a publisher for short stories. Its conversion into a novel experienced the opposite. His novel Fight Club was accepted and published in 1996 and also received 2 awards, i.e. Pacific Northwest Booksellers

Association Award and the Oregon Book Award in 1997. The success of Fight

Club gained the attention of filmmakers who wanted to adapt the novel to screen.

Fight Club later was made into film by 20th Century Fox, starring Brad Pitt. The author goes on to gain popularity in his later novel which include Survivor,

Invisible Monsters, Choke, Lullaby, and Haunted.

The novel Fight Club tells a story about a young professional called Joe who suffers from insomnia. Accepting his doctor’s suggestion, he later attends some support groups which in turn allows him to sleep. But the use of these support groups is ruined when he meets a woman named Marla Singer who is another fake attendee of the support groups. He soon finds that the groups are out of control and after a major self-revelation decides there is only one way out.

During a vacation on a beach, Joe meets Tyler, who is a movie projectionist and

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Part time banquet waiter. Joe arrives home finding his apartment has been destroyed by an explosion. He calls Tyler and meets him in a bar. Tyler agrees to let Joe stay at his home on the condition that Joe hits him for kicks. The two end up enjoying a fight outside in the parking lot. After attracting a crowd, they establish a “fight club” in the bar’s basement. By that time, almost all of the bars has fight club in their basement. Later, fight clubs become a network for Project

Mayhem which commits destructive acts of anti-capitalist vandalism in the city under Tyler’s leadership. Joe disagrees with the activities of Project Mayhem.

After an argument, Tyler disappears from Joe’s life. The project is getting worst when someone dies on a mission. Taking the responsibility, Joe starts travelling around the country to meet Tyler. He finds that fight clubs have been started in every major city, where one of the participants who is a bartender calls him as

Tyler. A phone call to Marla confirms his identity and he realizes that Tyler is an alter ego of his own split personality.

In this study, the researcher wants to know the meaning of Joe’s dual personality as seen in Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club. In order to find out the meaning, two problem questions have formulated:

1. How is Joe and his split personality, Tyler Durden described in the novel?

2. What is the meaning of Joe’s dual personality?

Although this paper focuses on the social context, it is also beneficial for educational aspects. In teaching prose, this study can be used to learn other points of view through the character named Joe. Besides, some trustworthy explanations

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have been added to help the reader, especially those who are in the introduction to literature class, to better understand the term literature and novel.

B. Approach of the Study

Since the formulated problems have a relation with the analysis of personality, the researcher uses psychological approach to answer the problem formulation. As stated by Peter Barry (2002), the psychological approach is a form of literary criticism which uses some of the techniques of psychoanalysis in the interpretation of literature. The theory is developed by the Austrian, Sigmund

Freud (1856-1939). He explains how the mind, the instincts, and sexuality work.

The aim of this approach is to seek the personality of the main character in the novel based on his action and behavior using psychoanalytic theory. Therefore, the biography of the author is needed as the information of the author’s life, the social, cultural, and political situation when the story is written.

Library research was used to collect the information in order to answer the formulated problems. There are two kinds of data sources in this study namely the primary source and the secondary source. Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club novel is the primary source of this study. However, the secondary sources come from books, journals, and articles.

The researcher accomplishes several steps to solve the problem formulation. The first one is reading Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club and understanding its story. In this step, the researcher also marks some important

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information such as the name of the main characters, the problem of the story, and how the story ends. The second step is looking for some terms and studies in order to make the problem formulations as well as the title of the study. The next step is finding some theories and collecting the data to answer the problem formulations that are made. The researcher used the data and theories to find the characterization of the main character, the surface meaning and the deeper meaning. For the last step, the researcher concludes the analysis and gives some recommendations for the future researcher.

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CHAPTER II

DISCUSSION

This chapter contains of two main parts. The first part is the review of related literature which shows some theories that were used to build the study.

The second part is the findings and the interpretation of the findings which provides the answer of the formulated problems.

A. Review of Related Literature

In the review of related literature, the researcher presents some theories related to the study. Those theories are the psychological approach, theory of motivation, and theory of character and characterization.

1. Psychoanalysis Theory

Sigmund Freud (1939), the founding father of psychoanalysis theory, uses the analogy of an iceberg to describe the three levels of the mind. On the surface is consciousness, the focus of our attention now, and this is seen as the tip of the iceberg. The preconscious consists of all which can be retrieved from memory.

The third and most significant region is the unconscious. In this level of mind lie the processes that are the real cause of the most behavior. Like an iceberg, the most important part of the mind is the part that we cannot see. He later proposed that the unconscious is divided into three parts: id, ego, and superego. Barry

(2002) have described the meaning of id, ego, and superego:

The id is the source of all our aggressions and desires. It is lawless,

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asocial, and amoral. Its function is to gratify our instincts for pleasure. In view the id is dangerous potentialities, the other psychic agency called “ego” regulates the instinctual drives of the id. The ego itself stands for reason and circumspection that makes an individual think rationally. Whereas the id is governed by pleasure principle, the ego is governed by reality principle. The other regulating psychic agent that which primarily functions is to protect society is the superego. It is the moral censoring agency, the repository of conscience and pride.

In other word, the superego is the opposite of id, and that it remains for the ego to keep us healthy human beings by maintaining a balance between these two forces.

From the Freud’s theory, the researcher can be helped to interpret a fiction character named Joe from Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club.

2. Theory of Motivation

According to Abraham Maslow (1954), humans have needs that must be satisfied before they can act unselfishly. The needs are arranged in hierarchical order which the higher-level needs are made by satisfying the lower-level needs.

Those categories are as follow:

1. Physiological needs: the basic needs of the body such as food, liquid,

sleep, and oxygen.

2. Safety needs: the psychological needs of feeling secure from danger

and threats.

3. Love and belongingness needs: the social needs such as giving and

receiving of love and social needs.

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4. Esteem needs: the ego needs which are divided into two types. First,

the desire for strength: achievement, adequacy, mastery and

competence, and freedom. Second, the desire for reputation of

prestige: status, fame and glory, dominance, dignity, recognition,

attention, and appreciation.

5. Self-actualization needs: the self-development needs such as justice,

truth, wisdom, and meaning.

3. Character and Characterization

The theory of character and characterization is used to conceive the character’s personality through the fiction story. M. J. Murphy (1972: 161-163) describe nine ways to find character’s personality, those are:

a. Personal Description

A character from the novel can be described by the author from a person’s appearance and clothes. The readers are given the details: the face, skin, the build, and the extraordinary clothing.

b. Character as seen by another

The author describes a character through the eyes and opinions of others.

In this way, a character’s personality can be found from another character’s thought.

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c. Speech

The author gives an insight into a character in the novel through what that character says. Whenever the character speaks, having a conversation with another, or has an opinion, the person is giving clues to his or her characteristic.

d. Past life

Past life is using by the author to give clues on a person’s character. This can be done by the person’s thought, person’s conversation, or direct comment by the author.

e. Conversation of others

The author gives clues to a person’s character through the conversations of other. In the story of the novel, people do talk about other people and the things they say often give as clues to the person’s character.

f. Reactions

A person’s character can be seen through his or her reaction. How a person reacts to various situations and events reflect his or her characteristic.

g. Direct comment

In direct comments, the author provides the reader the description or comments on a person’s character. To be noted, the direct comment comes from the author while character as seen by another comes from another character in the

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story. The appearing of a character before a description or comments will be a clue whether it is character as seen by another or direct comment.

h. Thoughts

Thoughts can describe a person’s character. A character will show what he/she is thinking about in the story. In this way, a character is able to do what the human cannot do in real life and also tell us what different people are thinking.

i. Mannerisms

The last one is mannerisms. Through a person’s habits and manners in the story, the author tells the reader of a person’s character.

B. Research Result and Discussion

The research result and data analysis aimed to answer the problem formulation in the previous chapter. There are three main parts of this subchapter which are the analysis of the character named Joe, the surface meaning, and the deeper meaning.

1. The Characterization of Joe and Tyler

Fight Club has a main character in two personalities which are Joe and

Tyler. Joe has a split personality namely Tyler Durden, therefore, Joe is Tyler or vice versa. The researcher divided this part in two sections. The first section is talk about Joe and the second part is talk about Tyler.

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The theory of character and characterization in chapter two will be mentioned again in this discussion to have a good comprehension of the main character. Murphy (1972) proposes nine ways to understand a character. They are personal description, character as seen by another, speech, past life, conversation of others, reaction, direct comment, thought, and mannerisms (p. 161-173).

a. The Analysis of Joe’s Character

1) Joe is a subservient person

In doing his job, Joe never complains or criticizes his boss although he does not like the job. Murphy (1972) states that one’s character can be seen whenever a character speaks, having a conversation with another, or put an opinion. Through the story, Joe puts an opinion about his job.

This is a terrible way to travel. I go to meetings my boss doesn’t want to attend. I take notes. I’ll get back to you. Wherever I’m going, I’ll be there to apply the formula. I’ll keep the secret intact. It’s simple arithmetic. It’s a story problem (p. 15).

Joe’s opinion indicates that he does not like the job. He thinks that his job is terrible but he still does the job whatever it takes. He even keeps the secret (the formula) for his company’s benefits although he knows that.

Besides, the job really confiscates Joe’s life time. To fulfill his tasks, Joe has to fly around the country. He often landed at the same place for many times.

You wake up at Boeing Field. You wake up at LAX. We have an almost empty flight, tonight, so feel free to fold the armrests up into the seatbacks and stretch out. You stretch out, zigzag, knees bent, waist bent, elbows bent across three or four seats. I set my watch two

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hours earlier or three hours later, Pacific, Mountain, Central, or Eastern time; lose an hour, gain an hour. This is your life, and it’s ending one minute at a time. You wake up at Cleveland Hopkins. You wake up at SeaTac, again (p. 15).

From that statements above, it can be seen that the character having a pressure in his life. He always repeats the same routines for his job. But, again, for the character, his job is an important part of his life.

2) Joe is a fainthearted person

Joe is considered as a fainthearted person. He is scared to take a risk. He lives a life that most people think as a perfect life. Joe also reluctants to leave his comfort zone. It can be seen when Joe describes the place where he stays.

Home was a condominium on the fifteenth floor of a high-rise, a sort of filling cabinet for widows and young professionals. The marketing brochure promised a foot of concrete floor, ceiling, and wall between me and any adjacent stereo or turned-up television (p. 22).

The fact that Joe has a perfect condominium is a proof that he follows what is happening on the society. He spends his money on the things that he does not need to impress people. In short, the character is scared to be seen as an indigent person.

Murphy (1972) assumes that the character giving clues when he is having a conversation with another. Through the conversation with Tyler, Joe shows his personality in the story.

So we went outside, and I asked if Tyler wanted it in the face or the stomach. Tyler says, “Surprise me.” I said I had never hit anybody.

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Tyler said, “So go crazy, man.” I said, close your eyes. Tyler said, “No.” (p. 30-31)

It can be seen that the character is afraid to take a risk. He doubts to hit

Tyler because he never hit anybody. Besides, Joe also shows his fear when he asks Tyler to close his eyes.

b. The analysis of Tyler’s Character

1) Tyler is an independent person

Tyler is drawn as the opposite of Joe in the story. Nevertheless, they are the same person. When Joe falls asleep, he turns into Tyler completely. Tyler

Durden, in contrast, he lives as an independent person. He works as a banquet waiter, waiting tables at a hotel, downtown, and a movie projectionist. The character enjoys his entire jobs. Sometimes, to make himself feels better, he is breaking the rules at his job to proof that he is independent.

You’re a projectionist and you’re tired and angry, but mostly you’re bored so you start by taking a single frame of pornography collected by some other projectionist that you find stashed away in the booth, and you splice this frame of a lunging red penis or a yawning wet vagina close-up into another feature movie (p.15).

To show that he is independent, Tyler never wanted to be ruled. He will do anything he likes to make himself feels better.

According to Murphy (1972, p. 164) a person’s character can be seen through his speaks. Below is the character speech to the union president:

“I am trash,” Tyler said. “I am trash and shit and crazy to you and this whole fucking world,” Tyler said to the union president. “You don’t care

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where I live or how I feel, or what I eat or how I feed my kids or how I pay the doctor if I get sick, and yes I am stupid and bored and weak, but I am still your responsibility.” (p. 72)

Tyler states that the union president has nothing to do with his life. He owns his life. It means that Tyler is not depending his life to another. Besides,

Tyler also said that he has nothing and the president has too much to lose, so that he cannot kill Tyler (p. 71).

2) Tyler is a fearless person

Tyler is not afraid to lose his job. He says that getting fired is the best thing that could be happened. The character also states that jobs that he has is not really important to his life.

Tyler says, “So tell the banquet manager. Get me fired. I’m not married to this chickenshit job.” Everybody looks at their feet. “Getting fired,” Tyler says, “is the best thing that could happen to any of us. That way, we’d quit treading water and do something with lives.” (p. 48)

On another occasion, Tyler farts and take a pee on the delicious cooking at the Pressman Hotel. This can be seen through Joe speech, “Last week, Tyler says, he stopped the elevator and farted on o whole cart of Boccone Dolce for the

Junior League tea.” (p. 46)

Tyler is also not afraid about getting pain. When Tyler and Joe meet at the bar, Tyler asks Joe to do a favor. He wants Joe to hit him as hard as he can.

When we invented fight club, Tyler and I, neither of us had ever been in a fight before. If you’ve never been in a fight, you wonder. About getting hurt, about what you’re capable of doing against another man. I was the first guy Tyler ever felt safe enough to ask, and we were both drunk in a

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bar where no one would care so Tyler said, “I want you to do me a favor. I want you to hit me as hard as you can.” (p. 30)

2. Surface Meaning of Joe’s Dual Personality

The aim of the study is to find out the deeper meaning of Joe’s dual personality as seen in Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club. In order to find out the deeper meaning, the researcher conducts the surface meaning first.

As mentioned in the introduction part, Joe has a split personality namely

Tyler Durden. Tyler has a very important role in this novel. It can be said that after Tyler comes into Joe’s life, everything in his life has changed. To find the meaning of Joe’s dual personality, the researcher using the theory of motivation conducted by Maslow (1954).

Maslow (1954), states that human needs are arranged in hierarchical order which the higher-level needs are made by satisfying the lower-level needs. Those categories are physiological needs, safety needs, love and belonging needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization needs.

In the novel, the main character named Joe has a life as a young professional. He works as a recall campaign coordinator on a car company. His job is to fly around the country and write up the accident reports. Joe has a perfect condo with the perfect furniture inside. Nevertheless, Joe does not like his job and his life. In his opinion, his job is terrible.

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Based on the motivation theory, Maslow (1954), there are five categories of human needs which are physiological needs, safety needs, love and belongingness needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization needs. From the story, it can be seen that Joe’s esteem needs are not fulfilled yet. Joe is seeking for freedom. That is why he has another personality named Tyler Durden. Tyler Durden is drawn as an independent person who chooses jobs his like and doing whatever he wants.

In the story, Joe is described as a fainthearted person. He is scared to take a risk or try something new.

So we went outside, and I asked if Tyler wanted it in the face or the stomach. Tyler says, “Surprise me.” I said I had never hit anybody. Tyler said, “So go crazy, man.” I said, close your eyes. Tyler said, “No.” (p. 30-31)

This can be concluded that Joe’s safety needs are not fulfilled. According to Maslow (1954) safety needs are the needs of feeling secure from danger and threats. In this case, Joe wants to change himself into a fearless person. He actualizes his wish through his split personality named Tyler. Tyler is described as a fearless person in the story. He is not afraid to lose his job or about getting pain.

Tyler says, “So tell the banquet manager. Get me fired. I’m not married to this chicken shit job.” Everybody looks at their feet. “Getting fired,” Tyler says, “is the best thing that could happen to any of

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us. That way, we’d quit treading water and do something with lives.” (p. 48)

In conclusion, the researcher can define the surface meaning of Joe’s dual personality. Joe wants to be freedom of choosing his jobs and making decisions.

3. Deeper meaning of Joe’s dual personality

The deeper meaning explains the true meaning of Joe’s dual personality.

The deeper meaning of Joe’s dual personality can implicitly be seen in the novel. It is not only from the main character is saying in the novel but also can be seen from the motivation of the character to define the deeper meaning.

In this part, the researcher defines the deeper meaning of Joe’s dual personality from the surface meaning itself. The surface meaning of Joe’s dual personality is to be freedom. The researcher analyzes the deeper meaning of Joe’s dual personality from how Joe gets his freedom.

After Joe’s condominium has destroyed, he calls his friend Tyler. They later invented fight club together.

When we invented fight club, Tyler and I, neither of us had ever been in a fight before. If you never been in a fight, you wonder. About getting hurt, about what you’re capable of doing against another man (p. 30).

By the time, almost all of the bars has fight club in their basements. Later, the fight clubs become a network for Project Mayhem under Tyler’s leadership.

In the Assault Committee of Project Mayhem, this week Tyler says he ran everyone through what it would take to shoot a gun. All a gun does is focus an explosion in one direction (p. 75).

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The project is getting worse when someone dies on a mission. Taking the responsibility, Joe starts travelling around the country to meet Tyler.

Tyler hasn’t been home for a while. I do my little job. I go airport to airport to look at the cars that people died in. The magic of travel. Tiny life. Tiny soaps. The tiny airline seats. Everywhere I travel, I ask about Tyler (p. 103).

In the end of the story, Joe finally meets Tyler. He realizes that Tyler is his split personality. He decides to end his life by shooting a gun in his mouth on top of the Parker Moris Building.

This was better than real life. And your one perfect moment won’t last forever. Everything in heaven is white on white. Faker. Everything in heaven is quiet, rubber-soled shoes. I can sleep in heaven. People write to me in heaven and tell me I’m remembered. That I’m their hero. I’ll get better (p. 137).

In conclusion, the deeper meaning of Joe’s dual personality is to have a meaningful life. Because of his split personality, Joe becomes an independent and fearless person. But, he also does not want to hurt others by being free. That is why Joe is against Tyler in the Project Mayhem.

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CHAPTER III

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

This chapter consists of two parts namely conclusions and recommendations. The conclusions part provides the summary of the research results and discussion. The recommendations are aimed for the teachers and the future researchers.

A. Conclusions

There are two points that can be concluded in this study. The first point is about the characterization of Joe and Tyler. Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club has a main character in two personalities which are Joe and Tyler. Joe has a split personality namely Tyler, therefore, Joe is Tyler or vice versa. In the novel, Joe is described as a subservient and fainthearted person. As a subservient person, Joe never complains or criticizes his boss although he has many tasks to do. He thinks that his job is terrible but he still does the job whatever it takes. As a fainthearted person, Joe is scared to take a risk. He lives a life that most people think as a perfect life. In short, Joe is also scared to be seen as an indigent person.

Meanwhile, his spilt personality namely Tyler, is described as the opposite of

Joe’s character. He is drawn as an independent and fearless person. As an independent person, Tyler chooses jobs that he likes and sometimes he breaking the rules when he is tired or angry. In other words, Tyler does not want to be ruled. He is not depends his life to another. As a fearless person, Tyler is not afraid to lose his job. He says that

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getting fired is the best thing that could be happened. On another occasion, Tyler farts and pees on the delicious cooking at the Pressman Hotel.

The second point is about the surface meaning and the deeper meaning of

Joe’s dual personality. The surface meaning of Joe’s dual personality is to be freedom of choosing jobs and making decisions on his life. Through his split personality namely Tyler, Joe can be an independent and fearless person.

Whereas, the deeper meaning of Joe’s dual personality is to have a meaningful life. Joe accepts the positive side of Tyler’s character as an independent and fearless to live better. But, he makes a line for being freedom. He does not want to hurt others like Tyler do.

B. Recommendations

Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club is a very interesting novel to discuss. The novel tells about being independent in life. There are many meanings that we can get from the novel. Therefore, this novel is beneficial for English learning especially in literature.

For English teacher, this novel can be used as a teaching material especially in prose. The plot of the novel, setting, and the characters will enlarge student’s knowledge in interpreting a novel.

For the future researcher, it is recommended to discuss the novel from other aspects. In this study, the researcher only focuses on the meaning of Joe’s dual personality. The future researcher can explore more about the novel. Perhaps, the future researcher can analyze the meaning of Joe’s decision to commit suicide.

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REFERENCES

Abrams, M. H. (1985). A Glossary of Literary Terms (6th ed.). United States of America: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc.

Barry, P. (2002). Beginning theory: An introduction to literary and cultural theory (2nd ed.).

Barnet, S., Berman, M., & Burto, W. (1963). An Introduction to Literature (2nd ed.). Canada: Little, Brown and Company (Canada) Limited.

Barnet, S. Berman, M., & Burto, W. (1993). An Introduction to Literature (10th ed.). United States of America: HarperCollins College Publishers.

Dave, A., & Weinbloom, E. (2012). Fight Club Summary. GradeSaver. Retrieved on May 1, 2018, from https://www.gradesaver.com/fight-club-novel/study-guide/summary

Eagleton, T. (1996). Literary Theory: An Introduction (2nd ed.). United States of America: Blackwell Publishers Ltd.

Gioia, D. & Kennedy X. J. (2010). An Introduction to Fiction (11th ed.). United States of America: Pearson Education, Inc .

Kristiyanto. (2017). The meaning of the decision made by Robert Langdon the main character of Dan Brown’s the Da Vinci Code to search for the holy grail. Undergraduate Thesis. Yogyakarta: Sanata Dharma. Lukacs, G. (1971). The Theory of The Novel. London: The Merlin Press Ltd. Maslow, A. H. (1954). Motivation and Personality (3rd ed). New York: Harper and Row Publishers, Inc.

Murphy, M. J. (1972). Understanding Unseens: An Introduction to English Poetry and the English Novel for Overseas Students. London: George Allen and Unwin Ltd.

Palahniuk, C. (1996). Fight Club. New York: W. W. Norton. Palahniuk, C. (2012). Famous authors. Retrieved on May 2, 2018, from https://www.famousauthors.org/chuck-palahniuk

Setyoko, Adi. (2018). An analysis of Marxist perspective in John Lennon’s Imagine lyrics. Undergraduate Research Paper. Yogyakarta: Sanata Dharma.

Wellek, R. & Warren, A. (1949). Theory of Literature. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, Inc. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

Zunshine, L. (2006). Why we read fiction: theory of mind and the novel. Ohio: The Ohio State University.

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APPENDICES

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APPENDIX A

THE SUMMARY OF FIGHT CLUB

The Narrator and Tyler Durden are standing on top of the Parker-Morris building, which is rigged with explosives. Tyler is holding a gun in the Narrator’s mouth. The Narrator takes us back in time to how he ended up at this point.

The Narrator is a bored, aimless office worker whose life has become a meaningless cycle. He works as a recall campaign coordinator. He participates in the consumer-driven goals of his culture. He lives in a nice condominium apartment filled with hip, clever designer furniture. He spends his time wondering about what kind of lamps and chairs will define him as a person.Because of the unhappiness in his life, the Narrator develops insomnia. He goes to work in a daze and after a few weeks is desperate for sleep. He goes to see a doctor. The doctor dismisses his issues and tells him that if he wanted to see real pain he should see some of the people in support groups with real problems.

The Narrator takes his advice and begins visiting support groups. He becomes addicted to them. He pretends to be afflicted with various medical issues and diseases so that he can attend meetings. Here he meets Big Bob, an ex-body builder and steroid abuser whose testicles had to be removed. During an embrace with Bob, the Narrator cries and lets go of his hope. That night, he can finally sleep. He continues to go to the groups every night so that he can cry and be comforted.

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One night he notices that a woman has also been attending all the same groups. She too is obviously faking her conditions and pretending to be sick and dying. Her name is Marla Singer. With her at the groups, he can no longer cry, and so he can no longer sleep either. He fantasizes about confronting her and getting her thrown out. Instead they decide not to attend the same meetings.

The Narrator flies around the country visiting car accident sites. His company is a car manufacturer and his job is to determine if the cars they make have defects that might have contributed to an accident. His job is to assess the risk and determine if a recall is worthwhile. If out-of-court settlements cost less, no recall will be initiated. Burned out from traveling, the Narrator takes a vacation. He visits a nude beach where he meets Tyler Durden, a charismatic man who makes soap for a living. Tyler gives him his phone number. After returning home, the Narrator finds that his condominium has blown up in a suspicious explosion. He calls Tyler, who meets him at a bar. After many drinks Tyler tells the Narrator that he can move in with him, but he has to do him a favor. Tyler asks the Narrator to hit him as hard as he can. They engage in a messy fight. This is the germination of fight club.

Tyler and the Narrator continue to fight in bars and parking lots, attracting the attention of other men. Fight club starts to grow. The Narrator begins seeing men in his day-to-day life with cuts and bruises on their faces. He begins taking less and less interest in his work, much to the chagrin of his boss. Tyler and the

Narrator work a series of night jobs where they also commit acts of civil disobedience. One night the Narrator has a dream that he is having sex with Marla PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

Singer. The next morning Tyler tells him that he met Marla last night and the two of them had sex. The Narrator is angered. Marla was the reason he couldn’t enjoy the support groups, and she has invaded his home life with Tyler too. With Marla in the picture, he will also get less of Tyler’s attention. He comes home every day from work to hear Marla and Tyler having sex and calling each other names.

Tyler has meanwhile set up a fairly lucrative business selling soap. One night he shows the Narrator how to make soap. Using a can of lye he burns the

Narrator’s hand and tells him that he has much farther to go to reach rock bottom.

The Narrator, Tyler says, needs to accept that one day he will die.Tyler and the

Narrator decide that they need to blackmail their bosses for the civil disobedience they have been committing on the job. After ensuring checks will continue to be sent to them even though they won’t be working, they are able to focus all their time on fight club. The Narrator learns that Bob has also joined fight club and that there are chapters of fight club that he didn’t even know about.

Tyler decides to escalate his civil disobedience into a larger project called

Project Mayhem. He recruits fight club members to join and begins amassing a large following. He hands out homework assignments for the members, including the Narrator. After a while, Tyler suddenly disappears.The Narrator finds that everywhere he travels men seem to recognize and address him as “sir”. As he travels around the country he asks these men if they know where Tyler is. They point him toward Seattle. In Seattle, the Narrator meets a bartender in a neck brace who addresses him as Mr. Durden. The Narrator runs back to his hotel room and calls Marla to find out if the two of them have had sex. Marla is mystified by PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

his question and upset with his behavior. He asks her what his name is. She tells him it is Tyler Durden.

Tyler “returns” and is upset with the Narrator for discussing him with

Marla behind his back. Project Mayhem has begun to take on more extreme assignments and is growing in its number of members. While on an assignment,

Bob is killed by a police man. His death prompts the Narrator to try to shut down fight club, but he is thrown out by its members instead.Upon arriving at work one morning he discovers that his boss is dead. Worse yet, the Narrator knows Tyler is the one who killed him, which means that he killed him, though not wittingly. He boards a bus and tries to get away from the scene before he is spotted. The other passengers are all members of Project Mayhem. They tell him that they have orders to castrate him for trying to shut down fight club. They corner him and knock him out with ether.

The Narrator wakes up in the remains of his condominium. He has not been castrated. He decides he has to warn Marla about who Tyler really is. She may be in danger. She reluctantly meets him and tells him that he murdered someone. He says he knows about his boss but Marla tells him that he shot another man who was investigating fight club for the mayor. The Narrator has no recollection of this at the time but later begins to remember the details. Out of guilt he visits a fight club location and signs up to fight every member there. He wants to die because of the guilt he feels at the deaths of Bob, his boss, and now a PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

third person. He passes out on the floor during a fight.He wakes up in the house he shares with Tyler. Tyler is there. He tells the Narrator that it is time for his grand operatic death. We return to the roof of the Parker-Morris building where

Tyler is holding a gun in the Narrator’s mouth. Before he can pull the trigger,

Marla and the other support group members show up and tell him to stop. He warns them that the building is set to be demolished by explosives but they do not leave. Marla tells him that she likes him too. He understands that he created Tyler so that he could be with Marla. The clock ticks down to zero but there is no explosion. Despite the protests of Marla and the crowd he still fires a bullet through his cheek.

When he wakes up, the Narrator believes he is in heaven. In reality, he is in a mental institution. He sees men there with cuts and bruises who tell him that the plans are continuing and they can’t wait for him to get better and join them again.

Taken from: https://www.gradesaver.com/fight-club-novel/study-guide/summary PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

APPENDIX B

THE BIOGRAPHY OF CHUCK PALAHNIUK

Chuck Palahniuk was born in Pasco, Washington on February 21, 1962.

Most of his childhood was spent living in a mobile home in Burbank, Washington.

However, after the divorce of his parents, Palahniuk and his siblings were sent to live with their maternal grandparents on a cattle ranch in Eastern Washington

State. Palahniuk’s father began a relationship with another woman whose ex- boyfriend murdered the couple. Palahniuk’s mother died of cancer.

During his twenties, Palahniuk studied at the University of Oregon’s

School of Journalism graduating in 1986. During his college years, Palahniuk interned at the National Public Radio member station KLCC in Eugene. After graduation, Palahniuk moved to Portland, Oregon where he entered the workforce as a journalist working for local newspapers. However, he abandoned journalism to work as a diesel mechanic for truck manufacturer Freightliner, a job he would keep until development of his writing career. He returned to journalism only after establishing himself as an accomplished novelist. During his years of struggle,

Palahniuk also volunteered at a shelter and hospice where he grew very close to a patient who passed away. He did not continue volunteering after the death of his patient friend.

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Palahniuk began writing fiction in his thirties while attending writer’s workshops, hosted by Tom Spanbauer, who inspired Palahniuk’s minimalistic writing style. His initial works were rejected publication mostly because of the amount of disturbing content. However, Palahniuk managed to get one of his short stories published in a compilation in 1995.The story later became an inspiration and evolved into Palahniuk’s most famous novel, Fight Club. While the short story had a difficult time finding a publisher, its conversion into a novel experienced the opposite. Fight club was accepted and published in 1996. For his exceptional writing in Fight club, Palahniuk was presented the Pacific Northwest

Booksellers Association Award as well as the Oregon Book Award for Best Novel in 1997.

The success of Fight Club gained the attention of filmmakers at Twentieth

Century Fox who wanted to adapt the novel to screen. When Palahniuk was approached with the offer he appointed Edward Hibbert as a literary agent who helped Palahniuk negotiate a deal with Twentieth Century Fox. Fight Club the movie was released in 1999. Although the film did not succeed in making it big at the box office, it later developed popularity gaining a cult following.

Following the release of the film, also in 1999, Palahniuk published two more novels, Survivor and Invisible Monsters. The year 1999 also marked a disturbing tragedy in Palahniuk’s life. His father was murdered by the ex PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

boyfriend of a woman he was dating. Palahniuk immersed himself in writing to cope up with the tragic loss. He published more novels including Choke, which was also adapted into a movie, Lullaby, Diary, Haunted, Rant, Snuff, Pygmy, Tell

All and Damned. Some of his significant short stories include Guts (2004), Fetch

(2009), Loser (2010), Knock, Knock (2010) and Romance (2011). In addition to writing fiction, Palahniuk has also produced non-fiction works such as Fugitives and Refugees: A Walk in Portland, Oregon (2003), Stranger Than Fiction: True

Stories (2004) and You Do Not Talk About Fight Club: I Am Jack’s Completely

Unauthorized Essay Collection (2008). Chuck Palahniuk now lives in Vancouver,

Washington where he continues writing both fiction and nonfiction works.

Taken from: https://www.famousauthors.org/chuck-palahniuk