Tyler Durden is the
archetypical male warrior who is strong, self reliant and courageous and is
glorified by the “Fight Club” culture because of these virtues. Being strong
and courageous are classical hero traits that can be found in the heroes of
“Beowulf” and “Sir Gaiwan and the Green Knight”. Tyler Durden’s courage is
displayed in all of its glory within a scene in which he is brutally beaten. He
does not once raise his hands to defend himself from an assault that is meant
to humiliate him. This display of his courage and strength through non-violence
invites references to Gandhi and the awe of his spectators. His reward was the
right to use the basement of the bar as a meeting place. This scene shows he is
capable of acting in both violent and non-violent ways to accomplish his goals.
He approaches everything in his life without fear and because of this, people
are inspired to follow him and believe he will protect them. A more
illuminating example of his courage is at the climax of the novel when he is willing
to sacrifice himself as a martyr for his cause. He draws upon his extraordinary
male strength during his fights and regardless of how seriously he is injured,
he will summon the will to rise each time he is knocked down. These heroic
traits were glorified and a cult of personality formed around him. Because he
projected these traits, he attracted followers from a culture that lacked and
sought strong alpha males. Tyler Durden imposed rules of conduct and a code of
honor upon his followers, much like a patriarch imposes rules upon his clan. He
searched for disciples among the fighters and selected the ones that proved
they were worthy following their mastery of elaborate tests. The culmination of
the testing is swearing fealty to Tyler through sacrifice and pain. His
followers are selected and then branded with a chemical burn in the shape of
his kiss. He says “this will hurt more than anything you have ever felt before”
and “this is the greatest moment of your life”. Tyler is not what is
traditionally thought of as a hero, nor is he a virtuous character, however his
traits symbolized the needs and desires of the culture that created him.
