Introduction
The term individuation that does not refer to psychology or psychoanalysis is not easily found in literature; however, it seems to have found its way into pop culture through a bestselling fiction novel without anyone noticing it. In 1996, Chuck Palahniuk wrote Fight Club, a seven-page short story that would later turn into a novel by the same title and that would then be adapted into a film and become the center of attention, receiving both positive and negative criticism. As part of this criticism, several essays and articles were written, each one attempting to interpret and analyze what the novel’s true purpose was. Nevertheless, none of them has managed to fully interpret or understand what the underlying forces that drive the narrator’s actions are or what drives the main character into developing an alter ego in the novel. The purpose of this essay is to give a definite answer to that question by looking further into Jung’s works on the Self, the archetypes and focus the interpretation on the process he called individuation.
According to Jung, individuation is a process all human beings have to go through in order to become full individuals. This is done by understanding the archetypes that live within the psyche, like the shadow and the anima, and the effect they have on both the conscious and the unconscious. Taking into account that this process is made up of three lengthy stages – divisio, separatio and solutio – and that the purpose of this essay is to unveil its existence in the novel, the character’s development throughout the novel, I interpret it in a chronological manner that reflects that same stage-like unfoldment.
The essay begins by analyzing the events that led the narrator into having a psychogenic disturbance that would result in him beginning his individuation. It is followed by defining and interpreting the two most important archetypes found in this process: the anima and the Shadow. Afterwards, it acknowledges the importance that both religion and religious themes have in the novel, recurring concepts like sacrifice and rebirth are interpreted within a Jungian context and the structure of individuation.
On a similar note, another important religious concept that is taken into consideration is that of mandalas, assimilating them to Palahniuk’s haikus. This is done due to the fact that Jung considered mandalas of utmost importance as markers in the individuation process since they tapped into the collective unconscious. Because of this, the fifth chapter is devoted to the interpretation of haikus and how they can be understood as written mandalas, as well as interpreting what purpose they serve and what they mean and represent in the main character’s individuation.
Through a careful interpretation of both the verbal material and Jung’s theories, the purpose of all the events, the characters presented and their purpose, becomes clear.