The movies influencing the main characters in establishing fight club, an underground bocing club, as seen in chuck palahniuk`s fight club - USD Repository

  

THE MOTIVES INFLUENCING THE MAIN CHARACTERS IN

ESTABLISHING FIGHT CLUB, AN UNDERGROUND BOXING CLUB, AS

SEEN IN CHUCK PALAHNIUK’S FIGHT CLUB

A Thesis

  

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree

in English Language Education

  

By

Fransiscus Haryo Tri Aji

  Student Number: 991214138

  

ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM

DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION

FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA

2007

  

A Thesis on

THE MOTIVES INFLUENCING THE MAIN CHARACTERS IN

ESTABLISHING FIGHT CLUB, AN UNDERGROUND BOXING CLUB, AS

SEEN IN CHUCK PALAHNIUK’S FIGHT CLUB

  

By

Fransiscus Haryo Tri Aji

Student Number: 991214138

  

Approved by:

Dr. A. Herujiyanto, M.A. January 10, 2007 Sponsor

  

THE MOTIVES INFLUENCING THE MAIN CHARACTERS IN

ESTABLISHING FIGHT CLUB, AN UNDERGROUND BOXING CLUB, AS

SEEN IN CHUCK PALAHNIUK’S FIGHT CLUB

By

  

Fransiscus Haryo Tri Aji

Student Number: 991214138

  Defended before the Board of Examiners on January 27, 2007 and Declared Acceptable

  

BOARD OF EXAMINERS

Chairperson : A. Hardi Prasetyo, S.Pd., M.A. ___________

Secretary : Drs. P. G. Purba, M.Pd. ___________

Member : Dr. A. Herujiyanto, M.A. ___________

Member : A. Hardi Prasetyo, S.Pd., M.A. ___________

Member : Markus Budiraharjo, S.Pd., M.Ed. ___________

  Yogyakarta, January 27, 2007 Faculty of Teachers Training and Education Sanata Dharma University Dean, Drs. Tarsisius Sarkim, M.Ed., Ph.D.

  

Statement of Work’s Originality

  I honest declare that the thesis which I wrote does not contain the works or part of the works of other people, except those cited in the quotations and the bibliography, as a scientific paper should.

  Yogyakarta, January 11, 2007 The Writer

  Fransiscus Haryo Tri Aji I dedicated this thesis to

my beloved father, mother,

brother and sister,

and my adorable fiancée

  

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  I realize that it is impossible for me to accomplish this mission, to finish this thesis, without assistance. First of all, I thank God, Mother Mary, and St.

  

Fransiscus, who have always been walking beside me. They give me great blessing

and show me the best path I should follow.

  I realize that many people have given their help in finishing this thesis. I also realize that it is impossible for me to finish it without their help. Now, I would like to express my gratitude for their guidance and support for me in finishing this thesis.

  My special gratitude is addressed to my beloved family, especially my mother, Josephine Murtini, and my father Florentinus Broto Wiratno, my great supporters. I thank them for their patience and for entrusting me to finish this thesis.

  My big gratefulness is addressed to Dr. Antonius Herujiyanto, M. A., as my sponsor. I thank him for his guidance, patience, suggestions and corrections.

  I thank Herlambang Jaluardi who tried so hard to find Fight Club for me. My deepest thank is also addressed to Tunjung Sigit Pambudi and Yoyok

  Suhartanto for the discussions, suggestions, tips, examples and everything. I am deeply indebted to them for their willingness to spend their time to assist me in finishing this thesis.

  I thank all my friends, the great of 99ers, Nunuk, Tommy, Sie-mien, Onggo, Japar, Jenthik, Bayu, Bodro, Semi, Buto, Linda, Mia, Aan, Silih, Sie-mo and all under stairs community for all the joys and laughter they brought in my life.

  To Brodjo (98), Anom (98) and Joseph (98) for their loyalty. Also to Hendri and Egan & Nael (Tommy’s family), Reti, Gendhel, Catak for allowing me to borrow his books, and all my friends who are scattered all over the world.

  I would also give my biggest appreciation to all the lecturers of PBI Sanata Dharma University and to the secretariat staffs of PBI, mbak Tari and mbak Dhani.

  I would not have realized my dream without their assistance.

  The last and the most important, I thank Elisabeth Diah Purnamasari who has given her times in the last 4 years to accompany me in happiness, pain and sorrow. I thank her for the love and every moment we have spent together.

  Fransiscus Haryo Tri Aji

  

TABLE OF CONTENTS

  TITLE PAGE …..…….……………………………………………….….….. i PAGE OF APPROVAL …………………………………….………….......... ii PAGE OF BOARD OF EXAMINERS ……………………….……………... iii STATEMENTS OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY ……………….………….… iv PAGE OF DEDICATION ……………………………………….…………... v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ……………………………………….………… vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ……………………………………….…………… viii ABSTRACT …………………………………………………………………. xi

  

ABSTRAK …………………………………………………………..…..……. xii

  CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION A. Background of the study ……….…………………….…………….….

  1 B. Objective of the Study …………………………………..…….……....

  4 C. Problems Formulation .………………………………..….…………...

  4 D. Benefits of the Study ………………………………….……..………..

  4 E. Definition of Terms …………………………………….……………..

  5 CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE A. Criticism ….…………………………………………………………..

  8 B. Theory of Critical Approach ….…..…………………………………..

  9 C. Theoretical Review ……………………………………………………

  11 1. The Theory of Character and characterization …..……………….

  11 2. The Psychoanalytic Theory ..……………………………………..

  14 3. The Theory of Motivation ………………………………………..

  16

  4. The Theory of Society …………………………………………… 18

  33 2. Tyler Durden ..……………………………………………………...

  50

  1. Suggestion for Future Researchers ...………….……………….……

  49

  46 B. Suggestions ….......................................................................................

  38 CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS A. Conclusions …………………………………………………………...

  36 B. The Main Character’s Motives ……………………………………….

  34 b Tyler’s Mental Description ………………………………….…… 34 c. Tyler’s Social Status Description ………………………….……..

  a. Tyler’s Physical Description ………………………………..……

  34

  28 c. Joe’s Social Status Description ………………………………......

  D. The context of Fight Club ……………………………………………. 19 E. Theoretical Framework ...……………………………………………..

  27 b. Joe’s Mental Description ..……………………………………….

  a. Joe’s Physical Description ……………………………….………

  1. Joe …………………………………………………………………… 27

  A. The Characterization of Joe and Tyler Durden ……………………….. 26

  25 CHAPTER 4 ANALYSIS

  24 D. Sources …………………………………………………………….….

  23 C. Procedures ………………………………………………………........

  22 B. Approaches …………………………………………………………...

  20 CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY A. Subject Matter ………………………………………………………..

  2 Suggestion for English Teacher ……………………………………… 50

  a. the implementation of Fight club in Teaching Prose II ……..

  51 BIBLIOGRAPHY ……………………………………………………………

  54 APPENDICES

  1. The Summary of Fight Club .…..………………………............... 57

  2. The Biography of Chuck Palahniuk ……………………………… 60

  3. Prose II …………………………………………………………… 65 Lesson Plan …………………………………………….…….

  66

  

ABSTRACT

  Haryo Tri Aji, Fransiscus. (2007). The Motives Influencing the Main Characters

  

in Establishing Fight Club, an Underground Boxing Club, as Seen in Chuck

Palahniuk’s Fight Club, Yogyakarta. English Education Study Program,

  Department of Language and Education, Faculty of Teachers Training and Education, Sanata Dharma University.

  This study discusses one of the Chuck Palahniuk’s works entitled Fight

  

Club. The story tells about the effects of consumerism on human psyche. It tells the

story of the nameless character, a modern male who has multiple personalities.

  This study deals with the motives influencing the main character in creating fight club, an underground boxing club, as seen in Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club. There are two questions in this thesis, namely: 1) How are the main characters described? 2) What are the motives that influence the main characters in creating the underground fight club?

  To solve the first problem, some literary reviews concerning with the theory of character and characterization are conducted to find out the main characters’ character and characterization. To solve the second problem, the psychological approach is used to see the main characters’ motive in creating an underground boxing club, fight club and the sociocultural-historical approach is used to understand the social-historical background of the novel. Theory of psychology is used to analyze the motives of the main characters in establishing fight club. The theory of society is used to understand the political and social condition of the

  th world in the 20 century.

  The results of the study are as follows: first, Joe and Tyler are actually the same person but Tyler is the antithesis of Joe. Joe suffers insomnia and he hates his job. He is an emasculated person and a dependent person. He does not have any friends. He goes to work and comes home without anyone who greets him. Joe’s multiple personalities appear because he is unable to find ‘something larger’ which causes chronic insomnia. He cannot do anything to overcome his problems. Tyler has everything that Joe does not have. He is smart and free. He hates consumerism. He is not worried about crime, poverty, and murder. What worries him is the fact that people are forced to act and live by corporations. Second, the motives of the main characters in establishing an underground boxing club are their efforts to regain their manhood and break the civilization which has created a consumer society and a dependency on goods. In other words, the motives in creating an underground boxing club are basically their efforts to regain their self esteem as a man, set people free from the control of consumerism and liberate people to make their own decisions.

  Finally, this study presents the conclusions of the analysis and the suggestions for future researches, concerning possible future researches on the novel. Some suggestions for English teachers to teach Prose II using the novel are presented in the last part of this study.

  

ABSTRAK

  Haryo Tri Aji, Fransiscus. (2007). The Motives Influencing the Main Character

  

in Creating Fight Club, an Underground Boxing Club, as Seen in Chuck

Palahniuk’s Fight Club,Yogyakarta. Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris,

  Jurusan Pendidikan Bahasa dan Seni, Fakultas Keguruan dan Ilmu Pendidikan, Univeritas Sanata Dharma.

  Skripsi ini membahas tentang salah satu novel karya Chuck Palahniuk yang berjudul Fight Club. Ceritanya berlatar belakang tentang akibat dari konsumerisme terhadap psikologi manusia. Novel ini bercerita tentang karakter tanpa nama yang mempunyai kepribadian ganda.

  Skripsi ini membahas tentang motif yang mempengaruhi sang karakter utama dalam menciptakan kelompok tinju rahasia, seperti terlihat dalam novel Fight

  Club karya Chuck Palahniuk.

  Ada dua pertanyaan yang terdapat dalam skripsi ini. Pertanyaan yang pertama adalah 1) Bagaimanakah karakter utama digambarkan? 2)Motif-motif apa saja yang mempengaruhi karakter utama dalam menciptakan sebuah kelompok tinju rahasia? Kedua pertanyaan tersebut diajukan untuk mencapai tujuan dari penulisan skripsi ini.

  Untuk memecahkan masalah yang pertama, beberapa telaah referensi yang berkaitan dengan teori karakter dan karakterisasi dilakukan untuk menemukan karakterisasi tokoh-tokoh tersebut. Untuk memecahkan masalah yang kedua, digunakan pendekatan psikologi untuk membahas motif-motif dari karakter dalam menciptakan sebuah kelompok tinju rahasia dan pendekatan sosiokultural-historis digunakan untuk memahami latar belakang sosial-historis dari novel tersebut. Teori- teori psikologi digunakan untk menganalisa motif dan latar belakang dari karakter utama dalam menciptakan kelompok tinju rahasia. Teori sosial masyarakat digunakan untuk membantu menganalisi kondisi sosial dan politik Amerika pada abad 20.

  Hasil-hasil dari telaah penelitian adalah sebagai berikut. Pertama, Joe dan Tyler Durden senyatanya adalah orang yang sama, satu tubuh. Tyler adalah kebalikan dari Joe. Joe menderita insomnia dan tidak suka akan pekerjaanya. Dia kehilangan rasa kelaki-lakiannya dan menjadi orang yang selalu tergantung. Dia tidak mempunyai teman. Dia pergi ke tempat kerjanya dan kemudian pulang ke rumah tanpa ada seorangpun yang menyapanya. Kepribadian gandanya muncul ketika dia tidak bisa menemukan ‘sesuatu yang lebih besar’ dalam dirinya yang menyebapkannya menderita insomnia. Dia tidak bisa berbuat apa-apa untuk mengatasi masalahnya. Tyler adalah segala sesuatu yang Joe tidak bisa miliki. Tyler pandai dan bebas. Dia membenci konsumeris. Dia tidah takut akan perbuatan jahat, kemiskinan dan membunuh. Yang ditakutinya hanyalah kenyataan bahwa kehidupan kita diatur oleh kapitalis. Kedua, motif dari karakter utama dalam menciptakan kelompok tinju rahasia adalah usahanya untuk memperoleh kembali jati dirinya sebagai laki-laki dan mendobrak peradaban yang menyebabkan adanya budaya konsumer dan ketergantungan pada benda – benda. Dengan kata lain motif dalam menciptakan sebuah kelompok tinju rahasia pada dasarnya adalah usahanya untuk membebaskan orang – orang dari perangkap konsumeris dan membebaskan orang untuk bebas membuat keputusannya sendiri.

  Pada bab terakhir dari skripsi ini terdapat kesimpulan dari analisis dan saran-saran bagi pihak-pihak yang akan membuat penelitian lebih lanjut mengenai novel Fight Club karya Chuck Palahniuk di masa yang akan datang. Beberapa saran bagi para pengajar bahasa inggris untuk mengajar pelajaran Prose II dengan menggunakan novel ini sebagai bahan pengajarannya juga ditambahkan pada bagian akhir dari skripsi ini.

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION This chapter consists of five parts. They are Background of the Study, Objective of the Study, Problems Formulation, Benefits of the Study, and Definition

  of Terms. The Background of the Study gives the main reason for conducting this study. The Objective of the Study contains the aim of the study. The Benefits of the Study gives the advantages for the readers and researchers to conduct further studies. While the Definition of Terms gives the meaning of some important words used in the study.

A. Background of the Study

  There is a ghost among us. It is not an old ghost like Communism or Fascism, but it is a new ghost: consumerism. A society has been totally machined and exploited to increase production and material consumption. One of the horrified concepts in our economic system is that our economic system is based increasing production and expanding consumption.

  People are trapped in their static routines and they have difficulty coping in a society where people are too busy to listen. They are forced to work to fulfill their needs that sometimes they even do not need them. All of the things that are most important for human enjoyment and happiness are suppressed or minimized, while all the things they do not need are advertised heavily to give materials more importance. Consumerism does not represent the highest ideals of mankind but it is the outlets of personal despair, disappointment, or frustration. The system in the society with the intention of producing and consuming materials could damage man’s psychological mind. Based on the above discussion, I choose Fight Club, which is a great novel from Chuck Palahniuk. I choose Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club because the theme, as reflected in the main characters’ behavior, is not only interesting but it also gives a vivid portrait of the reaction of people when their humanity is being limited. The problem presented in the novel is relevant to the situation nowadays and the representation of everyday life. Chuck Palahniuk tries to portray the consumeristic culture in modern society which is reflected in the main character. Therefore, the nameless character and Taylor Durden, who are actually the same person, appear to be the outstanding character to criticize the society. Thus, it is necessary to understand the main characters personalities and their personal motives in establishing an underground boxing club to understand this novel.

  Palahniuk never mentions the nameless character in his novel, I think he does so in order to make him as an everyman character. To make it easier in analyzing this thesis, I refer the nameless character as Joe. The name Joe is derived from a magazine, Rider Digest, about the perspective of man’s organ of which the nameless character often refers him to it.

  “I’m Joe’s Prostate” “I’m totally Joe’s Gallbladder”. I am Joe’s raging bile duct. I am Joe’s grinding teeth. I am Joe’s inflamed, flaring nostrils. I am Joe’s white knuckles. I am Joe’s Enraged, Inflamed Sense of Rejection (pp. 58-59). Joe, a young executive, has multiple personalities. His multiple personalities appear when he is unable to find path to escape from his static and passive life. This multiple personalities also emerge because he is not comfortable with consumerism and changes in the state of masculinity. The main character’s behavior, words and acts give us a clear critique of late capitalism and the politics of emasculation that will lead us to the dehumanization.

  Erich Fromm, The revolution of Hope (1996 : 29), states that the year of 2000 is not an era where a human struggle for freedom and happiness to reach the peak of fulfillment and desires but it is an era where a human discontinues to be a human and become a machine without emotion and thought.

  In this novel, Chuck Palahniuk tries to present how the main character makes his efforts to change the society by making a male secret underground club, fight club. Fight club is a club of people who have to bare-knuckle duel and this club is controlled by several rules. There are eight rules in the fight club. The first rule of Fight Club is you do not talk about fight club. The second rule of fight club is you do not talk about fight club. Third rule of fight club is if someone yells 'stop', goes limp, taps out, the fight is over. The fourth rule is only two guys to a fight. The fifth rule is one fight at a time. The sixth rule is no shirt, no shoes. The seventh rule is fights will go on as long as they have to. The eighth and final rule is if this is your first night at fight club, you have to fight (pp. 49-52).

  Through this club the main characters make a project called Project Mayhem. This project is more like an army whose aim is to wage war against the rich and powerful. In this Project Mayhem, he plans to destroy the systems since he believes that in order to cure one's pain, one needs to demolish the system that has created it.

  Seeing the fact above, I would like to focus this study on the psychological background that influences the main characters in establishing an underground boxing club, which later the main characters use this club to spread anti- consumerist ideas and recruits most devoted fight club members to participate in increasingly elaborate attacks on corporate America.

  Characters have an important part since the characters are the actors. For that reason, this thesis will start with the discussion of Joe and Tyler Durden’s characters.

  B. Objective of the Study

  The aim of the study is to find out the motives of establishing the underground boxing club as seen in Joe and Tyler Durden, the main characters of Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club.

  C. Problem Formulation

  The problems of the study can be formulated as follows:

1. How are the main characters described?

  2. What are the motives that influence the main characters in establishing the underground fight club?

D. Benefits of the Study

  Two parties can gain benefits from this study. The first is the readers in general and the second is the student of Prose II class.

  For the readers in general, through this study they can gain a better understanding toward the novel and they can have a new perception toward this literary work from a new point of view. Readers can be more critical to the society. They can see that capitalism creates a consumer society, a society in which people frequently buy new goods, especially goods which are not essential, and which places a high value on owning many things. The readers can also see that this habit could lead us into dehumanization.

  For the students, this study will give them inspiration to understand and analyze this literary work from a new point of view. As we know, a literary work provides so many angles which can be analyzed further. Through this study, they can get inspiration to use the novel to learn English in an interesting way. This study shows us that through reading novels we can get some moral values and knowledge in an interesting way. The novel not only helps the students to learn English in an interesting way, but this novel also helps the students to develop their mastery on vocabularies and language skills.

E. Definition of Terms

  It is important to clarify the meaning of certain words to avoid misunderstanding of the meaning of the words related to the topic of study. I use some sources to define them. They are advanced learner’s dictionary, a glossary of literary terms and some other books.

1. Character

  Generally, character can be described as person who has a role in a story. In Glossary of Literary Terms, Abrams defined “character” as “the persons presented in dramatic or narrative work, who are interpreted by the readers as being endowed with moral dispositional qualities that are expressed in what they say – the dialogue

• – and by what they do – the action (1981 : 21).”

  According to Santon in An Introduction to Fiction, the term character may refer to two meanings. It may designate the individuals who appear in the story and may refer to the mixture of interest, desired, emotions and moral principles that make up each of the individuals (1965: 17).

  In this study what I mean by the word “character” is the nameless character and Tyler Durden’s appearance, feeling, thinking, and behavior.

  2. Motives The term “motives” in the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary

  (Cambridge University Press 2003, Version 1.0) means “(Countable noun) a reason for doing something”. While “motivation” means “(Uncountable noun) enthusiasm for doing something” and “(countable noun) the need or reason for doing something”

  Freud (quoted in Human Motivation. Bernard Weiner, 1980: 10 – 11) stated that individuals are considered as striving to satisfy personal needs within a world of limited and restricted resources. To satisfy these needs, behaviors must be undertaken that will lead to the desired goals. Virtually all such goals are located in the external world.

  In this study motives which are possessed by the main characters refer to the satisfaction of human basic needs that must be undertaken to achieve the desired goal.

  3. Emasculation In the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (Cambridge University

  Press 2003, Version 1.0), the word “emasculation” is derived from the word “emasculate (v)”, which means “to make a man less male by taking away his power and confidence”. It also means “to remove the male parts of something”.

  In this study, emasculation is a condition when males lose their self- confidence, independence, freedom, and manhood.

  4. Dehumanization In the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (Cambridge University

  Press 2003, Version 1.0), the word dehumanization is derived from the word “dehumanize” (v) which means “to remove from a person the special human qualities of independent thought, feeling for other people.

  In this study, dehumanization is a feeling that a person is not able to enjoy his life anymore and does not have independent thought.

  5. Consumerism In the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (Cambridge University

  Press 2003, Version 1.0), the word consumerism means “when too much attentions is given to buying and owning things”.

  In this study, consumerism is a state when people are frequently consuming many goods in order to be accepted as a part of society.

CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE This chapter discusses five parts. They are Criticism, Theory of Critical Approach, Theoretical Review, Context of Fight Club and Theoretical Framework. Criticism contains some opponents of experts about Fight Club. The Critical Approach explains some approaches that are used in this study. The Theoretical Review discusses some theories underlining this study like the theory of character

  and characterization, the psychoanalytic theory, the theory of motivation and the theory of society. The Context of Fight Club contains the situation of social condition when the Fight Club is written. Meanwhile, the theoretical framework explains the contribution of each theory towards the analysis to solve the problems formulated in this study.

A. Criticism

  A literary work is made by the influence of the society and for the society. A good literary work can invite some comment or criticism. Criticism toward a literary work can be one of the supports for the author to produce better literary work. Criticism does not always mean bad comment but it can be a compliment toward the literary work. This literary work, which I take as my subject matter, gets some criticism from the readers.

  Some critics considered the novel Fight Club to be a dark, disturbing, violence-encouraging portrayal of young males releasing anxieties through violence in an atmosphere of sheer nihilism and depravity. The novel is also about shattering the American dream. Through his novel, Palahniuk wants to criticize the mythology that anyone can become rich or powerful. Part of the way that the working poor are lulled into cooperating and staying in the service of richer classes is by this unspoken promise that if they work hard they will ascend to higher security and status (http://www.criticism.com/md/fightclub.html, accessed on January 20, 2006).

B. Theory of Critical Approaches

  The critical approaches provide the methods of analysis and the basis for the judgment on literary works. Using critical approaches, we can understand the novel deeper.

  The approaches which are used in conducting this thesis are the five approaches proposed by Rohrberger and Woods, Jr (1971: 3 – 15). The five approaches function as the means to understand and apprehend the esthetic values of a literary work. They are: the formalist approach, the biographical approach, the socio cultural-historical, the mythopoeic approach, and the psychological approach.

  The formalist approach insists on the total integrity of the literary piece. Concentrating almost entirely on its esthetic value, they are concerned with demonstrating the harmonious involvement of all the parts to the whole and with pointing out how meaning is derived from structure and how matters of technique determine structure. The extreme formalist critic examines the literary piece without reference to the facts of the author’s life, without reference to the genre of the work or its place in the development of the genre or in the literary history, without refereed to its social milieu (1971:7). The formalists believe in the emphasis on the totality of the literary object itself and its esthetic meanings.

  The biographical approach asserts the necessity for an appreciation of the ideas and personality of the author to an understanding of the literary object. In this approach, a work of art is considered a reflection of a personality that in the esthetic experience the reader shares the author’s consciousness, and that at least part of the reader’s response is to the author’s personality (1971:7). Biographical material can provide useful facts that can put us in a better position to understand and appreciate the author’s work.

  The socio cultural-historical approach, on the other hand, insists that the only way to locate the real work is in the reference to the civilization of which the attitudes and actions of a specific group of people become the subject matter (1971: 9). A novelist has a status as a member of the society and the society in which he lives can influence him in expressing his ideas in his novel. Analyzing of this kind hangs upon clear external evidence that the novel does use specific people and events from the author’s life.

  The mythopoeic approach seeks to discover certain universality recurrent patterns of human thought which they believe find expression in significant works of art. The universality recurrent patters are those that find first expression in ancient myths and folk rites and are so basic to human thought that they have meaning for all men (1971: 11).

  The last approach is the psychological approach, which also involves the effort to locate and demonstrate certain pattern, but forms a different body of knowledge, that is psychology (1971: 13). This approach uses psychological theories to explain human motivation, personality and behavior patterns written in literary object.

  From those approaches, I use the psychological approach and the socio cultural-historical approach to analyze Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club.

C. Theoretical Review

1. Theory of Character and Characterization

  This study uses novel as the subject matter. As we know that in order to have a better understanding toward a literary work such as a novel, we have to understand the character of the novel. To be able to understand the characters, I use the theory of Character and Characterization. The theory helps me analyzing the characters of the novel

  Character can be simply considered as a person who has a role in a story. In concordance, Abrams also explains that the person presented in a story is called the character. He adds that the readers interpret the character as having certain characteristic in the way they play their roles that are expressed by what they saw or their dialogue and what they do or their action (1981: 20). In addition, Harvey writes in his book, Character and the Novel, that playwright has a right to create and presents his or her fictional characters in the novel, whatever they look like, their personality, and what the problem they might face (1968:32).

  In the book Aspect of the Novel, Foster introduces popular new terms in determining the characters. He defines the character as a flat character and round character. A flat character is built around a single idea or quality and is presented without much individual detail, and, therefore, can be described fairly in a single phrase or sentence. One great advantage of flat character is that they are easily recognized whenever they come in – recognized by the reader’s emotional eye, not only by the visual eye which merely notes the recurrence of a proper name. A second advantage is that they are easily remembered by the reader afterwards. A round character is complex in temperament and motivation and is represented with subtle particularity; such a character therefore is as difficult to describe with any adequacy as a person in real life is, and like real persons, he is capable of surprising (1974: 46-49).

  From the other point of view, Milligan defines the character based on performance. He says, “major character appears more often than the others. They perform important roles in clarifying the theme of the novel, so the reader’s expectation depends on their idea”. The secondary characters, according to him, appear in curtain setting, only necessarily become the background of the major characters (1983: 115).

  Characters have particular personalities and physical attributes that distinguish them from the other characters. Santon in An Introduction to Fiction, defines characters as individual who appears in the story or the mixture of interests, desires, emotions, and moral principles that make up each of these individuals.

  Therefore, an author needs to do with what it is called characterization. It is a process by which an author create characters, the device by which he makes us believe a character is particular type of person he is (Rohrberger & Woods, 1971: 20-21) Rohrberger presents two principal ways in the process of characterization.

  Those are:

1. The direct way in which the author tells the readers the physical appearance of the character directly.

  2. Dramatic or indirect way in which the character’s behavior, personality, and values are revealed as he or she is giving opinion about the situation he or she faces (Rohrberger & Woods, 1971: 20- 21)

  In the book Understanding Unseen, Murphy (1972:161-173) explains that there are nine principles for the author to attempt to make his characters understandable to, and come alive for, his reader. They are personal description, character as seen by another, speech, conversation of others, past life, direct comment, reactions, thoughts, and mannerisms. First is the personal description. By giving a clear description of the character’s physical appearance (such as the face, clothing, skin), the author wants to tell us more about the character. The description is often related to the psychological condition, or to the personality. A personal description will also help the readers both to visualize and to understand the characteristic of the character.

  The second is character as seen by another. Instead of describing a character directly, the author can describe him through the eyes and opinions of another character to help us to draw the description. The third is speech. The author can give the readers an insight into the character of one of the persons involved in the book through what the person says. Whenever the person speaks, whenever he is in conversation with another, or whenever he puts forward an opinion, the author is giving us a clue to his character.

  The fourth is past life. The readers can learn something about the character’s past life through the events set by the author that also has shaped the characters.

  This method can be done by the author through his direct comment, through the person thought, through his conversation or through the medium of another person.

  The author can also give the readers clues to a character through the conversation of other characters and the things they say about him. People talk about other people and they think that they say often give us a clue to the character of the person talked about.

  The author can also give the reader a clue to a character by letting us know how that character reacts to various situations and events. This reaction is as important as his speech, his gesture, and his movements. The author can describe or give comments on a character directly. This kind of description leaves the readers no doubt to what sort of person the character is. The author can give the readers direct knowledge of what a character in his novel is thinking about. In this respect, he is able to do what we cannot do in real life. He may tell us what different people are thinking. Readers are in privileged position. We can hear the inmost thoughts of a person in a novel. The last, the author can describe a person’s mannerisms, habits or idiosyncrasies, which may also tell us something about description of his characters.

2. The Psychoanalytic Theory

  Psychoanalytic is any of a number of the theories of the human personality, which attempt to examine a person’s unconscious mind to discover the hidden causes of their mental problems. Freud as stated by Geiwitz (1980: 395-398) states some parts in this theory, they are:

  Freud believes that some individuals have severe conflicts in the attitudes. To represent conflict, then, he decides to construct his theory of the Id, the Ego and the Superego.

a. Id

  The id is the source of our drives and Freud considered it to be the reservoir of libido. 'The libido' or simply 'libido', is the form of energy cathected upon objects or an affect received from objects, predominantly sexual, which underlies all mental processes. Our drives surge forth from the id and apply libidinal energy to objects, which may result in aggressive or erotic attachments/actions upon chosen objects The drives of the id are considered to be inborn, operating within the primary psychical processes (those of the unconscious) and are absolutely determined according to the pleasure principle. It is said that the id behaves as though it were unconscious, the reason thought to be is that our ego and our super-ego's ideals and pressures are often in conflict with the id's, causing repression, as the gratification of the id's drives would often be devastating in terms of social- and self-image.

b. Ego

  In Freud's theory, the ego mediates among the id, the super-ego and the external world. Its task is to find a balance between primitive drives, morals, and reality while satisfying the id and superego. Its main concern is with the individual's safety and allows some of the id's desires to be expressed, but only when consequences of these actions are marginal. Ego defense mechanisms are often used by the ego when id behavior conflicts with reality and either society's morals, norms, and taboos or the individual's expectations as a result of the internalization of these morals, norms, and taboos.

  Although in his early writings Freud equated the ego with the sense of self, he later began to portray it more as a set of psychic functions such as reality-testing, defence, synthesis of information, intellectual functioning, and memory.

  The word ego is taken directly from Latin where it is the nominative of the first person singular personal pronoun and is translated as "I myself" to express emphasis. Ego is the English translation for Freud's German term "Ich."

c. Super-ego

  The superego essentially corresponds to two aspects. They are ‘good’ and ‘bad’, ‘rewards’ and ‘punishments’. Freud's theory says that the super-ego is a symbolic internalization of the father figure and cultural regulations. The super-ego tends to stand in opposition to the desires of the id because of their conflicting objectives, and is aggressive towards the ego. The super-ego acts as the conscience, maintaining our sense of morality and the prohibition of taboos. (www.wikipedia.org/wiki/sigmund freud, acessed on August 19, 2006).

  According to Kasschau (1995: 272), “The id is concerned with what the person wants to do and the ego is concerned with planning what the person can do; the superego is concerned with what the person should do.

3. Theory of Motivation

  We must understand the motives and the theory of motivation so that we can analyze the main character’s motivation to create an underground boxing club.