Our Great War.

I am absolutely in love with Fight Club. When I was in the 9th grade, I read the book for the first time. Probably not quite appropriate for a 14-year-old, but I couldn't bring myself to put it down, even for a minute. I was just so surprised by the realness of the message and my intrigue with the characters. Of course, my brother "accidentally" ruined the ending for me, but even that didn't stop me from reading it. Having read the book and loved it so much, I was even more surprised by how in love I was with in the film! I have seen it countless times and was THRILLED when I discovered we would be watching it in class. Every time you watch it, you can find something new, little hints that Tyler is not really there, and little flickers of Edward Norton's face when Tyler is speaking (and vise versa). I think I enjoyed it even more this time, however, because I was able to sit back and watch everyone else go through the motions of the film only to be caught completely off guard at the end.

While many might not see how "two" men making bombs out of soap can be something the average American can relate to, Tyler provides so much insight into life that it is near impossible to walk away from the film (or novel) without taking a great deal out of it. He hit the nail right on the head when he said "Our Great War is a spiritual war. Our Great Depression is our lives." I truly believe that one of the largest struggles we can face is a spiritual one, with all of the conflicting religious and scientific beliefs. However, I also think that there is a way to balance both worlds, and hold true to spiritual beliefs and scientific fact at the same time. The fact that we constantly battle with ourselves and our own beliefs definitely causes the largest 'war'--and make sure not to forget that conflicting beliefs are often the instigators of physical wars. On the same level, we can never be more depressed than to the extent that we often leave ourselves. Just take into consideration our conflicting beliefs (on top of all of the other problems and personal issues we face on a daily basis), and there is no doubt that depression is often rooted at our own individual cores.

Let's face it. Regardless of the fact that Tyler Dourdan himself did not exist, he was a genius. It is clear to me that Chuck Palahniuk is a genius, too.