Fight Club 2: Jacob Johnson Section 8
In the first part I talked about the philosophy in the conversations between Jack and Tyler Durden. But now it's time for the real spoiler for those of you who have not seen the movie yet; Jack and Tyler are the same people! Tyler is a different side of Jack that he created mentally, and he uses Tyler to accomplish things that he couldn't as Jack. The irony is Tyler is everything Jack wants to be, but Tyler is Jack and Jack is Tyler so he is everything he wants to be! The relationship between Jack and Tyler is like Yin and Yang; the concept of two forces present everywhere, completely opposite each other but at the same time balancing each other out. They cannot be separated because they exist together. Jack is feminine, soft, and weak. Tyler is masculine, hard, and strong.
Throughout the entire movie, up to the ending I think the idea of taoism is strongly presented. Tyler's thinking of "Let the chips fall where they may" goes with the Taoist idea of Wu Wei, which is the belief the only way to achieve happiness and fulfillment in life is to step back and let it play itself out. At the beginning of the movie Jack is addicted to consumerism and by the end he has let them go and now has a happier life. "Pu" is translated uncarved block or simplicity. It is a metaphor for a state of Wu Wei. In the state of Pu, taoists believe everything is as it seems without illusions. Tyler is trying to get Jack to enter a state of Pu, where he will see the world as it really is rather than as the world wants us to see it. Taoists believed that once you enter a state of Pu, only then can you actually live a Wu Wei life. Tyler explains this to Jack by saying "Only after we lose everything can we gain anything."
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