The Narrator
The protagonist of Fight Club is known as the narrator to all, his real name never being revealed. The narrator suffers from insomnia and dissociative personality disorder which basically means he has an alter ego, also known as Tyler Durden. He does not find out that Tyler is just a figment of his imagination until later on in the book. The narrator is a young individual that is not happy with his life as a product recall specialist. He is also not happy with the way he lives his life and believes Tyler is the perfect man. This obsession during the early portion of the novel show how he is easily swayed and weak to peer pressure. The narrator goes to several support groups to alleviate the stress he faces about his life and insomnia and later uses the fight club as a more effective means of blowing off steam. His last act in the novel is an attempt at suicide which demonstrates a rather morbid thought process that is not healthy for him. He is shown to have a crush with Marla even though he is basically in a relationship with her but does not notice it. He later gains some courage and finally eliminates Tyler from his mind yet still tries to kill himself.
Tyler Durden
"I love everything about Tyler Durden, his courage and his smarts. His nerve. Tyler is funny and charming and forceful and independent, and men look up to him and expect him to change their world. Tyler is capable and free, and I am not." (Palahniuk, 136). This line is said by the narrator and encompasses everything about Tyler. Tyler is everything that the narrator is not, he is the embodiment of what the Narrator wishes to be. Tyler is a figment of the narrators imagination and as such has no real worry in the world. This thinking motivates him to act in a rash way. Tyler is the co-founder of fight club and is the one who sets everything in motion. Tyler is also the antagonist later on in the novel. He uses his influence in fight club to start Project Mayhem and to encourage its members to act in ways he sees fit. He is the one who has an affair with Marla and the one who commits nearly every crime within the novel. He is last seen on the roof with the narrator where he vanishes at the sight of Marla. Lastly, he is mentioned by the underlings of Project Mayhem after the narrator tries to kill himself but fails. They say that they look foreward to Tyler's return foreshadowing a possible return.
Marla Singer
The narrator is introduced to Marla thorugh the support groups he attended early on in the novel. He immediately realized that she was like him, a tourist, and only here to relieve themselves of something bothering them. Marla gives an explanation of herself, stating "that the girl who lives in 8G used to be a lovely charming girl, but the girl is a monster bitch monster. The girl is infectious human waste, and she’s confused and afraid to commit to the wrong thing so she won’t commit to anything. The girl in 8G has no faith in herself,"(Palahniuk, 50) which all show the traits of Marla. At times she is paranoid and delusional while nice and caring such as the ending of the novel where she approaches the narrator to stop him from committing suicide. Marla knows that she will die soon so joins these support groups. What is ironic is that while she has breast cancer, she chooses to go to the testicular cancer group and every other group but the breast cancer group. Marla is in love with the narrator and shows this love throughout the novel even while she has been neglected and mistreated by the narrator and his alter ego. This shows how she longs for the love of anyone even if she must endure some emotional pain if it means that she will not be alone. She has no job and lives off the food that her dead neighbours paid for and is suicidal which is shown by the threat she left the narrator about her killing herself if he does not come.