Entry 9

Plot and Setting

The narrator is with Marla in a hotel and they are talking at 4:00 am. The next moment the narrator remembers is being at his work finding out that his boss is dead. He finds out that it was Tyler who killed his boss. Thus the narrator killed his own boss. He is now wanted for murder but there are members of Project Mayhem within the police which complicates things. The narrator is more worried about Project Mayhem who he has been hiding from but is everywhere. They are keeping tabs on him.

Then the narrator ends up running into members of Project Mayhem who corner him. He tries to act as Tyler and tell them to leave but they tell him that he told them that they must do this no matter what he says. They try to castrate him.

Then the narrator calls Marla and tells her to meet her where they first met. He needs to talk to her. They both meet at one of the groups that they both used to attend for cancer. Marla, with a black eye goes up to the narrator and slaps him for what he has done. The narrator doesn't know why but Marla tells him that she saw him shoot a man at a hotel, but she really saw Tyler shoot a man. The narrator tries to explain to Marla the truth but she doesn't understand. He tells her how he feels about her and tells her to watch her back for members of Project Mayhem and that he is going to take care of Tyler Durden.

Character

We now know the truth that the narrator does truly have feelings for Marla and cares for her deeply. This is shows that he has come a long way from the hatred he had for her when he met her. Furthermore, at the end of this portion of the novel we see the heroic side of the narrator. Up until now, he has remain somewhat passive and deferential but now that he is finally taking action to "take care" of Tyler, we see this new side of him. A side full of passion and courage to get what he wants. This in a way represents Tyler's attitude which makes sense because to destroy Tyler, the narrator will have to think like Tyler.

Theme

A new theme that I believe has become evident in this book is the level of difference in someones personality that is given off and what is truly lies deep within. When Tyler met Marla he HATED her. He couldn't stand her but now he truly cares about her. She gave off a passive attitude that showed she cared about no one but once the narrator started to truly understand her, he showed her compassion which allowed her to show him what was within herself under all the grief and cynicism. From seeing this, the narrator has fallen in love with her and she has fallen in love with him. I think the author is trying to explain something about love in this idea which is that love hides in the strangest of places within the strangest of people. It is not easily found and must be achieved through the true understanding of another human being.