Themes and message

Themes

The movie covers the same general themes as the novel, although there are a few variations in how the details of each theme are presented when compared to the book.

Alienation

Just as the novel, the movie portrays the narrator as a person who is alienated from his life in several ways. For example, the movie portrays the effects of the narrator’s insomnia through a scene at the office where the sound is heavily muted, which is a direct way of showing how hard it is to engage with the world around you when you have severe insomnia.

The movie also portrays the narrator’s alienation from himself in various ways, especially once it is revealed that he and Tyler are the same person. For example, in one of the final scenes in the movie the narrator and Tyler fight, but in between the fight scene itself we also view the security camera footage from the building, which clearly shows t...