Fight Club And Secret Window Analysis

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Different people around the world have always been intrigued with the idea of how different personalities have a profound impact on human behavior, not only at the present time, but many years ago, when writers began incorporating the relationship between good and evil in their literary works. There are other themes that have been incorporated in different literary works as a way to display the suppressed psychological desires of people. This essay will compare the novella Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and two films, Fight Club and Secret Window by exploring the themes of dualism, isolation, and the role of sleep. The novella Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and the two films, Fight Club and Secret Window, explore the theme of dualism through the main characters. …show more content…
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and the two films, Fight Club and Secret Window, explore the theme of isolation through the main characters. First, the novella explores the theme of isolation. The main protagonist, Henry Jekyll, is passionate with scientific experiments that go against what is acceptable to society. Jekyll forces himself to practice his experiments in secret, since he desires to maintain his respectable position that he has in the community. For that reason, he seeks isolation whenever he wants to change into his darker side. As a matter of fact, this novella in particular explores what people are capable of doing when they are dying to practice their wicked desires, without being judged by the ethic restraints of society. Secondly, in Fight Club, the narrator lacks of satisfaction in his life and that is the reason why he experiences isolation. Whenever he wants to acquire the human connection that he wishes, he attends support groups, since he seems to not have any friends that care about him. Instead, he lives his life through the material objects that he owns. Finally, the theme of isolation is also explored in Secret Window, when Morton spends a lot of time by himself in the solitude of a wood cabin, where he experiences many strange sounds, broken light bulbs, and letters that threaten his life. Of course, Shooter also appears around this isolated place at random moments, like if he were stalking Rainey everywhere. The stories would not …show more content…
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and the two films, Fight Club and Secret Window, explore the role of sleep through the main characters. First, the novella explores the role of sleep when Jekyll involuntarily turns into Mr. Hyde in his sleep. That follows an involuntary state of vulnerability, which he is not capable of controlling. Hence, his sleep, becomes a place where all the suppressed desires come out from wherever they are hiding, so that they can come in contact with the psyche of the mind. Secondly, the protagonist of the film Fight Club has a problem that everyone encounters at one point or another; he had trouble sleeping. In fact, he is not able to sleep at all, since he is invaded with insomnia. He describes it as if “everything is so far away, a copy of a copy of a copy. The insomnia distance of everything, you can't touch anything and nothing can touch you” (Fight Club). He had never experienced insomnia to that extent, so everything became quite unfamiliar and strange. When he distanced himself from reality, it is not surprising that he felt as if he was dying, to the extent that he had to ask for help. Thus, in this case the immediate consequence that the role of sleep has on the narrator is that he is not able to realize that he is Tyler. On the other hand, in Secret Window, the protagonist develops a second personality when he falls asleep, but the other person does not live inside of him, since Shooter is an individual completely separate