Analysis of a Scene

In this scene, Tyler pours flaked lye on the main character's hand, which causes a chemical burn. While he is squirming and screaming, Tyler is calmly explaining to him that "It will hurt more than you've ever been burned, and you will have a scar". The main character tries to use his meditation skills that he learned in his counseling groups, but Tyler tries to slap him out of it and make him experience the pain. Tyler wants him to know, not fear, that some day he is going to die. We think that this is a crucial scene in the movie because Tyler has brought the main character "one step closer to hitting rock bottom". Tyler is trying to make him let go of all his fear and not worry about living on the edge. The main character may hate Tyler in the moment, but he is doing it to help him. At the begining of the movie, we are introduced to the main character as someone who has all of the material things he could ever want. He appears to have a good job and his life put together. His only problem seems to be his insomnia. Since he can't ever sleep, he just kind of goes through every day doing what he has to do to get by. He has everything on the outside, but absolutely nothing on the inside. He is introduced to Tyler Durden for a reason, although he doesn't know that reason until later. Tyler lives on the edge all of the time. He breaks the law, lives in a completely run down house, and treats people like they don't matter. The reason he makes the main character do all the crazy stuff he does, is because he is trying to eliminate his fear. Tyler doesn't want him to go on through his life hating it. He tries every day to get him closer to hitting rock bottom. The point of hitting rock bottom is so that he has experienced the worst and he can learn to appreciate the good things in life, and also so that he is not afraid of anything, so he can not be controlled by anyone.