Others often use masculinity, most often associated with strength, confidence and self-sufficiency to define a man's identity. The narrator perceives Tyler Durden as a fearless young man who is independent and lives life by his own rules. So is Tyler Durden masculine because of his no-nonsense attitude or are his law-breaking antics and unusual lifestyle seen as a failure because he is a man without family, money or a well-respected job? These typical aspirations are commonly referred to as the male American dream, but does following life according to the rules imposed on males by society really make a male masculine? Fight Club specifically debunks the male American dream. He challenges the idea that male identity is defined by material elements and instead embraces the idea that male identity can be found in liberation from conformity and the ability to endure pain. The male American Dream is often interpreted as moving your family into society increasing your wealth. Hence the need to purchase objects that are on par with one's income level and therefore to flaunt wealth and status. This need for objects is not particularly due to utility or practicality, but to stand out in society as part of a particular class level, resulting from the pressure to keep up with one's peers. This film shows that society has taken over the definition of our needs and men no longer think for themselves, but rather turn to see what others have and from this interpret what society considers acceptable and standard. The male American dream can be interpreted as an endless cycle of proving oneself to others and appearing up to the standards defined by others. According to Tyler Durden, “Advertising makes us chase… middle of paper… from all material elements and does not use society's standards as rules for its identity. According to Fight Club, Tyler has found his masculine identity and Fight Club members are also able to do so by enduring the pain of Fight Club and not conforming to society's standards. When you are not tied to material objects and possessions to define them, you see your true identity. This masculinity defined by Fight Club is the theory that freedom comes from having nothing; thus men are freed from the confines of society, more specifically from the male American Dream.Works CitedFight Club. Novel by Chuck Palahniuk. Screenplay by Jim Uhls. Director David Fincher. 1999. 20th Century Fox, 2002. DVD. Friday, Krister. ““A Generation of Men Without a History”: Fight Club, Masculinity, and the Historical Symptom.” MUSE project. 2003.