Daily Dialogue — March 8, 2016

Narrator: Well, what do you want me to do? You just want me to hit you?
Tyler Durden: C’mon, do me this one favor.
Narrator: Why?
Tyler Durden: Why? I don’t know why; I don’t know. Never been in a fight. You?
Narrator: No, but that’s a good thing.
Tyler Durden: No, it is not. How much can you know about yourself, you’ve never been in a fight? I don’t wanna die without any scars. So come on; hit me before I lose my nerve.
Narrator: This is crazy.
Tyler Durden: So go crazy. Let ‘er rip.
Narrator: I don’t know about this.
Tyler Durden: I don’t either. Who gives a shit? No one’s watching. What do you care?
Narrator: Whoa, wait, this is crazy. You want me to hit you?
Tyler Durden: That’s right.
Narrator: What, like in the face?
Tyler Durden: [beat] Surprise me.
Narrator: This is so fucking stupid…

Narrator swings, connects against Tyler’s head.

Tyler Durden: Motherfucker! You hit me in the ear!
Narrator: Well, Jesus, I’m sorry.
Tyler Durden: Ow, Christ… why the ear, man?
Narrator: Guess I fucked it up…
Tyler Durden: No, that was perfect!

— Fight Club (1999), screenplay by Jim Uhls, novel by Chuck Palahniuk

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Argument.

Trivia: Author Chuck Palahniuk first came up with the idea for the novel after being beaten up on a camping trip when he complained to some nearby campers about the noise of their radio. When he returned to work, he was fascinated to find that nobody would mention or acknowledge his injuries, instead saying such commonplace things as “How was your weekend?” Palahniuk concluded that the reason people reacted this way was because if they asked him what had happened, a degree of personal interaction would be necessary, and his workmates simply didn’t care enough to connect with him on a personal level. It was his fascination with this societal ‘blocking’ which became the foundation for the novel.

Dialogue On Dialogue: When is an argument not really an argument? This scene. It’s a fight… that turns into a FIGHT.

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