Rumination Fugue Publication Rumination Fugue Publication | Seite 77

break through the unassailable cage of societal pressure and shackle, including a settled
occupation, a good manner, and a stable life with no variables. Thus, they endeavor to
actualize the real self which has been extinguished by the social norms. In this manner, the
protagonists of Fight Club reveal spirituality by hunting their internal significance through
extreme acts.
The aforementioned manifestation of spirituality occurs beyond the confinement
of fiction. Such pursuits for one's deepest value can also be found under realistic circum-
stances. Recently, a Shanghai vagrant with decent demeanor and resourceful knowledge
of Chinese culture and classics became a topic of great popularity. His life experience in
the past decades was checkered, with him being “abandoned” by both his family and
occupation for his inclination to pick up trash and his invariable passion for books.
Although his status descended from civil servant to vagrant of sheer abjection, Shen Wei
considers his current situation of living to be settled and holds great contentment with his
occupation of garbage collecting and his company of books. Considering the sharp com-
parison between his current settlement and his previous dissatisfaction, this situation
resembles the circumstance of himself choosing the life of vagrancy for the pursuit of his
passions and goals. The self-actualization in this case resembles the spirituality of the
protagonists, which comprises the quest and actualization of the real self throughout the
course of a lifetime. These two cases are the epitomes of the spirit of self-actualization in
different aspects, including the pursuit of erudition, passion, and the real self. In short,
both Shen Wei in the news and the protagonists of the book endeavor to find the true self
and achieve their internal goals through breaking societal norms.
As we further rarefy the intertwined content of Fight Club aiming to capture the
essence in which the narrator conveys, another conception is unveiled-- “the ambivalence
of being”. Ensuing doubts emerge with regards to this term. What complexity is denoted
through the notion? How are the connotations revealed in the content or through the
protagonists of Fight Club? Furthermore, how is it associated with the seemingly relevant
sphere of philosophy? Or, shifting to the most essential inquiry, what is the exact meaning
of this term, “the ambivalence of being”?
As an ambiguous conception, “ambivalence” is being interpreted though different
voices, thus resulting in nuanced definitions in terms of different understandings. Accord-
ing to Kaplan, K. J. (1972), it is simply elucidated with the most literal meaning, which