Chuck Palahniuk and the Comic Grotesque

<p> With the success of <I>Fight Club</I> his novel-turned-movie Chuck Palahniuk has become noticed for accurately capturing the exploitation of power in America in the 21st century. With cynicism and skepticism he satirizes the manipulative aspects of ideologies and beliefs pushing society's understanding of the norm.</p><p> In this work Palahniuk's characters are analyzed as people who rebel against the systems in control. Mikhail Bakhtin's theory is applied to explain Palahniuk's application of the comic grotesque; theories from Louis Althusser and Slavoj Žižek help reveal aspects of ideology in Palahniuk's writing.</p>