Doppelgangers in Poe's William Wilson and the Movie, Fight Club

Film is the medium which brings life to screenwriting. A form of literature, screenwriting is frequently based on prose. Literary works are often the muse which inspires modern cinematography. An example of this inspiration can be found in the parallels between Edgar Allan Poe's "William Wilson" and "Fight Club." The movie, "Fight Club" contains doppelganger characters similar to the ones in "William Wilson" and can be considered a tribute to Edgar Allan Poe's work.

Poe's "William Wilson" begins with a foreshadowing of cryptic reality when the narrator immediately states, "Let me call myself, for the present, William Wilson" (Poe 626). Unwilling to reveal his true identity, the narrator leaves the reader wondering if the claim is a lie or perhaps the result of a "conflict within the soul" (Doppelgangers). Further disclosing his inner conflict, the narrator admits "William Wilson [is] a fictitious title not very dissimilar to the real" (Poe 629). Acknowledging the similarities between himself and the other William Wilson, the narrator points to the first hint of doppelgangers, or doubles, in the story. Finally revealing the conflict between the two William Wilsons, the narrator addresses the other William Wilson as "Scoundrel! Impostor! Accursed villain!" (640). He continues to challenge the doppelganger, "You shall not--you shall not dog me unto death! Follow me, or I shall stab you where you stand" (640). The protagonist, often the narrator, of a doppelganger story has to "acknowledge what the double represents, and at the same time struggle against it" (Doppelgangers). As the narrator, the original William Wilson takes a stand against his doppelganger; the reader must remember this confrontation is an internal one.