The emotional confessions of the participants give him a vicarious sense of being alive and provide emotional release, which then allows him to sleep soundly. While he enjoys good health, he is closer to death than the people he communes with on a nightly basis. They face physical mortality at any moment. He faces spiritual mortality every moment of his waking life. It is through the depiction of the Narrator's support groups that the feminization of men in society is most effectively described--through the one for men suffering from testicular cancer in particular. These are full of men opening up, crying, exploring feelings. doing all those things women are supposed to do. One of the testicular-cancer patients, Bob (Meat Loaf) has, as a result of his hormone treatments for the disease, developed huge breasts. The representation of this man--a former champion body builder--weeping openly, clasping Jack to his ample bosom during a session, is the prefect image of the emasculated man. Soon, the narrator's world is invaded by another emotional tourist, Marla Singer, a suicidal waif living on the edge of society. The Narrator is both repelled and intrigued by this woman, who cheats and steals, scratching out an existence while the Narrator struggles with his daily grind. Unlike the Narrator, she attends support group meetings purely for the voyeuristic entertainment value. Since the Narrator cannot cry in the presence of another faker, his insomnia returns. On an airplane ride to visit an accident site on behalf of his company, he meets Tyler Durden who is everything he is not. Brash, self-confident and dressed like a pimp, Durden describes himself as a soap salesman but he gives every indication of leading a darker existence. The Narrator finds himself drawn to Tyler. When he arrives back at his apartment building, he discovers his apartment on fire. His precious Ikea furniture and all his belongings have been destroyed in a mysterious explosion.