Lili's Blog :)

Allison Bechdel's Fun Home , published in 2006, tells the story of Allison's own life. The term "fun home" comes from the funeral home that her family runs. The novel takes us through her complex family dynamics through both the written word, and illustrations. I think this is what makes this book so interesting because not only are we able to analyze the words on the page, but how she portrays through imagery as well. In the beginning of the book, we see Allison as a young girl while her father tries tell her how to dress and how to act to be a lady. However, after seeing a woman dressed like a man while out with her father, Allison's whole worldview changes. She first later comes out to her parents as lesbian, and the story picks up from there with the death of her father. It is also discovered by Allison that her dad engaged in homosexual affairs with underage boys during his lifetime. Between her father's death and her new knowledge, Allison makes it her m...

  The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath published in 1963 follows the story of Esther Greenwood and her journey through dealing with mental health at a time where it wasn't widely accepted. I think the most notable relationship she describes in the book is with Dr Nolan. Right away we can tell that Esther trusts and opens up to her. She is different than Dr Gordan because not only is she more open and understanding, but she is someone Esther can connect with as a woman at the time. As we continue to read, it seems as though Dr Nolan truly wants Esther to get better and actually cares about her. At one point Esther even compares her to her mother.  One of the most notable things about Dr Nolan is her approach to electric shock therapy. She tells Esther that they didn't do it right and that if she had to do it, it would be done correctly. This immediately puts her at ease. Along with the idea that she would get a warning about it beforehand. However as we see later on, the warning comes ...