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 mission to find out more about her dad throughout the story.
For starters, Allison feels as though his death is connected to her somehow and almost feels like it's her fault. I feel as though she is using this as a way to get closer to her father as they both had trouble exploring their sexualities. However, I do not think there is a direct correlation between her coming out and his death as she seems to suggest in the book. I think if his death was a suicide it would’ve been a multitude of things to cause it. Despite all this, Allison’s digging after he fathers death reveals a lot of things to the reader and herself. As we discussed in class, she almost tries to finish his story but through herself. This created the Anti-Hero’s Journey that we were talking about.
Great post! I agree I think her imagery really adds on to the story. It is one of the only graphic novels I have read for school and I think it tells the story very well. I also agree with your point about the dad's death not tying to Allison. I don't think that it was Allison's fault because there were a lot of things going on at the time for him that just Allison wouldn't be the only thing. I do think that it is her attempt to get closer to her dad even after death because of their complicated relationship. I really like how you explain this in your blog post.
ReplyDeleteWhile Bechdel does suggest that she may have had something to do with her father's death, I think by the end of the book it's a little more open-ended. I agree there would have to be a multitude of factors and not just, "Oh my daughter's gay, that's it". I also think it is left open-ended because no one, not even Bechdel, knows what exactly lead to his death, which may not even have been suicide.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree. It is not totally clear if Bruce's suicide is totally related, or if it was solely caused by Allison's coming out. However, it is interesting how their connection builds deeper along the lines of sexuality throughout the novel.
ReplyDeleteIt's not really clear why Bruce died but I think your take on it totally makes sense. As you mentioned, Bruce at first doesn't want Alison to pursue her own sexuality because of his own repressed sexuality. He later introduces her to books and even has a talk with her in the car, opening up to her and subconsciously trying to guide her through her journey. It makes sense that Alison would have wanted to get even closer if her father was still alive and by analyzing his death, she still feels connected to him in a way. Great post.
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