Analysis Of Alison Bechdels Fun Home - 1350 Words

In Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home, the author enlightens us with her struggles in determining her gender identity and sexuality. She does this in a very unique fashion. Alison, throughout the novel, uses specific pieces of literature and writing in order for the reader to decipher her true emotions and feelings toward her sexuality. On top of that, Bechdel writes her story in order to show how these objects play a much deeper role between not only comprehending her sexuality, but her understanding of her choppy relationship with her father. The end result is a series of connections that bring the two closer together than they ever were. Alison begins to question her sexuality in the third chapter of the novel. She discusses how her†¦show more content†¦Once the reader is able to fully realize that Bruce is a homosexual, her perfectionism abruptly makes more sense. Clearly, Bruce is using his dedication towards the Fun Home as a way to hide away his true feelings towards hi s sexuality. This would explain why he also tries to get Alison to be more feminine, because he doesn’t want her to be in that phase of confusion and not being able to fully come out. Going back to the scene with the phone call, because Alison has fully come out as being a lesbian, we now understand why Bruce acted so accepting of the realization. Another book that plays a role in this central theme of confusion towards one’s true identity is The Catcher in the Rye. While the novel has many examples of books with hidden uncovering messages, the most prominent in my opinion is The Catcher in the Rye. In the scene where The Catcher in the Rye is mentioned, Alison is in her father’s english class and she’s the only person answering his questions. What’s interesting is that when her father initially asks her to read the book, she responds that she’ll do it â€Å"after I put you in the nursing home† (Bechdel 198). While it seems that Aliso n is going to chose not to read the book in order to resent her father, in the very next panel she’s answering all of his questions. Her father is impressed and tells her that she’s â€Å"the only one in that class worth teaching† and Alison responds with â€Å"It’s the only class I have worth taking† (BechdelShow MoreRelatedFun, Electrate, Autistic, Obsessive Home Essay1169 Words   |  5 Pagesinvention comes at a cost, but that does not necessarily mean the reward will not significantly outweigh it. Alison Bechdel’s â€Å"Fun Home† has an electrate quality through, not just the images, but the writing style and using obtuse meanings within her illustrations, that seem to enable a new learning style, supported by ‘disorders’ such as autism and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). â€Å"Fun Home† uses both text and graphics to recount the author’s life. The script has many possible interpretations,Read MoreKate Bechdel s Fun Home Essay2365 Words   |  10 PagesOn the surface, Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home seems simply to be a memoir of her journey towards discovering her own identity, and in the process, uncovering her father’s. However, the novel is far more complex. The graphic novel is not linear in the least, and mimics memory as it moves backwards and forwards in time, or returns to specific situations repeatedly. This is layered with the numerous references to previous literary texts in an interesting manner; combined, it provides emotional and informativeRead MoreThe, Fun Home, By Alison Bechdel Essay2271 Words   |  10 Pages Intertextuality troubles the definition of autobiography in Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home. Fun Home is a retelling of Alison Bechdel’s life through the lens of her relationship with her father. However, because of what she considers to have been his suicide, Alison is left with an incomplete picture of who he was in life. By calling Fun Home an autobiography, Bechdel enters an autobiographical pact with the reader that ensures that what Bechdel is telling us is the truth. However, elements out of herRead MoreFun Home By Alison Bechdel920 Words   |  4 PagesIn Alison Bechdel’s first graphic memoir Fun Home, the main focus of the story is Alison’s father Bruce, and her writing wrestles with how both of them came to terms with their sexuality and how they have influenced one another throughout this process. Bechdel does not get to have as many discussions with her father as she would like, however, because Bruce dies shortly after Alison writes home to tell her parents that she’s a lesbian. Alison frequently speculates if her father committed suicideRead More`` Fun Home `` By Alison Bechdel847 Words   |  4 PagesAlison Bechdel’s comic book â€Å"Fun Home† is narrated by none other than herself who builds the narrative around her family and her life growing up. Then, years later, her father dies in a car accident, and despite not knowing if it was really an accident or a suicide, she occupies herself with finding a justification for his death. Now imprisoned with the task she put herself to, the narrator blames her father s shame and lack of happiness due to him being a homosexual, which she also discovered herselfRead MoreThe Bluest Eye And Alison Bechdel s Fun Home Essay2269 Words   |  10 PagesToni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye and Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home are both novels that employ a reflective narration of the past to address common themes of trauma, unorthodox family relationships, and sexuality. Although they demonstrate pronounced differences in setting and design, both stories util ize this retrospective narrative to expose masculinity’s stratified hegemony as a driving force of internalized shame, violence, and the death of self. Furthermore, it becomes clear that these shared themesRead MoreGay Marriage Should Be Legal1870 Words   |  8 Pagesmarriage. Until the United States Supreme Court ruled last year in the case Obergefell v. Hodges that same-sex marriage was a protected right under the constitution, there were still several states who did not allow gays to get married. A careful analysis of the arguments used to support gay marriage bans shows that there still exists a lingering desire to have a world where homosexuality is not regarded as a norm because it undermines our social hierarchies. The source of this devaluation, as opponents