This was the first time I have ever read a story juxtaposed with drawings. I have never read a comic or a graphic novel so I had a difficult time not staring at the pictures the entire time, not getting distracted by certain images and finding out what I should read first. But once I was used to the format, I found the pictures to be very helpful in interpreting the novel. Through the text alone Bechdel is not very forthcoming with her feelings about certain aspect of her life; but it is the pictures that show what she feels about certain issues and moments. In the pictures, the way the characters bodies are positioned, their facial expressions and how the sequence of events play out explain what she was trying to say in the lines of text that she included with those pictures. Also I felt that the way that the comics were drawn, with the dark colors, worked to show the gloomy and murky aspects of her family life. The title is Fun Home but all the ideas that one has about this novel from the title are shattered when one glances inside.
When we look inside, we are introduced to a family with its share of issues primarily that of a homosexual man married to a heterosexual woman. Bechdel's father is the main target of her attention and scrutiny. It is not really clear how she feels about her father. It is certain that she feels animosity towards him but I could not figure out of that animosity was a result of him treating his family like figurines in his perfectly decorated home, or a result of his sissy cowardice that never let him venture out of the closet. Despite the ill will she harbors towards her father, we know that he is one of the few that she can identify with and who understands what she was going through. The father and daughter duo are able to form a simple relationship through the sharing of books and their mutual love for literature. We witness throughout their lives that the one thing they are able to communicate about is their book fetish. While they too share in common that they are gay, her father is still too closeted to speak of it to his daughter. The one time he does speak of it, it is very brief and about what he did in his youth. When her father dies, in her opinion a suicide, she is left with a feeling that it could be because she told him that she was a lesbian. I am quite certain that it had to do with his inner demons and the unhappiness in his life due to his inability to overcome the demons.
Sexuality and all its complexities is a very interesting theme of this novel. Bechdel does a great job of universalizing the problems of sexual discovery though she is speaking to her and her father's homosexual experiences. The sexual experiences she mentions are relatable to anyone, yes even heterosexual, who has gone through puberty and a first relationship. It is because she is speaking to her own insecurities and uncertainties about her sexuality and new found feelings of personal fulfillment and adventure that anyone can relate to what she felt as a new lesbian. Sexuality is more obscured when it comes to her father. Because he is so conflicted and straddles the lines between gay and straight that one is left confused about what to think. I was wondering what people have to say about the way her father carries out his life. It is justifiable or just understandable? Should he have divorced his wife? If you were him would you have been more open with your lesbian daughter about your own life experiences as a gay man? Do you feel his violent outbursts are a result of his anger toward himself or his anger at having a fake family life?
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I agree that the book "Fun Home" is mainly about Bechdel's relationship with her father, and how each handled their homosexuality, though Bechdel does reminisce about her mother and what her marriage must have been like. I think that her father's behavior is understandable, but not justifiable. He felt unable to "come out" as a gay man, but instead of at least divorcing his wife, he lived out a lie. I also wasn't sure whether he came clean to his wife about his orientation, or whether she just discovered each affair on her own. I think he should have been more open with Bechdel when she came out as a lesbian, so that she didn't feel ashamed of her orientation and repeat his mistakes. The outbursts and tyrranical behavior Bechdel depicts seem like they came from anger at himself, because he wasn't happy with his life and tried to live vicariously through dressing Alison in clothing he picked out, just as she one day tried on his suits while he was away. On the whole, "Fun Home" was a very interesting and moving look at family dynamics and sexuality.
ReplyDeleteWhat violent outbursts? Bruce always seemed more like the cold and emotionally distant type than the violent, temperamental one.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, it's hard for me to argue about what Bruce 'should' have done for two reasons. One, this isn't a fictional piece of work; it actually happened, and I'm not comfortable talking about how a real person like Bruce should act, especially since Two: I felt really sympathetic for him. I can't exactly say why, but I liked him a lot, and while I acknowledge that he's probably made a lot of mistakes, I've made a lot of them, too, and I even feel that they've been the same type of mistake (neglect).
But just like I'm trying to improve myself, I guess I shouldn't let Bruce's mistakes slide. He probably should have accepted who he was earlier, but at the same time, he shouldn't resent his family (and kids) because they're the result of his pretending to be straight.
Eh, I used up all of my insight on my own post on this book, which is why this post might seem trite. Maybe I'll come up with something better tomorrow.
I also thought that the relationship between Alison and her father was very interesting. it seems they were always out of sync with each other, however, they managed to maintain some mutual understanding. One point which really exemplified their relationship was the part where he givers her a book that was either written by a lesbian or about lesbianism. This shows an attempt at connection-a sign from her father that he pays attention to her, and that he is trying to make her sexual identifaction path easier than his was.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that puzzled me at first about the father were his outbursts of anger because they did not seem to fit with his cold demeanor early in the novel. However, as the novel progresses, it is easy to see how he has a large amount of built up anger due to his own confusion and the fact that he only really finds connection in his family with Alison when she is in college. Overall, I thought that the relationship between Alison and her father was extremely mulitfaceted, and that was what created the dynamic which drove the novel forward and made it so interesting.
The relationship between Alison and her father is really so interesting, and the book really gives insight into the complexity of it. Seeing one too many Oprah shows about a straight person being married to a homosexual person, I can't help but have a lot of sympathy for Bruce as well.
ReplyDeleteI can see that his anger was building throughout his life. It was a culmination of confusion and frustration but when Alison tells her father that she is a lesbian. Bruce's reaction is frustrating. I wish he would be a little more open and understanding so that his daughter does not live with the same frustration and anger that he has lived with.
The book helps to highlight the complexities of sexuality as well. While Alison knows she is a lesbian, Bruce is more confused because he has led his life as a straight man but he is a homosexual. I agree with Bradley in that I find it hard to pass judgment on what Bruce should have done. I would have liked to see Bruce tell his wife about his sexuality and the two to have come to an agreement about divorce/custody and everyone to live happily ever after. But life doesn't work that way.
I think that Alison does have a good deal of sympathy for her father's situation; might she emphasize his provinciality, the limited and limiting nature of his history and geography, so strongly precisely because it helps her explain his inability to "come out" in a conventional sense? In earlier generations and in some communities, "honesty" about one's sexual identification may not have seemed like a viable option. And we're given to believe that there is something about domestic life AND feminine beauty to which Bruce is sincerely attracted; maybe part of it is the attraction of the facade, but is that all? The violence Marissa refers to (isolated incidents of thrown dishware and threatening gestures, such as in the Christmas tree scene) are so intense and surprising that they seem to say something about Bruce's internal tensions.
ReplyDeleteProfessor Nicholas I think that that is a good point about his provinciality affecting his ability to "come out." We are all certainly aware of the stereotypes associated with a small town: tight-knit community, everyone aware of what's going on in everyone else's lives, etc. On the outside, Alison's father has done a lot to create the facade of a normal family and hide his sexuality. However, family life inside the walls of the house does not seem to be normal. Somone mentioned the picture on page 134 of everyone in a different part of the house doing their own things. You have to wonder why everyone in the family doesn't just throw their hands in the air and scream "can we get real with each other!?" There are so many suppressed feelings and thoughts by each member of the family, which again I would attribute to the small town life.
ReplyDeleteWe can see this effect played out in Alison, too. Her reluctance to accept her own identity is played out and she secretly reads books on homosexuality. However, it is the fact that she escapes her small town and goes to college that allows her to open up and "come out," unlike her father
Indeed! It's very much a story of the generation gap--writ large on these two characters and their very different fates.
ReplyDelete