`` Fun Home, By Alison Bechdel - 1163 Words

Part graphic memoir and part psychoanalytical study, Alison Bechdel’s, Fun Home, is a charming story about a girl’s search for identity within an unconventional family. The novel style autobiography frames Alison’s childhood and adolescence as she struggles with themes of sexual confusion, gender identity, and convoluted family dynamics. These ideas are explored through the examination of Alison’s relationship with her father, and their shared passion for literature. Early on in her childhood, Alison came to the realization that her family was different. As individuals, and as a unit, they were just plain weird. Unlike most young girls, Alison lacked a strong bond with her parents, most notably her father, Bruce. Because they both display introverted personalities and had divergent gender identities, Alison and her father never devised a solid relationship. Bruce is described as possessing generally feminine qualities having passion for fine art and sophisticated interior design; whereas Alison claims to have become â€Å"a connoisseur of masculinity at a young age† (95). Neither of them fit their stereotypical role within the family; Bruce didn’t act like a macho-man dad, and Alison wasn’t playing dress up with all the other little girls. Though their personas seem compatible, the stark difference in their gender affiliations was a source of great tension between Alison and her father. Not only does Alison approach herself a nd her father as â€Å"inversions† of each other, but sheShow MoreRelatedFun Home By Alison Bechdel954 Words   |  4 PagesIn her graphic memoir Fun Home, Alison Bechdel records her unusual relationship with her late father Bruce Bechdel and reveals her family secrets. Through Chapter Three she speculates about the reason of her father’s death after first knowing the catastrophe. By applying the allusion between writer Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald, Fitzgerald’s famous character Jay Gatsby, and her father, Bechdel effectively presents the tragic nature of her father that he lives in the fictional world created by himselfRead MoreFun Home By Alison Bechdel1392 Words   |  6 PagesIn Alison Bechdel s Fun Home, there is a focus on a sculpted perception of gender roles produced by society and a great emphasis on how Bruce and Alison challenge these strict gender specific characteristics. Through Bruce’s femininity and Alison’s masculinity along with their homosexuality, they are able to go against the norms and the collection of rules set by society. It is also through their struggle with gender roles that one is able to understand their sexual orientation. Although Bruce andRead MoreFun Home By Alison Bechdel1551 Words   |  7 PagesIn the novel, Fun Home, Alison Bechdel explores the Franciscan value of respecting the unique dignity of each person. Throughout the book, Bechdel’s father often challenges this value in his behavior with Alison. From a child development standpoint, these actions complicate the development of Bechdel’s identity. Fun Home follows Alison Bechdel’s childhood, showing both a prominent father-daughter relationship and Bechdel’s developing identity. Following the potential suicide of her father, the authorRead 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 MoreFun Home By Alison Bechdel1518 Words   |  7 PagesAlison Bechdel’s memoir, Fun Home, is a compelling narrative in which Bechdel takes the reader through her life and gives insight i nto her relationship and the complex lifestyle her closeted homosexual father, Bruce Bechdel. However, her serious topic is told through the narrative of comics, images that literally put the readers into the moments of her life with her. Even though, the graphic images provide visual insight, Bechdel makes a conscious decision to include a multitude of literary allusionsRead MoreThe, Fun Home, By Alison Bechdel Essay2271 Words   |  10 Pagesof 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 her control leave Bechdel unable to provide certainRead 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. Aliso n frequently speculates if her father committed suicideRead MoreFilm Fun Home By Alison Bechdel1410 Words   |  6 Pages Alison Bechdel’s comic book Fun Home clearly portrays the importance of gender roles in the society. She mentions in her book incidents which illustrate as to how gender plays a major role in forming a person’s identity. Throughout the book, Bechdel suggests how the society has divided people into different genders on the basis of appearance, duties and behavioural expectations. The society as a whole needs to re-asses these gender roles so that people don’t end up ruining their life thinking aboutRead MoreFun Home by Alison Bechdel Essay1386 Words   |  6 PagesFun Home Picking up the book Fun Home, one would imagine that the novel would embellish some sort of comical life story of a misunderstood teenager. Although the short comic-book structured novel does have its sarcastic humor, Alison Bechdel explains her firsthand account of growing up with the difficulty of living of finding her true identity. Alison was a teenager in college when she discovered that she was a lesbian, however, the shock came when she also discovered her father was homosexual.Read MoreAnalysis Of Fun Home By Alison Bechdel992 Words   |  4 PagesAnalytical Essay on â€Å"Fun Home† By: Alison Bechdel Even though a lot of thing events that happened to Bechdel was sad, dark, or scary she manages to use a very witty tone throughout the story reflecting on her personality. She believes dark events are not central to one’s life. She uses this tone as oppose to an angry tone because she never realized her family was any different until she was compared it to others. This strongly classifies Bechdel in the optimistic category of personalities. The