Allison and Her Father
Much of Allison Bechdel’s autobiographical graphic novel Fun Home centers on her father, a closeted gay man who commits suicide around the time Allison herself comes out. Like many other coming-of-age novels, the protagonist of Fun Home often rebels against her parents’ ideas and values. Furthermore, the contrast between Bechdel and her father could not be more stark: he is closeted, she is openly lesbian; his style is ornate, hers is functional.
The art in the graphic novel takes a central role in expressing the differences between Allison and her father. In a way, her father’s closeted state is linked to his preference for an ornate architectural and artistic style; both represent the idea of covering up or concealing something. On the other hand, Allison’s plain, modern style can be linked to her unabashed expression of her sexuality; she doesn’t believe in covering up who she is.
Yet as the novel progresses, we see more attempts by Allison to conceal her true self from the world, such as through her omissions in her diary, which her mother often reads. She conceals her period from her mother; does this mean she is becoming like her father (Bechdel 157)? Although she starts concealing things from the outside world, in a way, this is expected of someone coming-of-age; one is not expected to share all of their thoughts and feelings to be considered their “true self.” The fact that Allison lives as she wants to means that she is not her father, but her own person.
Young Alison's inclination to undermine the truth and accuracy of her own diary, even as she writes it, is a curious and in many ways perplexing element of this story (especially since these diaries are a key source material for the book, as an ostensible first-hand record of the events and people she writes about). But it's hard to know exactly what to make of this quirk: it's not really about editing herself for "the world," since it's a private diary that won't be read by anyone. It's more about her own doubts as to what CAN be known, understood, communicated at all--as if she records a sentence of "fact" and then immediately considers its limitations and biases. In a book that is a kind of "visual diary" of her own experience growing up, this habit raises potentially troubling questions: should all of Fun Home have these little marks over them, qualifying its reconstruction of the past with a giant "I THINK"? In some ways, yes--the author is remarkably accepting of the provisional and unknowable core of her narrative. But it's a confusing element for a reader to navigate, as it leads us to question what we CAN know at the most basic level.
ReplyDeleteI agree that much of Alison's experiences in the novel has to do with her developing her individuality, even if this manifests in odd ways. However, it is important to consider that much of who we are is defined by who we grow up with - so naturally she will be influenced by her father and his personality. I think that one fo the most important parts of Alison's maturation as a individual is accepting this fact and not letting it drag her down.
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