The Allure of Prose

In Alison Bechdel's Fun Home, Bechdel's literary allusions, graphic panels, and abundant themes eclipse the vigor and quality of Bechdel's personal prose. Prose is a subject that is not often scrutinized; a novel's “point”, plot, or story is consistently conversed and given homage to in academia. However, in the words of Vladimir Nabokov, “ For me style is matter”. Alison Bechdel is an author of more worth than the reviewers apparent label of “graphic artist”; she is a writer whose aesthetic in prose is as worthy as the three stylists she alludes to:Marcel Proust, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and James Joyce. These three writers are known for other qualities aside from their prose, but prose is a significant amount of their renown and should be as well for Alison Bechdel

In the academic articles we read for FYSEM on Fun Home, the scholars wrote (very scholarly like) about Modernist literary allusions and the boundaries of story, tense, and genre in Fun Home. Bechdel's prose was highlighted in the beginning of Freedman's article, but it was soon left in limbo to linger, as the article moved forward into allusions of modernist literature, particularly James Joyce's Ulysses. Ulysses is a major motif throughout Fun Home that is crucial in understanding the purpose of, for full comprehension. However, Bechdel's unfaltering prose is not a motif; it is a constant entity the reader cannot escape in thought. And the brilliance of Bechdel's prose, is that it isn't pretentious. Bechdel does not choose words to sound scholarly. and she mixes in humor and common language with her poetic nature. She writes in a panel, “ And despite the tyrannical power with which he held sway, it was clear to me that my father was a big sissy,”. Bechdel writes with diligence, a tight command of language, and like her father is a person of aesthete, but her use of the word “sissy”, is a contrast with the remainder of the sentence. In an omniscient first person tense, Bechdel writes with aesthetically pleasing prose, but in her first person tense ,omitting her omniscience, she writes like one would speak, “I think like a genius, I write like a distinguished author, and I speak like a child,” (Vladimir Nabokov). It is through differentiation of extradiagetic and intradiegetic style and humbleness, Bechdel's writing surpass any homage to any author.

Bechdel's graphics are conversed about far more in frequency than her prose, which is crucial to literature, because graphic/illustrated/comic novels are relatively new. It is true writers such as William Blake wrote in such a manner, (and others before him) but the recognition of merit for a graphic novel in academia ,is seen far more today than it was in the 1800s. The inclination of voicing the merit of writing aesthetic, has been expressed as far back as the origin of words. And before an aesthetic of writing existed, it was the storyteller who had a great aesthetic of speech that was acclaimed. It is paramount to give more than credence to Fun Home, because the recognition of merit in a graphic novel is lesser seen than that of prose. However it is for this very reason, the appreciation of Bechdel's prose is dwarfed by her illustrations.

Fun Home contains themes of sexuality, fatherhood, identity, suicide, literary allusion, fantasy, reality, perception, consciousness, acceptance of self, puberty, coming of age sentiments, love, etc. The book submerges the reader into a life of a person, and therefore the many themes of life. The problem lies in the theme of prose; what is good prose? And the answer unfortunately is terribly ambiguous and relative to a person's preference of taste, stemming from their experience in literature. It is easier to discuss the morality of Bechdel's father, than the methods in which she writes. It is difficult to articulate, outside of literary descriptive terms (allusion, symbolism, allegory) the description of an author's style. From personal experience I don't always know why an author can write. I feel it throughout my body; my pupils dilate as I turn the page in a frenzy of ferocity. But because it is difficult and frequently impossible to articulate the beautiful, should we refrain from doing so? Or should we invest our time and write in emulation and inspiration, to devise a superior understanding of the particular text and sentiment of prose?

Bechdel's Fun Home is a text of literary merit, because of its many themes, literary allusions, and graphic panels. But Bechdel's aesthetically gratifying prose should also be recognized in merit and philosophized about. It is my duty to pay homage to Alison Bechdel for writing such a work of art and therefore... Fun Home is a ravishing book of thrashing vitality, cerebral design, and fucking beautiful artistry.