"Fun Home" by Alison Bechdel, is not only a "coming of age novel" about the life of Alison Bechdel, but also about her father Bruce Bechdel. Not only does Alison go through a metamorphosis of personality and sexuality, but so does her father. Through of the changes Alison goes through and the changes her father goes through, the reader is also moved to see different aspects of life in a different light.
Alison's realization that she is a lesbian in the novel is a very important realization. However, what is even more important are the events leading up to this that helped shaped Alison's personality and subsequent sexuality. Important aspects of this include; her haircuts, her attitude towards clothing, and her overall interests in life. More important to her metamorphosis would be the events in chapter 5, "The Canary Colored Caravan of Death". This all-inclusive chapter marks the beginning and end of Alison's OCD. Alison's OCD is brought on mainly by her parent's relationship- or lack thereof. This relationship causes not only the OCD but also affects Alison's life significantly. This is why the OCD is so important to Alison's life because it is caused by the same thing. This lack supportive parenting and parental-relationship-role models is something that often causes problems in children. Kids need strong and loving parents who also love each other in order to learn about life and be mentally healthy. This is why Alison had issues.
Alison's issues are caused by her parent's unsupportive relationship. This relationship is unstable mostly because of Bruce, the father. Bruce does not treat his children the way one would expect a parent to treat them. Yes, he can be loving and nurturing, but generally he treats them as pack mules and dolls. This is mainly because Bruce does not wish to be a married father. He rather enjoys his relationships with young men instead. However, I do believe that Bruce loved his children fully and was in love with Helen at one point. Bruce's sexuality does not fit into a stereotype. Rather, it is very possible that Bruce was capable of loving more than most humans- both platonically and sexually. Based on things seen in "Fun Home" it is reasonable to infer that at one point, Bruce was indeed fully in love with Helen. However, Bruce's wide range for love caused him to also love other men and subsequently cheat on Helen.
Because of the different issues in the family with Alison, the parents' marriage, and Bruce's sexuality, the reader is also somewhat changed after reading Fun Home. These issues cause one to question one's own mental issues, parents' marriage, and maybe even the reader's own sexuality. This book has the ability to change peoples lives.
I am curious as to what would have happened had Alison's father accepted and come out with his ambiguous sexuality. Aside from the obvious of the potential of Alison not being born or Alison's father remaining alive, there are many things that would have changed as a result; I hope others do not follow in his footsteps of fear.
ReplyDeleteI think it would be interesting to go more in depth with the analysis of how her parents' relationship caused the OCD, but I do agree with you that it can be credited mostly to their style of parenting.
ReplyDeleteI do agree that children should have parents that love each other and maintain a position as healthy influences for their children, but the reality is that most parents aren't always the best role models. There are many parents that divorce which obviously affects the children, but is still better than having two parents who don't appreciate each other living under the same roof, which is similar to Bruce and Helen. The truth is that the children in a family have no say in the parents relationship, therefore many children in these families like Alison's are unhealthy.
ReplyDeleteI think Alison's OCD had more to do with genetics than the lack of a "lack of supportive parenting". Her father during the story had some signs of having OCD by the way he treated his house. I think it is a bit bold to say that Alison's OCD was a result of parenting.
ReplyDeleteI strongly agree with Sam because even though growing up for Alison was far by mean very different from anyone I've known, but then her father lacks life. What I mean by this is, his mindset is kind of just set free, and careless, thinking about himself but then grew onto Alison because she was his only girl.
ReplyDeletei think the book does a great job by making me realize how fortunate i am to have a family like mine. i wont know how to handle all of these almost secret lies (her father being gay and Helen not knowing about it, not even bringing up her brothers in the text)
ReplyDeleteI disagree with this assumption that Alison's OCD was caused by her parents' relationship. This reminds me of the old belief that mental problems were caused by "refrigerator mothers" that didn't take care of their children. As someone who has schizophrenia run in my family, I can tell you that genetics often play a much larger role than you seem to think. If you pursue your mindset, you could with equal validity conclude that her lesbianism was also caused by her absent parents. Sometimes these things just happen because of things out of our control.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the debate that Jess has initiated about what caused Alison's OCD, and that everyone who has weighed in has given reasons for their position. Some questions we could keep asking are: how does Alison-the-author portray the cause? That is, what does she think caused it? Might the 'real' cause not be some of both the genetic and the environmental? Note too that this is one chapter in which the mom takes a more central role in Alison's development - that, I think, is worth noting.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Sam I think her OCD is more genetic and might even be able to be connected to how anal her father was about how the house looked
ReplyDeleteEveryones parents or major influences play a huge role in how the child will grow up. This is why Alison had OCD.
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