Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Fun Home Reflection

While reading "Fun Home" I was very uneasy with Alison's father. I do not think it is right at all what he was doing with other boys. This part of the story ruined the whole book for me. Besides that, I could kind of relate to Alison and her fathers relationship. My father always told me stories about his childhood. He was never extremely close with his dad, but he always wanted the love and approval from him. Alison shows this in her text when she wants to kiss her dad, but she only could muster up the courage to kiss him on the hand. This is a sad part of the story, because I could not imagine going a day without a hug from my family when I was that young. When Bruce dies Alison couldn't show any emotion at the funeral. Due to the fact that Alison wanted this love from her father, I feel like when her father past away she felt he had let her down.
The way Allison goes about portraying her family also interested me. Of course the text was mainly about her and Bruce's relationship, but I think that the pictures of her mother and brothers in the background showed some symbolism. Maybe they were scripted there for a reason. One way to look at it could be, Alison's mother was always there when these terrible things were happening such as, her father not showing Alison any love, but her mother never did anything about it.
This whole book is all from Alison's perspective, so its hard to make the assumption that her father wasn't a loving father. From all the information that I had gathered for my presentation, Bruce was portrayed as a loving, caring man. Alison could have something burning up inside of her from her childhood that makes her resent her father. The rest of the family must feel uneasy with all this personal business that Alison released out to the world. Her father was a private person for a reason. It is not right how Alison ruined her fathers image, even though I don't agree with what he was doing.
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11 comments:

  1. HumbertOctober 13, 2011 at 1:37 AM

    I don't think Alison ruined her father's image, unless you define an image as a superficial falsehood. Alison portrayed her father with honesty.

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  2. Stephen BishopOctober 13, 2011 at 4:36 PM

    Though I agree that Bruce's relationships with the high schoolers was sketchy, I don't think it's fair to compare it to the "chickenhawks" who preyed on little boys. It is never said definitively if Bruce ever actually had sex with any of the boys, and I don't think he would have ever forced himself on them.

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  3. LisaOctober 13, 2011 at 9:04 PM

    I'm not so sure about Bechdel's having portrayed Bruce as a loving, caring man. That's definitely there in some places - for example, their bonding over books. But I am often left with such sadness over the distance and longing that many of the chapters end with.

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  4. samweesnerOctober 16, 2011 at 11:21 PM

    I agree especially with stephen. I wouldn't call Bruce a chickenhawk.

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  5. Troy HeskethOctober 17, 2011 at 7:11 PM

    i agree... i dont like how she kinda threw her dad under the bus by back talking him.

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  6. LisaOctober 18, 2011 at 8:01 AM

    YOUA SAID: I agree with you about how her father was into boys, younger boys. But we can't help those who can't help themselves too. Something I learned from watching a movie call, Ever After.

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  7. LisaOctober 18, 2011 at 8:09 AM

    TATY SAID: It was interesting to see your point about Alison’s mother always being there when something terrible happens. I never really noticed that.

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  8. jess.putlandOctober 18, 2011 at 11:57 PM

    I think that it is indeed okay for Alison to open her father's image up to the world. It is the truth. The open truth.

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  9. LaurenOctober 23, 2011 at 12:00 AM

    I agree with most of these comments. Her father's distance was very important in her life, because it deeply affected her. It isn't fair for us to say that she should hide those things, because it would be like hiding a part of her.

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  10. ThedardenNovember 2, 2011 at 5:58 PM

    I agree with you that what Bruce was doing to the young boys wasn't right but I don't think it took away from the story because it helped build the idea of the kind of relationship Alison had with him and gave some background on him.

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  11. NickNovember 7, 2011 at 12:34 AM

    I agree that many other people in the family had a different perspective than Alison and thought of Bruce as a loving person.

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