Fun Home is all that and a bag of chips. There are layers within layers, all deftly handled with the sharpened pens and words of Alison Bechdel. Bechdel, who rose to fame on the basis of her comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For, was already a veteran of the form when she sat down to frame her life within the squares of graphical narrative. You'll see her eye for detail -- particularly in the house itself, with all its fixtures -- and her subtle use of blue shading, which gives the story a familiar feel, as though we were invited to look in on her life. That same feeling shaped the Broadway musical adaptation, with an adult Bechdel walking through scenes from her own life, enabling both the recreation of the past and her ironic commentary on that recreation (it played in Providence a few years ago, but if you haven't seen it, you can get the feeling for it by watching a clip, or listening to the soundtrack).
An author, we must admit, it the best authority when it comes to her own life -- and yet much of Fun Home revolves around Bechdel's father, himself a riddle wrapped within an enigma wrapped within a deeply closeted man running a funeral home. The genius of the book is that, without ever fully unwrapping all those layers, or resolving all the enigmas of his life and death, we come to see him both through the eyes of a curious daughter and the gaze of that daughter's adult self, more critical and distanced, but still a sort of sweet regard. A great deal of time passes in this book, and we pass with it, growing up as it were alongside Bechdel.
There's lots to talk about here -- her singular visual style, her treatment of time and space, even the lettering (for which Bechdel commissioned her own font). So let's get started!
This graphic novel presents a dark story about people’s dark secrets and acceptance or responses to death. As I read throughout this novel, it was interesting on how to see the father and daughter share the same struggles and desires. However, one was more open with themselves while the other did his best to hide his secrets. Did he try to appear like a façade of being a good husband and father in order to outrun is wrong desires? Did he feel they were unacceptable to society? Did he try to force his children to be different from himself? The family has a very strange way of showing emotions or quality time. The way it was written it helps the audience to read the novel as if it were her diary, and we were seeing life through her eyes. I think the author wanted us to gain deep understanding and to become engaged in her story as if we were there.
ReplyDeleteThis graphic novel resembles more of a comic strip style and is unique in appearance. It is all done in black, white, and a pale blue color. There is immense description throughout and the author does a great job at relating descriptions to what's going on in the story. Like when she is describing the articulate details of the house but also uses those same adjectives to describe her father. The detailed images also help the story and the scent of different places is often described. There is a lot of examples of concealed emotion throughout this novel and the day to day life of having a funeral home business in the family, which is not normal for most readers. I enjoy the style of writing, seeing her perspectives of her father as she grows up and how she deals with his death. It seems like her thought process is clear to the reader but also all over the place and different layers piece together as you read. I think this being an autobiography makes it all that more interesting and effective.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading this graphic novel not only because the title reflected our own situation in quarantine, but also because of the themes that are explored throughout the story. I think a major theme that was discussed in this novel is sexuality. It was interesting how she describes and discovers her own identity, and compares it to her father's. I believe that it also reflects how different generations deal with things. For example, her father hid his sexaulity vs the author felt more confident to explore it and own it. Another theme that was present throughout the novel is death. It is obvious through the family business that death is going to be a major theme, but also the concept of death vs suicide is discussed. When her father died the author more likely thinks it was a suicide which is very difficult to cope with, but because of her upbringing I think that death was more of a light topic, because it was their daily life. Overall I really enjoyed this book and the themes that were presented!-Lisbeth Spitzschuh
ReplyDeleteA thoughtful comment, Lisbeth. You description of the quarantine-like situation inside the house is an apt one. It also reminds me of another narrative with a family-run funeral home, a recently-dead father, and a struggle over repressed sexuality: Alan Ball's pioneering Six Feet Under, which ran from 2001-2005.
DeleteI enjoyed reading the graphic novel Fun Home. It brings to light the topic of sexuality and how the author dealt with the obstacles in realizing her own sexuality, coming out to her family, and the difficulties she had to overcome in doing so. It was interesting seeing how the author referred to the funeral home as the "fun home" when many would say its quite the opposite. Having this connection to the funeral home at such an early age caused Alison to be exposed to the idea of death early as well. I found it interesting how her grandma tells the story of Bruce getting "stuck in the mud" really meaning he is dead, yet couldnt tell Alison the truth, although she knew he was "stuck in the mud permanently.
ReplyDeleteFun House, a graphic novel by Alison Bechdel, explains the struggles she and her family faced while she was finding herself with her sexuality and also coping with the death of her father. It was interesting to see how Alison portrays her father's death as a suicide, and later admits that she thinks of it that way just to make it less painful for her to cope with. It probably helped her cope a little better also by growing up in a funeral home and seeing death so early. It definitely is different though when it is someone in your family that you are close to. I work in the ER and I never thought I would see my grandmother come in and die while I was working. I was able to do CPR and body bag people up no problem, but when it's someone in your life, it is hard.
ReplyDeleteI also found it comforting that Alison finds out that her and father shared similarities in their sexualities with both being gay. I feel like that helped Alison cope with the death of her father better.
I like the colors and way that the frames and strip were shown.
while reading this graphic novel I thought the main plot was interesting. the color scheme was very gray and dull and I found that it went along with the story well. the amount of numbness in the children was shocking. but because of the way they grew up it wasn't hard to understand why they felt the way they did. As for the main character Allison we really get a full View on her life as a child and growing up. we see you she faces hardships as becoming a young woman and later on coming out as a lesbian. illustration was very cartoon-ish in the font reminded me of a old comic book. some of the illustrations were repetitive in a good way. There was a lot of foreshadowing and the book went into depth on how the house was inside. one scene that really struck me was when the father was cutting open a body to put into the casket. and Allison had to see that but she was already numb and have no emotion towards it at such a young age. It was shocking but it showed us something about her character. as for the relationship between the mother and the father it was very cold and dull. It was not sound happy relationship like it should have been and I clearly affected all the children they had. the mother was very unhappy and so was the father towards the end. when the father did pass the children seemed to be in denial about it because of their upbringing in a funeral home and also the fact that death was very near and dear to them to begin with. overall I found this book super interesting it was different and out of the ordinary. it hasn't been my favorite book we've read so far but I think it was a good perspective and a different tone than what we have been reading. I really appreciate the work of this graphic novel. It was very enjoyable to read
ReplyDeleteReading fun home for me personal was easy but hard at the same time. I found that the images were very dull due to the lack of color, compared to the other books we've read this semester you couldn't really feel the emotions vividly. The one emotion you could really feel is almost as if the writer felt trapped growing up with the dull colors. There were foreshadowing moments in the book that were easy to pick up on like the fathers homosexuality from the books he was reading before the reveal that he was sleeping with teenage boys. I think it was more difficult for me to get through because unlike the other books we have read there wasn't a fictional twist to keep it interesting to me. I enjoyed reading how the reader came into her own, and how she talks about growing up with her father it gives a dark feel to the novel. One thing that was interesting was the way the letters were written in it looked like personalized cursive we haven't really seen that yet in the novels i've read and that was a cool new concept to look at while reading the pages. It was interesting to see how open younger generations are to sexuality than older generations however.
ReplyDeleteBritney Raposo
Reading Fun Home was quite the experience for me. I've found that this might be my favorite read for this class so far, but have also found that, at times, it was one of the most confusing as well. Between the time jumping and skipping, as well as the setup of the panels, I found that I had to reread things a few times to make sure I was in complete understanding of the story. The story, itself, was such an emotional rollercoaster experience. I found myself laughing at some parts and in shock at others. Alison Bechdel does a good job at making the reader feel a variety of emotions through her storytelling. I found that there were moments where even I could relate to Bechdel, despite having grown up in a completely different situation from her. It was interesting that Bechdel included references and quotes from novels both she and her father read, as well as excerpts from letters both herself and her family members have written. It brought an intimacy to the novel, making the reader feel a connection to Bechdel's personal life. The illustrations of both Bechdel's childhood home and the funeral house further this connection between the reader and author, and give the reader a better sense of Bechdel's childhood years and even her family's inner-workings. I have to agree- we do see Bechdel's father in two different lights. We see him as the man Bechdel knew as a child, and the man Bechdel knew as a young adult. I found it very interesting that Bechdel tried to relate her father and mother to fictional characters to make them more realistic, because she felt her parents lived the lives of fictional people. Bechdel offers interesting insight into how she grew into who she was, and how her family grew to what it became.
ReplyDeleteWhile I enjoyed Fun Home, I found that, at times, it was hard to read because of the constant shift in time, as well as minor shifts in the formatting used on each page. The mostly flat and dull color scheme made it difficult to read all in one go, because things began to blend and feel monotonous at times. However, I did enjoy the personal font, and felt that it helped to add character to the narration of the story. At times, the vocabulary Bechdel made things feel more stiff rather than natural. Overall, however, Fun Home was something that I enjoyed reading.
A great comment, Jillian. Many have commented on the color scheme of the book, finding it "dull" -- and yet I have to say, it's one of my favorite things about Fun Home. It may be, in part, because I grew up myself in an era when television, and most family photos, were still in black-and-white -- blue is the perfect shadowing color in a back-and-white world, and to me gives the story a slightly nostalgic feel, almost as though it were a television sitcom of the era of Leave it to Beaver or I Love Lucy. I was so "tuned in" to that color scheme that I found it almost jarring when I saw the musical version here in Providence, with everybody in full color!
DeleteI enjoyed reading Fun Home because of how different it is from the rest of the comics we’ve read. For example, the color scheme is more dull than the other novels we’ve read, consisting of baby blue, white, and black. This really followed along with the story and how death basically had no impact on them emotionally. Additionally, this novel talks more about sexuality than the others. Allison is able to cope with her sexuality and embrace it, but her father is more ashamed of his. This could have to do with the difference in generations because it might’ve not been acceptable during his time, but nowadays it’s not as unusual for people to like the same sex. Also, death seems to be a common theme in this novel. Since the family grew up in a funeral home, they’ve grown up with death happening all the time around them. I know there is a musical based off the book, which makes me want to see it even more platter reading this graphic novel to compare the differences between the two.
ReplyDelete- Zachary Garcia
After reading Fun Home, I did find it to be a good graphic novel to read. As I started to read the novel, I initially didn't know exactly which direction it was going towards. I did like how it ended up being a graphic novel that could be relatable to readers. I enjoyed the style and lay out Alison Bechdel chose, and I liked how through out the pages there were little hints and indications within the pictures to let the reader know exactly what was going on in the pictures so there wouldn't be any confusion. I also liked how Alison Bechdel kept the novel consistant by keeping it the same colors through out the entire novel.By a certain point it did become dull because it was an on going conversation of her father, switching back and forth between events that happened before and after his death. I did find it sad how she only found a connection to her father after he had passed, and while he was still around she felt they were distanced. The novel was definitely emotional at times but made it relatable to anyone who has or will ever have to go through a loss of a family member. I haven't read many novels that touched base on sexuality but I enjoyed the book over all, it brought the reader through a journey of birth, childhood, teen age years and the down falls in between.
ReplyDelete-Karissa Santos
A central aspect of the memoir was Bechdel’s father’s obsession with having his life appear to be something different than what it really was. The story begins by only depicting her father as being obsessed with the way material things appear to others, like his clothes, the decorations in the house, and the style of the home itself. As the memoir progresses, the reader soon finds out that the father was also constructing his life in a way that was meant to conceal his sexuality. Throughout the first few chapters of the novel, Bechdel depicts her father in a negative way, sharing stories about his secret relationships with underage men and his abusive nature. She also spends a significant amount of time conveying to the reader that she wanted to be nothing like him, and that in many ways her and her father were “inversions” of each other. However, the final act of the story does the opposite and shows the ways in which Bechdel and her father were similar, and shows the positive aspects of their relationship. At the very end of the book, the reader sees that her and her father were making progress in their relationship right before his death.
ReplyDeleteBechdel references literature constantly throughout the story. She likens the story of her father (and her relationship with him) to the Greek myth of Icarus. Bechdel also compares her father to characters from novels by F. Scott Fitzgerald. To me, this added a dynamic to the book that made her story much more impactful.
Fun Home was certainly a sad story, but it was easy for me to absorb since I knew that it was a memoir instead of a fictional story. Personally, I tend to pay more attention to non-fiction books than fiction books, so I feel like I got more out of this book than I did the other books we read this semester.
I was most interested by the way Bechdel continuously switches back and forth between time periods in her life. As I was turning the pages, I was always curious to see if the next panels were going to be from her time in college, her childhood, or some other period of her life.
I liked the way the pictures were presented in the story. The thin lines and black and white color scheme was “boring” to look at, but at the same time it was intriguing to me since I thought it was done in a way that was meant to have the reader imagine that we were seeing the author’s memory; since visual memories in people’s minds are almost always “blurry” or lack detail.
Nick Lancia
After reading this graphic novel I took note of how the author continuously changed the time that her story was taking place. This style kept me interested in the story itself. At first it was a bit confusing but overall kept me turning the page. I also noticed that the color scheme of this graphic novel did not use any bright color to draw the reader's attention to specific images on the page. However it still gave me a clear and realistic image of the memories the author was recalling.
ReplyDeleteNaomi Rivard
Starting with the title, “Fun home,” the reader is pretty early on in the story questioning why a story involving a funeral home would have any connotation of “fun” associated within it. Alison Bechdrel, takes the reader inside her mind, through her memories, she takes the reader through intimate thoughts. She invites the reader inside, she leads the reader down a rabbit hole many wouldn't dare to go down themselves. This novel, compared to the others we have read thus far, is very different, for myself different in a good way. I personally am drawn to anything within the realm of psychology, and how the human brain works and functions. I analyzed the confict she felt in childhood versus adulthood, He/she versus “I,” societal expectations versus familial expectations, men versuswomen, homosexual versus heterosexual, and countless more. She uses dull colors to portray a dull or “dead Life,” almost like she is dead while she is living, a complete enigma. Enigmas are a recurring theme throughout the story, including the story in it of itself. To make “light” of the listlessness tone, she utilizes dark humor, specifically when her mother was asked why she is always in the house, and her mother wittingly replies that it is because she’s a vampire. Many metaphors, subliminal messages, and real life situations/concepts are prevalent throughout the story; whether hidden or obvious to the reader. Concepts that had a lasting impression on me were the “black and whites,” or the “yin and yangs,”. Some examples are: body versus mind, writing versus pictures, inside versus outside, emotional dynamics within versus what is outwardly portrayed, conforming versus conflicting, life versus death (in many senses), plus many more. She compares herself to others as most of us do, the normalities and expectations. she compares herself mostly with her father, her secret feelings, and secret/dissension desires with that of her father. While she sees the similarities, we as the reader also see the confliction with him. This story kept my full attention, I noticed myself examining/analyzing almost every caption, along with every illustration. One specific detail, (and there was an abundance of detail) which was very different from any other graphic novel we have read, was sense of smell, which with every other reading never had a lasting impact, yet here stood out the most. Ironically, I have learned (from many of the psychology courses I have taken) that our sense of smell and brain associations do have a correlation, smells have also been known to be correlated with our emotions/feelings. For myself, just another concept to analyze, because memories are malleable, in other words, a memory of an event, depending on a smell associated with it, was good or bad, might also affect the accuracy of that event. I also noticed a disconnect, which I believe to be purposeful, and that was with the way the text depicted who she was/is and her identity versus how she actually defines her identity through illustrations. Personally, I was left with more questions than there were answers to, even though I’m sure the answers are all there, or are they? This is the first read where I felt truly intrigued, and wanted to delve more into her life, memories, feelings for further analysis. I even wanted to explore, and analyze some of my own vices, analyze some of my own life events or memories of them. Extremely powerful. A great read.
ReplyDelete-Amanda Musumeci
Overall, Fun Home was my least favorite read so far. I honestly found it hard to pay attention as I read partially because of the dullness of the pictures. I just didn't get full interest in this book as I have in the others we've read so far this semester. I usually prefer non fiction over fiction, but the fiction books have been really interesting and enjoyable to read.
ReplyDelete- Sarah Blanchette
Fun house was an interesting graphic novel to read. I found it surprising to see that the book was in pretty dull colors of black white and blue even though the title is "fun house" which i had assumed would be colorful and detailed. The novel brought up many different points that were relatable to the reader including sexuality and death. The novel portrayed the difficulties Alison had to face regarding her sexuality and coming out to her family. I also think it had an underlying message in a way that showed that her father had conflict with his sexuality but did not have the courage to express his feelings and instead kept them buried which potentially lead to his suspected suicide. So i think there was a message of how it is much easier to come out now and express yourself compared to how it was for other generations and their fate.
ReplyDelete-Sadie Patterson
I enjoyed reading Fun House by Alison Bechdel, even though, if I am being honest the beginning was a bit rough for me. I first noticed the color scheme of the dull blue-grayish tone. I think that was one of the reasons I found it troublesome, where it wasn’t as visually appealing to me. However as I continued throughout the plot of the story it brought light to exploring sexuality as well as dealing with the theme of death. It was interesting to see how the color scheme and title Fun House was on par with the theme of death and the childhood the author had. Given it was hard as her parents were very dull and cold towards her. In which when her father dies, the author accepts death like the house as it is. But I think it’s heartbreaking for her to accept his death as a suicide, maybe as a coping mechanism to grief because it’s better for it to be a suicide than something else. Also, It’s interesting how Bechdel found shared similarities within her father that she didn’t really expect to find. Her path of exploring and finding her sexuality in a way brings her closer to her father. This graphic novel took some time for me to engage with it more but overall was a good read.
ReplyDeleteKimberly Dy
It is not often that you can read a factual graphic novel based on real events and memories. I felt so much sympathy towards Alison and her family. I felt sympathy for her and her siblings for in her early developmental years, not being able to receive any physical affection and attention from her father and her mother. I also felt a little sympathy for her father at the beginning for having to hide who he truly is and almost like her mother, took on the role as the "heterosexual father." Overtime, however I learned to dislike the father more and more. To offer drinks and sexual favors to children under 18 is just disgusting to me. I felt a lot of sympathy for her mother because she had married this man who didn't even love her and was "stuck" with him for most of her life. This graphic novel has taught me and hopefully others as well to be grateful for the family we have and the life we live for it could be much worse. Also, I loved how in a way, it brought awareness to people who suffer learning who they are in the LGBTQ community. It is not talked about enough and someone should always have someone to talk to, to support them, and guide them through times of finding themselves.
ReplyDeleteKaitlin Patterson
Good comment, Kaitlin. There are certainly many ways in which the Bechdel family was dysfunctional, but also many ways in which there was a certain joy in life that they all shared, albeit sometimes furtively. It's also a generational tale, covering the time between that era when being gay was both a "pathology" and open relationships were illegal, to the somewhat more enlightened era when Alison grew up!
DeleteFun Home was a good emotional read in my opinion. It shows the struggles of young Alison discovering that she is attracted to Women. Her father on the other hand was hiding the fact that he was bisexual. At first as one of my classmates said above, I felt kind of sympathetic for the father as he married someone who he's not even in love with to hide himself. Although, as the story goes on you learn the father is extremely dysfunctional and really not a good person. Alison's struggles continue when soon after she comes out, her father dies and she suspects it to be suicide. She was not able to talk to her father about how she felt and on the contrary how he felt and this becomes a struggle for Alison. This book did a great job bringing awareness to the struggles of a kid coming out, and it does a good job showing the self identity Alison had to go through.
ReplyDeleteThe book entitled “Fun Home” by Alison Bechdel was an interesting reading because we saw two different connections that she had in her life. The first one was the connection with her family where she seems so dull and has no real relationship with them because they each are in their own world and have different attitudes to trying to be a ‘perfect’ family yet they don’t even interact with one another. In pages 16 and 17, Alison talks about how they are portrayed as this ideal family but no one really knows how they are inside the house and that they have many dark secrets.I’m guessing this is why she was not confident about telling her family and coming out to them because of the whole ‘perfect family’ image. The dad especially was the one who had the most dark secrets yet Alison still felt more connected to him than any other family member. She also had a connection with different types of books including her journal so she can feel connected to her father. Every time she had finished reading any book she would criticize the literature and somehow make a connection between them and her life.
ReplyDeletethe novel was really good with a lot of details in the drawings but for some reason, this book was more difficult to read and understand than the other books, personally, it was a hard and complex reading for me because at the beginning I couldn't see the direction of the author, but later in the reading, I realized that the author jumps into memories. As we already know, this book is basically an autobiography of the author and her relationship with her family, several personal topics of the author`s life were touched on, such as the author's sexuality, the relationship between her family members, the sexuality of the father, and the fake picture of the perfect family to society. Even though this was an autobiography, I was able to appreciate several points that affect many people in today's society, for instance, the fake appearances to the public, family dysfunctionality, the physical/emotional abuses, etc. These points were the ones that I could appreciate the most from the novel, and I think that it is incredible how a person could mistreat his own family just to maintain social status, on the other hand, although the reason for the suicide of the father was not clearly specified, apparently it was because of his sexuality, and this is a big problem in today society (self-acceptance)
ReplyDeleteI think that the message of the book is that we have to accept ourselves as we are, and try to find our happiness regardless of the opinion of others
-Luis J Cespedes
Whilst reading the graphic novel, Fun House, I was drawn to the plot of the novel which was different from other graphic novels we have read. Not really knowing much about the LGBTQ+ community, it was interesting to read about how Allison found herself through her sexuality whereas her father struggled with identifying his potential homosexuality. Personally, I felt like it had a lasting affect on his relationship with his wife and children because him and his were both not happy which led to the kids being introduced to that unhealthy relationship at a young age and having to “normalize” it. The novel enabled the readers to visualize Allison’s transition from a child to growing up and realizing she was a lesbian while witnessing all the hardships and obstacles she has to overcome. The foreshadowing in the graphic novel allowed the readers to also predict outcomes which makes me ponder if that was Bechdel’s intention as a symbol to show that typically one can see patterns and trends that you can either choose to embark on or neglect. In addition, it was a different setting to read about how the family was evolved around the funeral home and it was thought of as “The Fun House” which is on the contrary of what you would imagine upon reading the title. This definitely had a direct impact on the children. For instance, when the father was cutting up the body and Allison was completely unaffected it symbolized that emotional part of her brain that allowed her to feel emotions of sorrow about death had been affected. Furthermore, we know the funeral home changed her vision of death when her father died. Instead of sulking and grieving like most would, she tried to make an excuse that it was “suicidal” in order to cope without showing emotions of sadness. Nonetheless, when it is a death that is more personal to you, it is harder to cope with it because you shared memories and laughs with that person. Lastly, I liked how the novel had a cartoon-like theme like the color scheme because it fit the setting of the novel in the funeral home ideally. Overall, I like the novel because I am able to feel which, to me, lets the author know their message portrayed was successful.
ReplyDelete- Lisa Agyare
-chapter 1
ReplyDeleteChapter one had me filled with many questions and concerns. On the other hand I did feel what the author was saying. I feel like my mom had told me many stories about how her dad would have many random outbursts of kindness but was mostly a concerning figure. In this chapter I feel as if the children aren’t heard and aren’t meant to be heard but meant to work. As if making your children slaves without saying so. The part that caught me off guard the most was the molesting of teenage boys, it led me to question the authors brothers. Where they touched? Were the different artifacts in the house to throw them off from what’s really going on ? Was this just a dramatic use of how he wasn’t the ideal human? I understood wanting your children to be a part of a building experience and having a lot of built up anger. What I didn’t understand was why the children could be heard.
- chapter 2
This chapter had a lot of confusing parts but I was mostly just confused about her real feelings towards her dad's death. I definitely did see the resemblance of their family and the Adams family, which I personally think is a great show/ movie. To have to live in a funeral home must be hard. I know for a fact that I wouldn’t be able to do it. That fact that I’m sharing a place with dead people makes me uncomfortable. Even the simple thought that someone lived in my house before me gives me a sudden chill.
- Chapter 3
The thought of having to do with your fathers death must be a hard way of living. To hold on for so long and say so little must’ve been a stretch as well. This chapter had so many shocking turns, honestly I wanted to get to the bottom of how he didn’t get caught with all of these children. I was concerned and worried then I had to remember that it’s a book and he is dead. I can’t just look up the answers or find out how he did it. To be held in a way, as a hostage must’ve hurt deeply; the only way out was for her husband to die. The mother had so much to deal with, so much to hold in. How did she not look at this man in disgust? To be called out of your name, to see it all happen so young, to feel as if you can’t come out to your family and end up being right. So many situations in one chapter it’s so hard to stay focused and just comprehend it all at once.
- Chapter 4
In a slow saying it’s said “as in one also in another”, in the story Allison sees a lot of herself in her dad and vice versa. To Allison being masculine was a dream as for her father being feminine was a strong need. It amazed me how he would, In a way, luring the young men to be sexual with him and the young men would follow. I’m a way, I feel as if the kids wanted it to happen; But also, what if they had no choice? How did the family not see it before the death? This chapter slightly explains why he didn’t like his wife that much, but Why be with someone you don’t want ? Why would he lead her on if he was into men ?
- chapter 5
I believe her dad sparked her ocd , starting from the way things were set in the house to the way she colored in a coloring book. I wonder how she feels today about her dad's death.
- Chapter 6
It isn’t crazy that her father got caught. It also isn’t crazy that family friends were swingers. Now that I’ve gotten to this point of the book I think it’s just a thing that occurred back then. Men hiding that they were interested in men or little boys, swingers, women and children being seen as less, as well as hiding due to fear of what may come. Around this time there were many kidnappings and multiple rapists. You have to stop yourself and think, is it actually shocking that you could live with a rapist and not know? Children are always told “stay out of grown folks business so it would be impossible to know what’s under the roof you lay.
-Chapter 7
ReplyDeleteIn a way I can agree with her ways of coping, I have no control over the way my emotions are shown in general. When she began to laugh at the thought of her father's death I saw it in two ways. One way, I saw it as “well a man who wasn’t there for my life is something I have no reason to be sad over” , but yet she was. In another way I see it as, it’s hard to show emotions when there is just too much to show. To some a laugh is disrespectful, to others a laugh is a way to hold in tears or anger. I believe it’s hard to live with death, I believe it's hard to live with emotions in general
I am so glad that this was the last graphic novel of our class because it simply was the best one in my eyes. I enjoyed this book from front to back, and can definitely agree with others and their comments about the similarity of what is going on tin the world currently. We are all going through hard times whether we are out of work or working on the frontline. Either way we are filled with nerves and simply feel alone due to the social distancing idea that is set in place. I believe Alison felt alone with her feelings being forced to keep them inside of her until it was too late. Overall this book was a little difficult to understand at times but after finishing it and reading a few comments about it i was able to understand it a lot better. I loved the images and believe they helped the reader with realizing what was happening. I did think it was weird how she had no feelings toward her fathers death however we do all have to realize that absense or mental abuse can be very damaging. Sometimes family relationships are forced because your family. I cant say i blame Alison for dealing with her fathers death this way. She knew it meant freedom from a horrible place she was in before although she has to live with knowing she did not communicate to her father how she was feeling.
ReplyDeleteCarlie McPherson.
I enjoyed reading Fun Home. I've noticed a lot of my peers have commented on the color scheme of this graphic novel.The diminished colors were also one of the first thing I noticed. While the colors matched well with the theme and the emotions found in the graphic novel, I also found it very interesting on how the title was a contrast to the themes. I understand why the novel is titled Fun Home, as that is what the children nicknamed the funeral home, and the novel showcased all the ways in which the home was the opposite of fun.
ReplyDeleteI also wondered throughout the reading of this graphic novel- how would it read differently if the story had been told in chronological order? If we had found out about the death of the father as a shock, at the end, instead of a common thread interwoven throughout the entirety of the graphic novel?
-Catherine Comfort
I thought this book was such a fancy comic book. The language used throughout the book to me seemed much difficult then it could of been. Like the author was saying simple things but just said it in a real fancy way. Other than that the book was a good read minus the part where I was like what are they talking about. The author seemed like her and her brother grew up to bottle their emotions and be cold hearted in way. From their fathers absence but actually there 24/7 they grew up to be to me just like their dad. They made the best situation out of what they got which was the rich life. even though apart from the house they seemed like normal kids. They weren't snobby rich kids they grew up humble about the things they had and that's what I like.
ReplyDelete-K'Mia Sylvester
I really enjoyed reading fun home, especially, like I said in another post, I really like real-life stories. There is just this feeling when I read a story or watch a move that I know it really happened. This tragicomic, as it says it on the cover, is kind of sarcastic to me. Just with the name "fun home" it shows how sometimes things appear to be one thing but in reality they are far different. This is something that I see often in social media, where people's pictures and posts make whoever is seeing them, believe that they have the perfect life, the perfect marriage, the perfect family, the perfect house, etc. but in reality, nobody on the outside knows that exactly goes on when the doors close, and sometime the reality can be very different, just like it was for this family that was so dysfunctional.
ReplyDeleteI struggled a little bit with this book because the language used was a little difficult to understand for me some times, for this reason I enjoyed much more the detailed illustrations to use as a background to have a better understanding of what the author was trying to say.