In this seminar, I will discuss approaches through which Alison Bechdel exposes her emotions and personal perplexities within the literary and graphic aspects of her memoir such as her relationship with her father and her road to self-discovery. Approaches such as distinct pigment of the drawings, and the use of specific motifs and allusions are how Bechdel’s hidden and confused thoughts are represented.
Bechdel’s illustrations are toned with a dismal blue/green colour throughout most of Fun Home. The chilled, placid, and dismal tint reflects Alison’s distant relationship with her family. Bechdel illustrates this bleak blue/green colour with darker and lighter shades in certain drawings to attract the reader’s eyes to specific characters or …show more content…
These definitions also demonstrate her trend of looking for detailed descriptions to explain complicated and ambiguous experiences such as her sexuality and her relationship with her father. For instance, on page 197 of Fun Home, when Alison is looking up the definition of the word ‘father’, she begins looking up words that define the word ‘father’ for a further understanding, i.e. beget. When she researches the word ‘lesbian’ when she is thirteen, the definition is cut off. This suggests that the definition itself did not fully connect with her at that point. She was simply, as the text reads, “having qualms” (Bechdel 74) about her sexuality. Normally, when an adolescent regularly looks up dictionary definitions, it would be considered as development for their vocabulary, not growth in their emotional understanding and …show more content…
This allusion in particular, demonstrates both correlations and significant differences when the panels juxtapose an ever-angry Bruce opposite to the character of George Bailey as he is going through his life-changing revelation. Both characters are the heads of their households, trying to create a beautiful picture perfect home for their seemingly picture perfect lives. Both characters exhibit haphazard fits of temper. Now, while George only nearly commits suicide, it is assumed that Bruce in fact does commit
Bechdel’s illustrations are toned with a dismal blue/green colour throughout most of Fun Home. The chilled, placid, and dismal tint reflects Alison’s distant relationship with her family. Bechdel illustrates this bleak blue/green colour with darker and lighter shades in certain drawings to attract the reader’s eyes to specific characters or …show more content…
These definitions also demonstrate her trend of looking for detailed descriptions to explain complicated and ambiguous experiences such as her sexuality and her relationship with her father. For instance, on page 197 of Fun Home, when Alison is looking up the definition of the word ‘father’, she begins looking up words that define the word ‘father’ for a further understanding, i.e. beget. When she researches the word ‘lesbian’ when she is thirteen, the definition is cut off. This suggests that the definition itself did not fully connect with her at that point. She was simply, as the text reads, “having qualms” (Bechdel 74) about her sexuality. Normally, when an adolescent regularly looks up dictionary definitions, it would be considered as development for their vocabulary, not growth in their emotional understanding and …show more content…
This allusion in particular, demonstrates both correlations and significant differences when the panels juxtapose an ever-angry Bruce opposite to the character of George Bailey as he is going through his life-changing revelation. Both characters are the heads of their households, trying to create a beautiful picture perfect home for their seemingly picture perfect lives. Both characters exhibit haphazard fits of temper. Now, while George only nearly commits suicide, it is assumed that Bruce in fact does commit