A family tragicomic, documents the authors discovery of her own and her fathers homosexuality. A family tragicomic is a graphic memoir by alison bechdel tracing her journey from young girl to young adult as she comes to grips with her own lesbian sexuality, her father bruces most likely suicide, and his secret homosexuality or bisexuality that he kept hidden throughout his life while having affairs with underage boys. A family tragicomic, she uses literary allusions as a way to assist her in illustrating the strained relationship between herself and her father, as well as every other relationship in her life. Colour in comics is an important way to express themes, emotions and atmosphere to help tell the story. She discovers she is a lesbian at age 19 and, soon after, learns that her father is gay. I could tell you that she is a cartoonist with a long running lesbianthemed comic strip called dykes to watch out for, that she spent seven years writing and illustrating fun home, but everything you really need to know about her, you learn in. Fun home is a musical adapted by lisa kron and jeanine tesori from alison bechdel s 2006 graphic memoir of the same name. In this graphic memoir, alison bechdel charts her fraught relationship with her late father. From the bestselling author of fun home, time magazines no. The book addresses themes of sexual orientation, gender. The strip is syndicated in fifty alternative newspapers, translated into multiple. Fun home a happy death summary and analysis gradesaver. The story jumps back and forth in time with a main focus on bechdels relationship with her father, his.
Burlington book festival 2006 september 15, 2006 cartoonist and author alison bechdel reads from her new, critically acclaimed graphic memoir fun home with a slide presentation as accompaniment. Bechdel weaves emotional honesty with highbrow deliberation in a way that is never burdensome, and mostly light. Bechdel tells us how she grew up in one of the biggest houses on her block but tells everyone that it is just a regular house. Writerartist alison bechdels book fun home, a memoir in graphic novel format, was published in 2006 to critical acclaim. Though bechdel known for her syndicated dykes to watch out for strip and collections takes her formal cues from comic books, she receives more inspiration from the likes of proust and joyce as she attempts to unravel the knots of her familys twisted emotional. A family tragicomic, starts with the death of her father. Nov 05, 2017 l ast summer, alison bechdel returned to the small pennsylvania town where she grew up population.
Bruce bechdel, alisons father, around whom the memoir centers. Meet alisons father, a historic preservation expert and obsessive restorer of the familys victorian home, a third. Alison says the discomfort caused by the pressure to her stomach was well worth the rare physical. Original broadway cast of fun home come to the fun home. The role of gender and literature in alison bechdels fun home. Fun home before, to what extent did your character assessment change upon another reading.
Lee ann darte professor deborah brothers egl 10120 critical analysis. The book is narrated by bechdel and it starts with her at around the age of 4. The character of alison bechdel in fun home from litcharts. The more gratification we found in our own geniuses, the more isolated we grew. Alison says the discomfort caused by the pressure to her stomach was well worth the rare physical contact with her father and the feeling of soaring through the air. L ast summer, alison bechdel returned to the small pennsylvania town where she grew up population.
This detailed literature summary also contains topics for discussion on fun home by alison bechdel. Fun home creator alison bechdel on turning a tragic. That remarkable work was filled with literary allusions her father was a high school english teacher and revelations. Many themes and important passages occurred throughout the text such as, the concept of double identity and how both alison and bruce bechdel, her father, handled their sexuality and expressed it. A family tragicomic is a graphic memoir by alison bechdel tracing her journey from young girl to young adult as she comes to grips with her own lesbian sexuality, her father bruce s most likely suicide, and his secret homosexuality or bisexuality that he kept hidden throughout his life while having affairs with underage boys. Fun home is alison bechdels graphic memoir of her life growing up. A family tragicomic, an amazing and awardwinning memoir graphic novel by alison bechdel. Jan 23, 20 with a piece as complex and layered as alison bechdels biographic exegesis fun home, it can be difficult to find a place to start. A family tragicomic is a graphic memoir a work of nonfiction told in pictures by alison bechdel which recounts her coming out as a lesbian, her fathers repressed bisexuality, and the relationship between bechdel and her father. Fun home a family tragicomic is the latest work from the highly skilled, insightful, neurotic and wryhumored pen of alison bechdel, best known for her dykes to watch out for comic strip. In alison bechdels autobiographical graphic novel fun home. Young alison bechdel lives in pennsylvania with helen, bruce, and her little brothers christian and john. Since 1983 she has been chronicling the lives of various characters in the fictionalized dykes to watch out for strip, one of the preeminent oeuvres in the comics genre, period ms.
Bechdel builds the narrative around the tragic event of her fathers death. However, bechdels comic fun home is entirely monochromatic. Fun home is an entertaining and poignant autobiography of bechdel s childhood. Modernism and alison bechdels fun home a study of the. Fun home, one of the hottest shows on broadway, reveals the poignant life of writer alison bechdel, who grew up as the daughter of a pennsylvania undertaker. Fun home commercial take sevenmillionbillionthousand christian throughout the score, you can hear the influence of the 60s and 70s that both bechdel and tesori grew up in. A family tragicomic is a brilliant graphic novel by alison bechdel, an american comic author and artist. Alison says the discomfort caused by the pressure to her. Alison bechdels memoir fun home contains many challenging experiences for readers, as she unfolds the details of her life as a young girl who discovers not only that she is a lesbian but also that her father is a closeted homosexual whose marriage to her mother proved stifling at best and downright damaging for everyone in the family. I must say that out of the three, this one is the most brilliantly drawn and narrated. A family tragicomicis a graphic memoir by alison bechdel. Fun home creator alison bechdel on turning a tragic childhood. Mar 18, 2014 in alison bechdels autobiographical graphic novel fun home.
The arbitrary inclusion of comic books in the college text book aimed at first year, general english courses needs reforming. How did bechdels various literary allusions impact her storytelling. The first panel shows alison approaching her father bruce, who is lying on the floor and puts his feet in the middle of her chest to launch her in the air for a game of airplane. A family tragicomic is a graphic novel memoir by american cartoonist alison bechdel. Alison bechdel was born in lock haven, pennsylvania and grew up in the small town of beech creek, pennsylvania. This breakout book by alison bechdel is a darkly funny family tale, pitchperfectly illustrated with bechdel s sweetly gothic drawings. Though bechdel known for her syndicated dykes to watch out for strip and collections takes her formal cues from comic books, she receives more inspiration from the likes of proust and joyce as she attempts to unravel the knots of her. Well, its because she felt it was very important and it took her 7 years to complete it. Fun home is subtitled a family tragicomic, and in both books the. One of the longestrunning queer comic strips, dykes to watch out for is over 20 years old, has been syndicated in hundreds of papers, released in over. A family tragicomic is a graphic memoir that led alison bechdel to commercial and critical success. One of the most eagerly anticipated graphic memoirs of recent years, fun home is a darkly funny family tale, pitchperfectly illustrated with alison bechdels sweetly gothic drawings. Alison bechdel made an auspicious entrance on the literary scene with her first graphic memoir, fun home.
Although bechdels graphic novel fun home appears to be in black and white, colour still affects the comic in a few ways. Alison bechdel the protagonist and author of fun home. Distant and exacting, bruce bechdel was an english teacher and director of the town funeral home, which alison and her family referred to as the fun home. The author and protagonist of fun home, alison traces her life from childhood into early adulthood, centering her reflections on the circumstances surrounding her father bruces death as well as the progression of her understanding of her own lesbian sexuality and inclination toward masculinity. Fun home study guide from litcharts the creators of. Jun 04, 2015 fun home, one of the hottest shows on broadway, reveals the poignant life of writer alison bechdel, who grew up as the daughter of a pennsylvania undertaker. It chronicles the authors childhood and youth in rural pennsylvania, united states, focusing on her complex relationship with her father. Please do not spoil content of next issues report spoiler. A family tragicomic is a graphic memoir by alison bechdel. Bechdels coming out as a lesbian is complicated by the revelation that bruce was a closeted homosexual whose extra. A family tragicomic, a graphic novel by alison bechdel, the author uses an intriguing combination of pictures and words to. Bechdels memoir offers a graphic narrative of uncommon richness, depth, literary resonance and psychological complexity. It was not until college that alison, who had recently come out as a lesbian, discovered that her father was also gay.
The graphic memoir fun home starts with the adult alison bechdel narrating over images of her childhood. Alison bechdel s graphic memoir fun home travels substantially through time. Alison bechdel has been a careful archivist of her own life and kept a journal since she was ten. Throughout fun home, alison bechdel s exploration into her own lesbian sexuality is juxtaposed with her father bruce s repressed gay or bisexual orientation. A family tragicomic is a graphic memoir by alison bechdel tracing her journey from young girl to young adult as she comes to grips with her own lesbian sexuality, her father bruce s most likely suicide, and his secret homosexuality or bisexuality that he kept hidden throughout his life while having affairs with underage boys the memoir starts with alison as a young girl. In the myth, daedalus is a craftsman who constructs a pair of wings using feathers and wax. May 19, 2015 fun home commercial take sevenmillionbillionthousand christian throughout the score, you can hear the influence of the 60s and 70s that both bechdel and tesori grew up in. Mourning and melancholia in alison bechdels fun home. A family tragicomic is a graphic novel memoir of the authors childhood, particularly focused on her relationship with her closeted gay father bruce. Jul 05, 2012 alison bechdels memoir fun home contains many challenging experiences for readers, as she unfolds the details of her life as a young girl who discovers not only that she is a lesbian but also that her father is a closeted homosexual whose marriage to her mother proved stifling at best and downright damaging for everyone in the family. In my previous long post, ive thoroughly stressed on what alison bechdel decided to write for each chapter of her book. Published in 2006, fun home named by time magazine as number one of its 10 best books of the year as a whole deals with author alison bechdel coming to terms with the apparent suicide of her repressed homosexual father and her own realization that she is a lesbian. Bechdel introduces the greek myth about icarus and daedalus as an analogy for her relationship with her father. Fun home themes from litcharts the creators of sparknotes.
A family tragicomic by readbook 19 september 2017 a fresh and brilliantly told memoir from a cult favorite comic artist, marked by gothic twists, a family funeral home, sexual angst, and great books. Jun 05, 2007 alison bechdel shes one of the best, one to watch out for. Home fun home discussion guide home libguides at ramapo. Instead of reading the subjects thoughts and experiences, the graphic novel places readers in the scenes as the beholder, allowing for a look at both the subjectivity of the narrator and the cultural forces that have shaped her. On page 125, bechdel imagines how things would differ if her family told the truth. Fun home was one of the most wellcovered comic books of its time. A family tragicomic, a graphic novel by alison bechdel, the author uses an intriguing combination of pictures and. Bruce and helen had been living in europe, but the. This excerpt, although missing much context and all of bechdels struggle. A fresh and brilliantly told memoir from a cult favorite comic artist, marked by gothic twists, a family funeral home, sexual angst, and great books. Happy death the second chapter in alison bechdels graphic novel, fun home. In this book, bechdel chronicles, in graphic illustrations, her own life experiences especially during her childhood and teenage days. The first chapter of the book fun home by alison bechdel is setting the scene. In many ways, it is a memoir of the authors relationship with her mother.
Fun home quotes showing of 31 i suppose that a lifetime spent hiding ones erotic truth could have a cumulative renunciatory effect. With a piece as complex and layered as alison bechdels biographic exegesis fun home, it can be difficult to find a place to start. This onepage guide includes a plot summary and brief analysis of fun home. Jun 18, 2006 if the theoretical value of a picture is still holding steady at a thousand words, then alison bechdel s slim yet proustian graphic memoir, fun home, must be the most ingeniously compact, hyper. Her family owns a funeral home in a small town so her father works as an english teacher, her mother an actress. At the beginning, alison is a child, playing with her father, bruce, by being lifted into the air on his feet.
Bechdel has been named a macarthur fellow and cartoonist laureate of vermont, among many other honors. Fun home is a graphic novel by alison bechdel, depicting her fictionalized life as a younger self among her family. Fun home study guide contains a biography of alison bechdel, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. As alison grows older and realizes that she is a lesbian, she and bruce are both forced to confront how his repression may have affected her own selfimage and the way that she dealt with her sexuality. Young alison bechdellives in pennsylvania with helen, bruce, and her little brothers christian and john.
Bechdel and her father connect over literature, and literary reference are integral to fun home. It was not until college that alison, who had recently come out as a lesbian, discovered that. Fun home is her familys nickname for the funeral home they ran. Apr 29, 2012 bechdel weaves emotional honesty with highbrow deliberation in a way that is never burdensome, and mostly light. Harvey pekar if david sedaris could draw, and if bleak house had been a little funnier, youd have alison bechdels fun home. Like marjane satrapis persepolis, its a story exhilaratingly suited to graphic memoir form. Fun home summary from litcharts the creators of sparknotes. Jun 08, 2006 alison bechdel s fun home is the third comic i have read which is meant exclusively for adults after the complete persepolis and maus, i. Amy bloom, author of a blind man can see how much i love you brave and forthright and insightfulexactly what alison bechdel does best.
Jun 18, 2006 bechdel and her father connect over literature, and literary reference are integral to fun home. Bruce bechdel, alison s father, around whom the memoir centers. Fun home is what she and her brothers called the familyowned funeral home her dad ran. Its subject is alison bechdels coming of age, with particular emphasis on her relationship to her father, bruce. Supersummary, a modern alternative to sparknotes and cliffsnotes, offers highquality study guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics. It focuses specifically on her parents, helen and bruce, and their role in her life. This breakout book by alison bechdel is a darkly funny family tale, pitchperfectly illustrated with bechdels sweetly gothic drawings. Jun 08, 2006 bechdels memoir offers a graphic narrative of uncommon richness, depth, literary resonance and psychological complexity. A family tragicomic is a graphic novel memoir by american. Fun home is an entertaining and poignant autobiography of bechdels childhood. The story concerns bechdel s discovery of her own sexuality, her relationship with her gay father, and her attempts to unlock the mysteries surrounding his life. The nonfiction graphic novel, are you my mother, by alison bechdel, is a work of experimental nonfiction, which utilizes the vehicle of the graphic novel to tell the story.
The book touches upon many themes, including, but not limited to, the following. Behind the scenes of the tonynominated musical fun home. The importance of literature in fun home otherwomenswords. While this contrast between openness and repression in the book is specifically related to sexuality and genderidentity, the book is also a powerful portrayal of the impact of repression more generally, the way that shame can drive. Dec 22, 2015 burlington book festival 2006 september 15, 2006 cartoonist and author alison bechdel reads from her new, critically acclaimed graphic memoir fun home with a slide presentation as accompaniment. At several points in fun home, the character alison bechdel expresses her frustration, hesitancy, or mistrust toward symbolism, narrativity, and mythmaking e.
Only when placed in the proper genre will it truly prove beneficial for the average freshman. Reminiscent of art spiegelmans maus, fun home explores the relationship between alison and her closeted father, bruce bechdel, to shed light on themes such as gender, the comingout process, and the complicated dynamics of family life. Prior to its publication, bechdel was best known for her longrunning cult comic strip, dykes to watch out for, which followed a series of diverse characters between 1983 and 2008. The story jumps back and forth in time with a main focus on bechdels relationship. It focuses specifically on her parents, helenand bruce, and their role in her life.
Alison bechdels graphic memoir fun home travels substantially through time. A family tragic comic, in which she excavates her relationship with her father. Fun home old father, old artificer summary and analysis. If the theoretical value of a picture is still holding steady at a thousand words, then alison bechdels slim yet proustian graphic memoir, fun home, must be the most ingeniously compact, hyper. Alison bechdels cult following for her early comic strip dykes to watch out for expanded wildly for her family memoirs, the bestselling graphic memoir fun home, adapted into a tony awardwinning musical, and are you my mother. Analysis of fun home by alison bechdel 1180 words 5 pages. She lived in an old gothic revival house with her father bruce, her mother helen, and her two younger brothers christian and john. A graphic novel exploration of some difficult issues in alison bechdels childhood. As alison grows older and realizes that she is a lesbian, she and bruce are both forced to confront how his repression may have affected her own selfimage and the. I could tell you that she is a cartoonist with a long running lesbianthemed comic strip called dykes to watch out for, that she spent seven years writing and illustrating fun home, but everything you really need to know about her, you learn in the book itself. A family tragicomic is a 2006 graphic memoir by the american cartoonist alison bechdel, author of the comic strip dykes to watch out for. One strip from the series titled the rule coined the bechdel test in popular culture, which critiques hollywood movies for creating onedimensional female characters.
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