Comedy posts in Fun Home (to refer to)

Bechdel keeps resembling her father and can’t beat him to anything (other than death). The same day she came out, her mother would focus on his father’s sexuality. She can’t be her own person.

Bechdel is tired of being repressed and doesn’t conform whereas her father is the opposite. Eg. Alison is seen writing but her father is seen reading, conforming to rules eg. the caravan is SUPPOSED to be canary-coloured.:

Sinuan:

Bechdel then questions if repression is the favourable choice and even leads her to assume the ‘cause and effect’ relationship between her coming out and her father’s death. In contrast with her father, Allison decides it is better to be open about her sexuality but ironically it seems to brings more problems to her life as her openness seems to put her mother in distress as it pressures her mother to step away from the repression and has to reveal the secret about Bruce’s sexuality. Her mother’s response is perhaps ironic as she expresses Bruce having affairs with other men. Here, Bechdel expresses herself feeling ‘upstaged, demoted from protagonist in my own drama to comic relief in my parent’s tragedy.’ Bechdel senses a lack of importance and in whatever she does, her father is always the center of attention.

Gianina:

The last panel in Chapter 3 perfectly illustrates this idea as we see Alison and her father side by side, almost a reflection of each other. What’s interesting is that the only difference between the two is that Alison is portrayed to be writing whereas her father is portrayed to be reading. Perhaps Bechdel intended to reveal how her father is a victim of conformity. He restricts the development of his identity by adhering to social norms and tries to normalise himself by seeking out similarities in literature. This is evident when we see how her father is obsessed with keeping the rules: The “caravan” must be “canary coloured!”. He simply reads and follows whereas Alison chooses to explore her identity, and write up her own identity through the inspiration she gains from reading about similar situations; she does not wish to conform. Hence, Bechdel reveals that though they may be similar in their interest in literature, they both seek to gain completely different things from it.

Yuyu:

By using humour like this, Bechdel makes the topic of her father’s death seem lighter and easier to talk about. When we think about our families’ death, we often find it difficult to do so. However, because there is more sarcasm than grief expressed, Bechdel avoids the readers to be immersed in the emotions, so that when we move on, we can focus on the mystery and the factual components of her father’s death. This can encourage readers to think about death and suicide in another perspective, not from an emotional point of view.