Below the surface of the Bechdel Family
In Fun Home, appearances play a large role in how the Bechdel family lives. Their house, restored by the father Bruce, is full of antique furniture, with every detail made to perfection; and from the outside, it all almost seems perfect. Though, as we get the full story, we learn that isn't the case and that they aren't put together as they may seem on the outside.
Allison's father, is someone who cares very deeply about the appearance of things. He spends most of his time fixing the house and the yard, making sure it looks jsut how he wants it to. As Allison illustrates and brings you through the home, it almost feels like a museum, where each piece has a place. Though it makes for a beautiful home, it doesn't make for a comfortable one, the house is more for looks rather than a place to actually live.
As we learn later in the book, this attention to appearance is directly connected to dto Bruce and his own life. To others he presents himself as a remarkable father, and seems well rounded overall, but there are many secrets to his life. Instead of being open with these secrets, he hides them to maintain his perfect image.
As Allison grows up, she starts to notice the difference, the gap between his image and reality. Even though her whole life her family lived in a beautiful home, it was a cover up for the lack of communication. Many important things were left unsaid, and throughout the book, it feels as though everyone is trying to keep conflicts at bay to appear "normal" on the surface.
In a way, the home reflects the Bechdel family. From the outside it looks perfect, but inside, there is much more to it. Bruce uses the homes restored furniture as a way to have control, just as he controls the family. Because of this Allison becomes more interested in Bruce, and questions many things about her childhood after his death.
Overall, Fun Home shows that things aren't always as they appear. The Bechdel family seemed perfect, as did their home. But, in reality there was more to both the family and the home. The family had many problems, and the house was built from restored junk. It reminds us that not everything is perfect, even it appears that way.
Hi, Emma! You wrote "Though it makes for a beautiful home, it doesn't make for a comfortable one, the house is more for looks rather than a place to actually live." I completely agree what what you've said, but I think of it more as " Though it makes for a beautiful *house*, it doesn't make for a comfortable or warm home". I like the metaphor of how their house is a depiction of their family. Nice job!
ReplyDeleteEmma!! I love your analysis of the Bechdel home! I do like the idea that their house, just like them, appears perfect but is actually a mask for their true identities. When you bring up the fact that their house never allowed them to live, I wondered about how we classify "living" vs "surviving". Great blog!
ReplyDeleteHi Emma, I like how you connect the house to the Bechdel family as a whole, especially the idea that it looks perfect on the outside but hides deeper issues underneath. Your point about the house feeling more like a museum than a home is really effective, since it reflects the lack of comfort and communication within the family. It shows how it’s all a show, and they aren’t truly living and making it theirs. I also think your connection between Bruce’s obsession with appearance and his hidden life is strong, because it shows why he is so focused on maintaining that image. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI think it's important that you frame Alison's view of her father and his "artifice" as something that she had already been increasingly aware of BEFORE all the revelations that follow from her coming-out. We do get the strong implication throughout her childhood that she and her siblings are uncomfortable with "being treated like furniture" or free labor by their father--they already do see him as a control freak, but Alison seems especially alert to the facade of it all, the way that art becomes artifice, especially when he tries to control HER self-presentation and gender-appropriate fashion choices.
ReplyDeleteBut it's undeniable that her *suspicions* that there is more than meets the eye are strengthened once it's "confirmed" that there indeed IS a big secret that these artifices are designed to conceal. It's like she now has to go back and revise her existing memories--she may have already seen her father as a bit of a poseur or phony in his "library" doing his "country squire" routine. But NOW she has to factor in everything she's learned about Roy and why he was always over at the house, and this puts a different twist to the idea of Bruce and his artifice. It's not just an obsessive quirk; it's a deeper kind of character flaw, a more significant kind of fraud, even a criminal one. And it's REALLY hard to tell, throughout this book, when the reconstruction of her past is and isn't affected by this later knowledge. She can't "unknow" what she knows when she draws Bruce in her childhood, and those early frames always represent a complex blend of her memory of the time AND how she now views her own story.
Hi Emma! I agree that the ornate Fun Home is an artifice. The house wasn’t remodeled for utility; guests unfamiliar with the layout have a hard time navigating through it. I like how your blog highlights the mansion’s parallels to Bruce, who carefully constructs both the home and the family’s image to appear “normal” to others, masking the “junk” below the surface. Nice post!
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