Details in "Fun Home"
I think what makes Fun Home stand out from other books is that the graphic novel format lets Bechdel include so many tiny details visually that contribute to the story in big ways. Looking back on the book after I read it, I noticed a lot of little hints towards future chapters in the background of the panels. For example, on many of the pages in the first few chapters, like on pages 21 and 67, there's a loaf of Sunbeam Bread on the table. This is a pretty morbid detail since we find out later on that Bruce was hit by a Sunbeam Bread truck.
Another example is the progression of Alison's interest in art throughout the book. Even though she never comes out and says "this is when i started drawing and realized I wanted to be a cartoonist," we can see the progression through little details in the book, like the drawings of Nixon on page 186, or the sketchbook on page 79. It shows the progression of time and how Alison is changing without being explicit about it.
I think these little details emphasize how for Bechdel, even if she didn't realize it, the truth was always just below the surface. Once she got older and realized what all those seemingly insignificant memories meant, everything became much clearer. It also emphasizes how Bechdel as a narrator is looking back on the events of the book from the future, which gives you the impression that she's a very reliable narrator. They also make the book incredibly personal and so detailed that you feel like you know everything about this family.
It is so interesting how you found all these connections, I otherwise never would've noticed these. I wonder how much of these were unintentional or if they were almost like hidden easter eggs throughout the book. These details remind me of the more subtle connections in Black Swan Green between Jason's poetry and what happened in his life the month before.
ReplyDeleteI really like how you illuminated these connections! I realize now that I probably missed a lot of these small details in the artwork, so it would be fun to reread and pay closer attention to the graphic aspects of the book. These subtle details add a lot more depth and layers to an already complex and artful novel, so I would love to take a look at them again.
ReplyDeleteI'm particularly glad you mentioned the underlying arc in the book where we see Alison developing her identity and practice as an artist, which is of course the "end" of the story in a way that is closely connected to her "Hero's Journey" of coming out as lesbian. Part of the "boon" she "returns" with from this journey is her confident identity as a comic artist representing the LGBTQ community and its political and cultural issues--a contrast to Bruce, her "flying" where he "falls from the sky." She doesn't center herself in the book, focusing on her relationship with her father, but as part of her own coming-of-age story the development of an identity and sense of mission as an artist is an important subtext. There's a funny kind of meta-irony when we see her drawing comics in the presence of Bruce, when she will become widely known for writing a comic (the book we are reading) ABOUT Bruce.
ReplyDeleteGreat catch! I never noticed these details and find them very interesting, especially the part about it making Allison seem like a more reliable narrator because she is looking at things from the future. It does make me think, however, of all the possible things Allison may have missed because she is writing this with so much distance from the actual events.
ReplyDeleteI find the detail about the specific bread brand and the truck that hit Bruce very interesting, because it's something that I never would have picked up on. I wonder if it was on purpose just to draw the connection again with just how small this town is, where the thing that sits on your counter was delivered by the same truck that killed your father... (kind of morbid but also interesting)
ReplyDeleteWow, this is really cool! The only thing I could think of, though, is that the different details are used more for foreshadowing rather than Bechdel looking back and realizing there were premonitions in her everyday items. Still, I wonder what other little details exist in Fun Home and what events they correspond to. Thanks for pointing this out!
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