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Alison
Bechdel's graphic novel Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic
is an autobiographical exploration of her relationships with
her own sexuality and family, particularly her homosexual
father.
The title
is fitting in several respects: The light-hearted adjective
"fun" doubles as the shorthand for "funeral"; "home" refers
to both Bechdel's family-owned funeral home and the family's
own intricately restored family home; and "tragicomic" evokes
both the mixed tone of the narrative and its graphic novel
format. By turns guffaw-inducing and heartbreaking, Fun
Home breaks apart long-held perceptions of the graphic
novel genre and holds its own as a work of literature.
Fun
Home is an intimate narrative, but it is constantly in
conversation with established literary works, pointing to
the power of literature writ large to transform the reader.
Books and literature are wholly bonded to Bechdel's life.
Stacks of books by Kate Millet and Virginia Woolf accumulate
around Bechdel as she delves into the intricacies of her newly-claimed
sexuality. Bechdel herself realized that she was a lesbian
in the middle of a campus bookstore, after coming across an
anthology of interviews with gays and lesbians and recognizing
herself in the words on the page. Though she'd always suspected
there was something "different" about herself, it was ultimately
a book—the words and stories of others—that allowed
her self-discovery.
F. Scott
Fitzgerald's Jay Gatsby is the model for Bechdel's father,
from his tendency to materialistically posture to the literal
copy of The Great Gatsby he slips to his secret boyfriend.
His job as a high school English teacher allows him to bond
with Bechdel in an unconventional way; in the classroom, surrounded
by bored classmates, Bechdel finally begins to connect with
her aloof father over the words of Hemingway, Salinger, and
Fitzgerald.
Fun
Home is a treat for fans of graphic works like Marjane
Satrapi's Persepolis and an excellent transition piece
for devotees of more traditional literary forms. Working in
the graphic format allows Bechdel to put her own face on the
classics as well as point to more subtle narratives within
her own story. The repetition of the Sunbeam Bread emblem
might first be viewed as a throw-away joke about materialism
and branding, but there is a far more profound connection
that reveals itself as the story progresses. The book is rendered
in black ink with blue watercolor details that give the story
a generally somber feel often broken apart by Bechdel's inherent
humor. This is a darkly comedic novel that keeps the reader
laughing while fostering a deeply emotional connection to
Bechdel and her story.
(March, 2007)
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