Fun Home Isn't Set in the Past

 Fun Home Isn't Set in the Past

When reading any novel it is vital to take into consideration the context of the writing: who is writing this and how will this affect the way in which events may be skewed. This context is even more quintessential in a novel such as Fun Home; the personal memoir nature of the novel inextricably ties the events to Alison Bechdel’s perception of her past. As much as Fun Home is an anecdote of the relationship between a girl, her dad, and her sexuality, it is also a rendition of events that cannot in any way be separated from Bechdel’s biases and assumptions. What makes this such an interesting aspect of Fun Home is the way in which Bechdel interacts with this fact within her writing. As she examines the past there are many instances in which she sort of breaks the fourth wall, identifying to the reader that we are reading from the mind of current, mature Bechdel as she was formed by her childhood.

Beyond this, throughout the novel, especially in its imagery, we can see instances where the manner in which an event or character is being portrayed is likely inaccurate. Take for example the opening scene of the novel. Even as Allsion depicts her playing with her dad his face remains almost completely expressionless. This detail sticks out to readers as it is very abnormal, almost so abnormal in fact that we can assume he likely did smile and engage with Allison more vibrantly. This discrepancy perfectly illustrates the point of the novel. It is not truly about Allison’s childhood but about the reconstruction of her childhood she has created in order to cope.

Maybe this aspect of Fun Home is something readers inherently pick up on, but either way it is something I find so fundamental to how I read and processed the novel. The characters are exaggerated and morphed, but not necessarily intentionally, such as Plath revealed she did with The Bell Jar. In this vein, we can read the home itself, Allison’s sexuality, and a posthumous version of Alison’s dad on the same personified playing field. The only real character in Fun Home is Alison Bechdel herself. When you take the novel at face value it can become all too easy to get caught up in the disturbing facts of Bechdel’s upbringing. While this aspect of her story is paramount, it really isn’t what Fun Home is about.