Graphic Novels for Grown-ups: Part 2

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic

By Alison Bechdel

When I began reading this graphic novel, I knew very little about it, and mistakenly believed that the family funeral home (the “Fun Home”) would be a more integral part of the story. For example, other reviewers and summaries say things like “"Fun home" is what Bechdel and her siblings call the funeral home where they live. While their father obsesses about redecorating and their mother seems incapable of relating meaningfully either to them or to her husband, the joke is one way they cope with the family business” (Moore). Even though this reviewer seems to have read the book, it surprises me that she says that the family lives in the funeral house – they do not. Based on reviews like this, I guess it isn’t surprising that I was mistaken about the subject of the story. But although I was wrong about the extent to which the family funeral business was relevant; I was not disappointed in the story.

The story is actually a memoir that focuses on the father as a tyrannical closeted homosexual, and the daughter’s realization in college that she is also gay. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Bechdel doesn’t know that her father is gay until she comes out herself. Shortly after this revelation, he dies in an apparent accident. It sounds like I’m spoiling the entire book here, but that isn’t really the case. Most of this information is given to the reader at the beginning of the story, and the story fills in gaps and provides background.

As a former English student, I always wonder about many of the authors who try too hard to relate the characters in their books to characters in famous books or famous authors – in Fun Home, Bechdel uses multiple author comparisons, but Ernest Hemingway is most frequently referenced. In some books, I feel like literary references are just too pretentious and certainly not justified. Here, the comparison doesn’t feel forced. I get the impression that Bechdel had to use books and authors to understand her parents (who are English teachers), because their relationship was so distant. Rather than forcing the comparison, she is simply explaining her own means of relating to her parents.

Bechdel’s coming-of-age/coming-out story is affectionate and absorbing, even though she admits that we should be up in arms about some of the more scandalous events that take place. Maybe this is the true feat of the book; the fact that she seems to have forgiven her father for his mistakes.

...And I'm trying to get over the fact that reviewers are placing too much emphasis on the funeral home. To be honest, my final thought is that the funeral home (when it is mentioned) seems perfectly normal, whereas their actual home is pretty messed up. Maybe the significance of the Fun Home is in the contrast?

Moore, Anne Elizabeth. "The father, the daughter." The Women's Review of Books Jan.-Feb. 2007: 3+. General OneFile. Web. 29 Dec. 2009.