Fun Home

                A common theme throughout Fun Home is sexuality. Both Alison and her father Bruce are dealing with sexual tension and angst throughout the novel and deal with their own sexuality and radically different ways. Through their sexuality father and daughter share something in common, an attraction to members of the same sex, where they differ however is the way in which they embrace or repress their sexuality.

                Alison discovers early on that is different from other girls. When she and brothers go on a trip she insists that they refer to her with a boy’s name. Throughout her childhood she continuously yearned to become more masculine, much to the chagrin of her father. When Alison leaves for college she finally comes to terms with the fact that she is a lesbian and begins researching her sexuality, immersing herself within the lesbian subculture and even becoming involved by attending meetings at her school. She even manages to work up the courage to ‘out’ herself to her parents via a phone call.

                Alison is radically different from her father. While she embraces her homosexuality he rejects his, referring to himself as a badperson and guiltily scurrying off to faraway places where he may solicit gay sex. Bruce never came out of his closet voluntarily; it was only when his affairs became known that he began to face facts, even then though he was still ashamed of what he was.

                Bechdel shows the immense burden sexuality can become to us if bottled up on the inside and never allowed to be out in the open. While her father was trying to conform to the accepted lifestyle of his time he forgot one thing, himself. It was a mistake Alison fortunately did not make for herself. More importantly though, Bechdel’s novel brings within it the message of accepting yourself as being pivotal to your success as person. To go through life rejecting oneself is merely an existence and certainly not a life.

Fun Home

Sometime during the aftermath of her father’s death Alison ponders the possibility that her father may have purposefully stepped in front of the truck that killed him. The theory that her father’s life ended in suicide rather than on accident is an interesting one to say the least.

                First, let us explore some of the clues pointing to the conclusion that her father did indeed kill herself. In the time leading up to his untimely demise Alison noticed something peculiar. Her father was highlighting passages in his books that seemed to explore death and even suicide. Furthermore, he would leave these little clues out in the open, perhaps hoping that someone would discover them and save him from himself. However, when Alison does happen upon her father’s curious highlights she chooses to discount them. In one instance she even rationalizes his behavior by claiming that, knowing the man her father was, he must have gone on to read the next section of the reading which disagrees with suicide.

                This was most likely a way of trying to alert others as to his possible plans to get a sense of their response. This is common with many cases in which people have attempted suicide and is a definite warning sign. Additionally, when you include the fact that her father was not emotionally connected with his family as with his books the reason to suspect suicide grows even further. Had Alison taken these warning signs seriously she may have been able to intervene.

                Her father’s way of trying to elicit a response rather than just come out and proclaim what they were looking for can also be seen in Alison. After her father’s death she finds herself unable to feel grief so she turns to others in order to see their grief in the hopes that seeing the emotion would make her feel better. While the two circumstances may be different in that Alison was not feeling something and wanted to see others emotions, her father wanted to see the care for life that he no longer felt and through subtle signals he attempted to do the same thing. In both cases they were unsuccessful.

Fun Home

                In Fun Home, Alison looks back on her childhood and growing up with her at times emotionally distant father who ran the family business, a funeral home. Her father was obsessed with decorating and architecture, a passion that was almost bordering on obsession. She even goes so far as to say that he treated his furniture like children and his children like furniture. Alison always had the impression that family would always play second fiddle to her father’s other interests.

                Alison mentions her theory that all of her father’s decorating was an elaborate effort to hide something. As if all the lovely furniture and décor was part of a cover-up in that they would distract all of those who visited their home from what was really going on. Here I think Alison was accurate in her description. While the Bechdel’s appeared to have the perfect home they did not have a family to go with it. After her father dies Alison finds out that her dad has been having sex with teenage boys, something she never saw coming. By creating the perfect family home, while sacrificing the family bond and thereby eliminating the purpose of his obsession, he kept hidden many secrets.

                I believe that because her father was so skilled at disguising his life that it was impossible for anyone to really know him. Alison thought her and her father had nothing in common what so ever, yet they did share one thing. Both Alison and her father were gay. Such a secret must have been a heavy burden for Alison’s father to carry and that may be the reason he spent so much time creating a materially perfect family environment, yet because of his secret he could never connect emotionally with his family.

In the time of the butterflies

“Dede will bury us all in silk and pearls”

                I wonder if when the girls heard their father make this prediction they had any idea how spot on he was about her future.  Dede survived the assassination due to her ever present reluctance to participate in her sister’s revolutionary activities. As a result, her husband was not imprisoned and she did not have to make that deadly trip. However, as tragic as losing one’s family is having to live in their shadow for the remainder of your life while having to raise their children, seeing her sister’s faces in them every day, must be a living hell.

                The ending the Mirabal sisters faced was just blatantly unfair. No one should have to endure the struggle they did, having been physically and emotionally ravaged by the regime of Trujillo, only to end up being tricked into death.  However, the story never ended for Dede. It still continues to this day although still tragic, I cannot fathom the difficulty she faces in having to run that museum, or when she would attend a party celebrating the memory of her iconic sisters.

                Dede must fight everyday to remember how her sisters used to be. Before they were national heroes and when they were just her sisters living altogether under one roof, dreaming of what they would one day become. I doubt that any of them envisioned, their father especially, the intricate role they would play their countries struggle for freedom. Let alone that they would be the source of inspiration for many Dominicans who longed to be free.

                Dede goes on to wonder in the epilogue whether or not her sisters died in vain. It makes you think what would have happened if they had only been able to hold out until Trujillo was eventually assassinated himself, maybe they could have had a political future in the new Dominican Republic, or maybe they would have been able to use their statues as icons to steer the post-Trujillo world towards a more stable and bloodless path.

Mate Timeline

First Communion
Recieves First Diary
Lied for Minerva
Opinion of Trujillo Changes
December 1953 - Death of her father and learns about his affair
Recieves her second diary
Graduates from high school
Refuses to marry her cousins
Sept. 19 - goes to University with Minerva
Becomes bored with law and switches her major to philosophy and letters. Here she begins to diverge from Minerva's path
April 28 1956 - Queen of Capitol
Moves in with Minerva
Saves Minerva and Manolo's marriage
Introduced to Palomino when he drops off a package for the revolution
Discovers revolution
Moves into her own apartment
Is given codename Mariposa (2) - joins rebel movement
Her and Leandro aka Palomino confess their love for each other
Feb. 14 1958 - Gets married to Leandro
Has a child (jacquelyn)
Is imprisoned for involvement in revolution
Stands up to Minerva by not complaining about the guards who were nice to them in letter to OAS
Gives letter to OAS informing them of Trujillo's cruelty towards political prisoners
Released from prison and placed under house arrest along with Minerva
Her imprisoned husband is moved to a new prison closer to where they live
On her way back from visiting her incarcerated husband she was murdered by agents of Trujillo along with her sisters Minerva and Patria as well as their driver

In the time of the butterflies

                Alvarez does want to take us beyond the legend of the in creating our characters and she does this in various ways. With legends, the heroes never really acquaint themselves with the people. They are distant icons that people never really got to know, to understand. Alvarez gives the legends a more human demeanor in her story. They have raw emotion, flaws, and little quirks that make us connect with them on a radically different level in which we feel like we were a part of them and what they were doing.

                By including all of the little personal details of her characters, Alvarez puts you in the same room as these women. As I mentioned before, you really get a sense that you knew these people. For example, when Minerva stands up to her father or is making a smart comment at the car dealership you truly get a vivid image in your mind of who Minerva is, what she looks like, how she talks, etc. It’s the same when Mate writes in her diary about her clothes for her first communion, Alvarez grants us a new degree of context that allows us to appreciate just how innocent little Mate really was.

                All of this new context that Alvarez strives to grant the reader creates an invaluable sense of familiarity. This familiarity allows the reader to form a connection with the characters and take on the role of a silent character who is actually a part of the action. I think the reader should take on this silent character role as it adds to the sense of immersion that is so imperative for a good story to be told. When people finish reading Alvarez’ story they are going to remember the tale of these women because they will feel like they were a part of it.

In the time of the butterflies

Alvarez feels compelled to bring this story to American readers because in many aspects it draws parallels to our own countries struggle for freedom. Both countries were at one time ruled over by a tyrannical despot who sought to crush individuals who sought a free nation for themselves and for future generations. A common narrative throughout this story is the struggle for freedom in an oppressive nation. Alvarez chronicles the events of the oppressed Dominican Republic through the points of view of a tight-knit Dominican family, the opinions and personalities of which vary greatly.

                As to what we should gain from Alvarez’ tale of these young women’s harrowing tale is an appreciation for the liberty enjoyed by citizens of the United States. I think it is an aim of Alvarez to make Americans appreciate that the cost of that liberty is great and is the result of enormous sacrifice. Too many people live every day of their lives in America without so much as a thought as to how lucky they are and how great life is compared to other nations where liberty is a repressed dream rather than an everyday reality.

                In America, we can bash the president all day long in any manner that we jolly well feel like. In Trujillo’s Dominican Republic if people criticized the president they would have to go into hiding for a while. An example is when Minerva states that another reason not to buy the used Buick is because the dealer claims Trujillo drives one. This results in the family having to lay low in order to avoid becoming political prisoners of the oppressive regime.

Alvarez’ voice can be heard in all of the characters because there is no way of possibly knowing what certain characters actually said, especially when not in the presence of Dede. Alvarez uses the character’s personality and gives them dialogue, thoughts, and emotions typical of that personality.

Is this an American story? In the sense that in America we are free and we only got that way because of the brave who died to that we may be free from tyrants like Trujillo or King George. It can also be said that this is Alvarez’ story because she is able to interview Dede without fear of censorship or retribution from a sensitive dictator.

I am an Emotional Creature - Would you rather

 “Would You Rather” shows that young girls, especially the one who insists on playing the game, struggle with the more difficult decisions that have to be made and look to others for possible answers.  It is possible that the girl asking these questions is in some deep corner of her sub-consciousness running a simulation of these various scenarios in an effort to prepare herself should they come to fruition.

However, it is very apparent that the girl being asked these questions does not want to concern herself with these difficult circumstances, especially because these circumstances are imaginary. She would prefer to not choose between “living with my mother or my father”. Saying, “I want different questions. I hate these choices. I hate my life.”

“Are you crying?” “Yes”.

Both of these girls struggle with decision making when there are no clear good choices to be made. They both also have their own way of dealing with this stress. The first girl asks her friends for input in the form of this game, hoping to feel more comfortable should the day come when she may be facing these situations in reality rather than part of a game. The second girl prefers not to think about such terrible things. She is innocent and does not want to deal with hypotheticals that she quite possibly may never have to face in her life.

The first girl will have the benefit of going into life with some context of the problems she undoubtedly will encounter and perhaps a clue as to which she will decide when presented with them. Unfortunately, all of this comes at the cost of losing the joy of innocence at a younger age. The second will go on with her youth bumbling around on the roads of bliss. However, she may be overwhelmed one day when she will have to make choices where the good option is not so obvious, or absent completely.

I am an Emotional Creature - Let Me In

“They are my friends…supposedly”.

“Let Me In” is the story of a young girl who is trying her best to fit in with the popular girls at school, Often at the expense of her mother who is struggling to make ends meet while working as a secretary. She threw a tantrum in the shoe store so that her mother would buy her those shoes, which she did not even truly want, only to go to school and find that her new shoes and style had already gone the way of the dodo bird.

                This young girl is an unfortunate example of how societal perceptions of what a girl should be proves to be an extraordinary burden on the youth of our nation and beyond as well as causing emotional harm and promoting cruelty. The popular girls bully those who are not the same as them and are especially cruel to a girl named Wendy who has done something beyond the posse’s cognitive abilities, choosing to be unpopular by leaving the posse and rejecting their cruelty and way of life.

                Wendy dares to be different, which is precisely why the posse loathes her. She is a danger to their way and other people need to see what happens to those who go against the posse, which represents society’s seemingly perfect mold for girls.

                The girl in this story really likes Wendy however; she still wants to be liked by the popular crowd and rejects Wendy after being scolded by her popular “friends”.  All of her attempts to gain favor appear to end up being for naught when she is denied a seat at lunch with the posse.  She has what seems to be a panic attack and faints only to wake up at Wendy’s house.

                “She says that she will be my friend if I can stop worrying about being popular”. Wendy represents the remedy to the plague society has cast upon young girls everywhere. If only little girls didn’t have to worry about being accepted they wouldn’t pretend to be someone that they are not and would accept themselves. Then they would finally be able to enjoy their lives rather than throwing tantrums in shoe stores.