Chloe's Blog

  Black Swan Green is a novel that centers on the coming of age story of the protaginist, Jason, while also drawing on the experience of the author, David Mitchell, growing up in 1980s England. Like the other novels we've read this semester, such as The Bell Jar  and Fun Home , it's heavily based on the author's own life, which provides the reader with an original and personal story. One way that the use of the author's own life experience stands out in the story for me is with the character of Hangman.     Hangman is the personification of Jason's stutter, and is treated in the story as an actual character that is seen talking in Jason's head. It acts as an ever looming presence in Jason's life, and the threat of stuttering in front of his peers causes Jason to became anxious and hyper-aware of the things he says, to the point that he'll meticously plan out his sentences to avoid trigger words. While I've never had a stutter that I've personifie...

  The story of  Fun Home  centers around the relationship between Alison Bechdel and her father, Bruce Bechdel, as it contrasts and overlaps with both of their coming of age stories. Alison sees herself and her life as a parallel to her father's, a different version of his life where he was able to live the type of life he wanted. She wonders throughout the book not only if her life is a better version of her fathers, but if she would've ended up like her father if she was put in the same situation as him. Her complicated relationship with her father, a mixture of resentment and wanting to connect with him, is an overarching theme in the novel.  Alison and Bruce's is explored throughout the book, but one of the scenes that best encapsulates their relationship and has always stood out to me is when they're in the car together on page 118. It's one of the few scenes in the story that shows an entire scene without breaking it up, using a unique format for its panels. T...