Alison Bechdel's Storytelling: How Subtle Details Can Add Depth

 

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. The scene not only shows the character's dialouge, but both of their reactions to each piece of dialougue, one of the many small details that make this scene so important. It starts with Alison's second attempt of bringing up their shared identities in order to connect with him, and her nervousness is shown in how, as she puts it, "...kept still, like he was a splendid deer I didn't want to startle." Since her father opening up to her is so rare, she's worried about losing what could be her only chance to understand him. After Bruce begans to open up in the next panel, recalling his first experience, he pauses, his eyes widening and his hand covering his mouth. While this is just a small panel with even smaller details, it shows how difficult it is for him to open up, and that he's suprising himself. Bruce then brings up how he would dress up in girl's clothes as a kid, to which Alison exclaims that she did the same thing, eager to have a connection with her father, to which he goes silent for the rest of car ride. When she says that, there's a subtle change in the way his face is drawn, making him look conflicted and anxious. This shows that while Bruce was initially okay with opening up to her, Alison drawing the connection between the two of them was too much for him. It may have been due to Bruce's internalized homophobia, and that her comment set in his fear that she'll now have to go through the same thing he did. It could also be that, as he's expressed other times in the novel, doesn't think of himself as a good person or a "hero," so he may not like the idea of Alison identifying with him. Alison and Bruce don't speak for the next six panels, and while Alison gives the reader a glimpse into her internal dialougue, Bruce's simultaneous frustration and attempts to think things through is implied through how his facial expression vary, much like Alison in those panels. 

Alison and Bruce's failed attempts to connect, where it usually ends up with Alison being eager to point out something they share, and Bruce seeming much more reluctant open up shows a driving factor behind their tumoltous relationship. The scene of the two of them in the car is the final attempt before Bruce dies, and is likely one that Alison has dwelled on for years. This is shown in the care and detail put in every panel, and how to there's layers to the scene hidden not only in the words but the pictures themselves. While neither the reader or Alison will ever know what Bruce was thinking, the addition of expressions and the panel style leave the reader trying to use these clues to understand him, just like she did. Small details like those in this scene and many others throughout Fun Home results in thought provoking storytelling that allows the reader to truly understand Alison.