What kind of person is Bruce Bechdel?
Alison ’s father, a provincial English teacher and World War II veteran who loves literature and surface aesthetics of all kinds. Bruce is extremely feminine in Alison’s view, as he’s obsessed with flowers and artificial, surface-level beauty of all kinds, which is acted out in his obsession with restoring the Bechdel family’s old Victorian house.
How did Bechdel's father die?
This chapter begins with a drawing of a newspaper headline, which Bechdel uses to reveal that her father died after being hit by a truck. Bechdel believes that he committed suicide. Although there is no definitive proof, Bechdel points to several pieces of circumstantial evidence that support her conclusion.
What happened to the bechdels’ house?
...in 1867, then slowly deteriorated. However, over the eighteen years after the Bechdels’ bought it, Bruce makes it his mission to restore the house to its former glory. Alison says Bruce ’s... (full context)
Why does Bechdel find the death of Bruce Wayne so incomprehensible?
In fact, Bechdel continues, she found herself smiling instead of crying when she returned home from college after receiving news of Bruce's death. She writes that she found his demise to be incomprehensible in part because of his profession as an undertaker.
What chapter does Bruce Bechdel appear in?
The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance. Chapter 1: Old Father, Old Artificer. ...Bechdel narrating over images of her childhood.
Did Bruce blow up Alison?
Even when Alison and her brothers were young children, Bruce would blow up if the slightest part of their home were out of place. An... (full context) Alison says her embarrassment is a smaller-scale version of Bruce ’s more formidable “self-loathing,” and that his shame inhabited and pervaded the entire house.
What did Alison say about Bruce's death?
Alison says it could be argued that death is inherently absurd in the sense that grinning isn’t an inappropriate response.
Why does Alison think Bruce killed himself?
Alison says it’s not that she thinks Bruce killed himself because of his existential angst —Camus’ conclusion in the book, after all, is that suicide is illogical. However, Alison suspects Bruce of being a lazy scholar. One snapshot of her dad lighting a cigarette in a sports car reminds Alison of old photos of Camus.
What is Bruce's headstone?
Bruce’s headstone is an obelisk, a shape Bruce was obsessed with because he saw it as symbolizing life.
What is the significance of Albert Camus' death?
The death of Albert Camus in some ways becomes symbolic of the death of Bruce and Helen’s relationship—it could be argued that their love for each other— or at least their passion for each other— died when the couple left Europe to return to Beech Creek around the time of Camus’s death.
Why is Alison's father's death considered an artifice?
Analysis. Alison says that her father’s death was “his consummate artifice, his masterstroke,” because it was impossible to prove whether or not his death was suicide or an accident. There is, however, suggestive circumstantial evidence, like the fact that Helen asked Bruce for a divorce two weeks before his death, ...
What is the event that triggers the end of the youthful honeymoon period of Bruce and Helen's relationship?
The death of Bruce’s father is the event that triggers the end of the youthful honeymoon period of Bruce and Helen’s relationship. While Bruce coming home to run a funeral home forces him to face death in a literal way, this event also metaphorically signals the death of the passion between Bruce and Helen.
Where did Helen and Bruce live?
When Helen and Bruce were young, Helen flew to Europe to marry Bruce while he was in the army. They lived in West Germany for almost a year before Bruce’s father had a heart attack and Bruce had to return home to run the family business: a funeral home. Alison was born shortly after her parents returned to the U.S.
How did Bechdel's father die?
Summary: This chapter begins with a drawing of a newspaper headline, which Bechdel uses to reveal that her father died after being hit by a truck. Bechdel believes that he committed suicide. Although there is no definitive proof, Bechdel points to several pieces of circumstantial evidence that support her conclusion.
What is Bruce Bechdel's tombstone?
Bruce Bechdel's tombstone is an obelisk, a shape he loved. He even collects obelisks before his death, and this strange hobby comes to symbolize his pursuit of teenage boys. In Bechdel's drawings of Bruce calling young Alison into the embalming room, she highlights the cadaver's penis by rendering it in extreme detail.
Why does Bechdel not cry?
Bechdel speculates that her early ability to suppress fear in the face of death led to her lack of emotion upon hearing about her father's death years later. In fact, Bechdel continues, she found herself smiling instead of crying when she returned home from college after receiving news of Bruce's death.
What does Bruce's mother put him in?
Once he finally came home, Bruce's mother put him in the "oven," or an old-fashioned cook-stove, to warm him up again (42). One day, Bruce calls a teenage Alison into the embalming room while he is preparing a naked male cadaver. She wonders if her father is testing her; she doesn't react to the dead body.
What is the meaning of the title of Bechdel's first novel?
The French philosopher's first novel is about deliberately creating one's own happiness in life even as the protagonist is dying from consumption. Bechdel frequently refers to A Happy Death throughout Fun Home, creating parallels between her family and Camus's story.
Do Bechdel kids sleep at night?
Although it is sometimes creepy to be there at night, the Bechdel kids often sleep over with their paternal grandmother, who lives in front of the funeral home building.
Where is Bechdel from?
Bechdel was born in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania. She is the daughter of Helen Augusta ( née Fontana; 1933–2013) and Bruce Allen Bechdel (1936–1980). Her family was Roman Catholic. Her father was an army veteran who was stationed in West Germany. He was also a high school English teacher, working full-time and operating a funeral home part-time. Her mother was an actress and teacher. Both of her parents contributed to her career as a cartoonist. She has two brothers, Bruce "Christian" Bechdel II and John Bechdel, a keyboard player who has worked with many bands including Fear Factory, Ministry, Prong and Killing Joke. Bechdel left high school a year early and earned her A.A. in 1979 from Bard College at Simon's Rock. She graduated with a degree in studio arts and art history in 1981 from Oberlin College. After her father died in 1980, her mother sold the family house, in Beech Creek, Pennsylvania, the small town where Bechdel grew up, and moved to Bellefonte, a less provincial small town near State College with her long-time partner Dr. Robert Fenichel.
Who is the actor who plays Bruce Bechdel in Fun Home?
On January 3, 2020, it was announced that Jake Gyllenhaal and his Nine Stories Productions banner secured the rights to adapt the musical version of Fun Home into a film. Sam Gold, who directed the Broadway production, is set to helm the film, in which Gyllenhaal will star as Bruce Bechdel.
Where did Alison Bechdel live?
Career. Alison Bechdel at a London signing for Fun Home in 2006. Bechdel moved to Manhattan during the summer of 1981 and applied to several art schools, but was rejected and worked in many office jobs in the publishing industry.
When did Bechdel and Rubin get divorced?
However, all same-sex marriage licenses given by the city at that time were subsequently voided by the California Supreme Court. Bechdel and Rubin separated in 2006. She subsequently lived with her partner Holly Rae Taylor, a painter, for seven and a half years before their marriage in July 2015.
Who are the Bechdel brothers?
She has two brothers, Bruce "Christian" Bechdel II and John Bechdel, a keyboard player who has worked with many bands including Fear Factory, Ministry, Prong and Killing Joke. Bechdel left high school a year early and earned her A.A. in 1979 from Bard College at Simon's Rock.
Is Bechdel a lesbian?
Personal life. Bechdel came out as a lesbian at age 19. Bechdel's sexuality and gender non-conformity are a large part of the core message of her work, and has said that "the secret subversive goal of my work is to show that women, not just lesbians, are regular human beings".
