(Bech)Delving into Fun Home's Literary References

 Throughout Fun Home, Bechdel makes multiple notable literary references, even stating that her "parents are most real to [her] in fictional terms" (67). Through her childhood as the daughter of two English teachers, and her literary explorations throughout her life, Bechdel has been exposed to a plethora of prominent works of literature. These analogies are used frequently in Fun Home. Some notable analogies that will be discussed include the story of Daedalus and Icarus and Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby.

The first analogy, appearing a mere two pages into the book, is about the story of Daedalus and Icarus. In the myth, Daedalus is a talented craftsman and the father of Icarus; to allow himself and his son Icarus to fly out of prison, he builds two pairs of wings. Although Daedalus warns Icarus not to fly too close to the sun, Icarus disregards his father's warnings and his wings melt. The story concludes with Icarus' fall and subsequent death. Bruce is compared to both Daedalus and Icarus in Fun Home. Bechdel's father is Daedalus in the sense that he is a devoted craftsman could "spin garbage ... into gold" (6). Bechdel notes that her father's craftsmanship was an effort to create a perfect facade for their family: instead of viewing his family as human, Bruce saw them as part of the perfect artwork that is Fun Home. Each ill-placed vase was an imperfection in the artwork for him. Meanwhile, Bruce is also viewed as Icarus, in the sense that his failure led to his death. Here, the "fall" most likely represents the collapsing of his artwork. The world that he has constructed so painstakingly falls apart seemingly instantaneously as his sexual preference is exposed, and his marriage is torn apart. Bechdel seems to be implying that the shallowness of Bruce's construction (i.e., lack of foundation) led to her father's sudden fall. While Icarus literally fell to his death, Bruce's cause of death is unclear; however, Alison chooses to believe that he committed suicide in order to maintain her connection with him. 

The second literary reference is Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, another tale closely related to the theme of superficiality and embellishment. The parallels drawn between Fun Home and The Great Gatsby are more related to Bruce's marriage. One of the reasons Bechdel is so drawn to this book is that Fitzgerald, the author of The Great Gatsby, lived three days longer than her father. In The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby, the main character, is a rich man who yearns to be reunited with his old love from his days of poverty, but to no avail. The main connection here is that Gatsby is a man who, on the outside, has everything: he has a mansion and all the luxuries imaginable in his hands. However, he is unable to reach his true dreams past the mask of wealth that he wears, and, in the end, dries tragically. The same goes with Bruce, who, on the surface, has a perfect family and the most beautiful house in the neighborhood. However, his deepest desires of exploring his homosexuality openly are prohibited by society, and he is forced to keep up his false character. Thus, he looks at Alison, who has had the liberty and environment to freely explore her own sexuality, with admiration and jealousy. In one of the final scenes of the book, where Alison and Bruce ride a car together, Alison brings up how Bruce recommended a book about lesbianism to her. Bruce opens up briefly, explaining that he used to want to be a girl and dated boys in college. However, like Gatsby, Bruce is fearful of his exposure and closes up again, hiding his desires below his facade once again. Despite his successful life on the outside, he misses his old days, where he could freely explore his sexuality before joining the military. 

Fun Home contains many more literary references, including Camus' work, and A Portrait of the Lady by Henry James. However, these two books are some of the most prominent examples of Alison listing the parallels between her family dynamics and the lives of these fictional characters. Bruce's life and sexuality is explored thoroughly in Fun Home, and Bechdel seemingly puts a lot of emphasis on deciphering each memory that she shares with her father. Her desperation to connect to her father leads her to make multiple (valid) literary references. Interestingly, however, her father's abrupt death leaves ample room for interpretation. Alison's analysis of Bruce through works of fiction is, however, undoubtedly robust.