Kids and Exhibits

 Throughout Fun Home, Bechdel uses herself and her father as allegories relating to other literary works many, many times, even to the point of redundancy. While this might just be her love of literature, something she shared with her father, I would argue that it is more to frame her narrative less like an autobiography, but more like a crafted fictional tragedy. Many times in the book, Bechdel mentions how novelesque her life was, even apologizing for some of the dramatic irony present in her story. I will just come out and say that I'm pretty sure a good chunk of her story is embellished for effect, and there's nothing wrong with that in my opinion. But I think her use of her and her family as a tool for storytelling is something she picked up not only from her extremely influential father, but her mother as well.

In the first few chapters, Bechdel states that her father seemed to occasionally enjoy having kids, as it helped "add to the illusion", like they were museum exhibits or renaissance art pieces. Her father dressed her in lush outfits, like the velvet dress she wore in her school photo, to further add to the authenticity. He also, as mentioned, treated his children as extensions of himself, making them do free labor both around the house and at the funeral home. A part of the story that is less touched on, however, is how Bechdel's mother treated her the same way. A large chunk of the latter part of the book is dedicated to Bechdel and her mother running lines for the latter's play, showing them conversing with each other not as mother and daughter, but as characters. Her mother seems to care little for her in other scenarios: when Bechdel says she's hungry, her mother shoos her away so she can finish her piano piece. While this instance is less obvious, it makes it clear that Bechdel was treated as a commodity for much of her life: useful for some things and a nuisance the rest of the time. I believe this rubbed off on her, resulting in her treating her entire family the same way: representations of fine literature, or perhaps a form of folklore-- a cautionary tale. Another point that adds to this theory is that, despite her growing up with them, Bechdel talks very little about her brothers. She mentions them in writing exactly two times in the story, and both times they are used as foils to her, to fit her own narrative.