Abstract:
Fun Home is a complex, gripping, and thought-provoking graphic novel. This autobiography, follows the coming of age story of author Alison Bechdel as she navigates the complicated and confusing relationship that she and her father share. Throughout the novel Alison and her father, Bruce, deeply disagree about physical appearance. Bruce wants to uphold a "normal" family appearance, mainly because he is a closeted gay man, while Alison craves to be different, as she is exploring her sexuality. Through analyzing the graphic form, this thesis examines moments in which normative physical appearance is adhered to, challenged, and/or destroyed. Throughout this analysis it becomes clear that these moments are also ones in which a normative or linear sense of time is destroyed.