Fun House, By Alison Bechdel - 1398 Words

Fun House, the autobiography written by author Alison Bechdel centers around her life growing up and the death of her father. The autobiography is in a graphic novel format that artistically depicts relevant events that occurred in Bechdel’s life when she was growing up. The novel shows the problems that dysfunctional families have in a realistic way without sugar coating anything. The plot of Fun House centers around Bechdel’s life and what it was like living in a household where the parents did not pay that much attention to their children and focused on other things, where the father who is supposed to the head of the household, has a dark secret concerning his sexual orientation, where the protagonist (Alison) is dealing with gender†¦show more content†¦On page 16, Bechdel says that her father â€Å"[did] not make things, but [made] things appear the be what they were not† which proves that her father wanted to keep up the appearances of a perfect fa mily with no problems. In my opinion, I think that it is really sad and awful that as a child, Alison did not get the love and attention that she should have received from her father because he was too obsessed with other things such as decorating their house and making sure that they seemed like the perfect family even though realistically they were not. In Chapter 2, Alison talks about her father’s death. Her father got hit by a truck and died, and she thinks it was a suicide but there was no evidence suggesting that and the only one who thinks that is Alison. In addition to that in Chapter 4: In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flowers, Bechdel talks more in-depth about her father’s death and describes what occurred. She explains that her father had been doing some gardening just before he died and that was the cause of his death. According to Alison, her father was doing yard work and as he was crossing the road with to throw away brush that he was carrying, then suddenly he jumps backwards into the road right as a truck is coming and it runs him over (89). The man who was driving the truck that hit Mr. Bechdel explains that it was an accident and that Alison’s father did not jump into the road on purpose, but that he seemedShow MoreRelatedThe Dramatic Twist Of This Graphic Memoir By Alison Bechdel1376 Words   |   6 Pagesis called memoir. Introducing the dramatic twist of this graphic memoir written by Alison Bechdel will be explained in my essay. Alison Bechdel is a young lady who came out as being lesbian at the age of 19. Bechdel is the only child of a family of three and she deals with a problem which has to do with her father giving her hidden love. Bechdel uses memoir in the book to find herself in life in many ways. Bechdel relates in memoir through her parents as they were talented in their own way, so sheRead MoreFun House, Not So Fun990 Words   |  4 PagesLinda Ray English 230 Instructor: Dr. Hernandez Date: November 6, 2016 Fun House, Not So Fun The autobiographical graphic novel â€Å"Fun Home,† by Alison Bechdel presents characters evolving to the reader in an intimate way. She reveals within her novel the high cost of claiming to be gay or lesbian within America. Instead of reading the author’s recollection of her experiences, her graphic novel connects the reader within the experience as the observer. This allows the reader to look at both the personalityRead MoreFun Home By Alison Bechdel1551 Words   |  7 PagesIn the novel, Fun Home, Alison Bechdel explores the Franciscan value of respecting the unique dignity of each person. Throughout the book, Bechdel’s father often challenges this value in his behavior with Alison. From a child development standpoint, these actions complicate the development of Bechdel’s identity. Fun Home follows Alison Bechdel’s childhood, showing both a prominent father-daughter relationship and Bechdel’s developing identity. Following the potential suicide of her father, the authorRead MoreFun Home By Alison Bechdel1518 Words   |  7 PagesAlison Bechdel’s memoir, Fun Home, is a compelling narrative in which Bechdel takes the reader through her life and gives insight into her relationship and the complex lifestyle her closeted homosexual father, Bruce Bechdel. However, her serious topic is told through the narrative of comics, images that literally put the readers into the moments of her life with her. Even though, the graphic images provide visual insight, Bechdel makes a conscious decision to include a multitude of literary allusionsRead MoreObscenity In Fun Home. ​​Should It Be Acceptable To Implement1379 Words   |  6 PagesObscenity in Fun Home ​​Should it be acceptable to implement obscene literature in the education curriculum, even at the cost of one’s moral beliefs? Fun Home, written by Alison Bechdel, is a graphic memoir that illustrates the relationship of the character Alison with her father, Bruce. Although they did not share an intimate father-daughter bond in Alison’s childhood, Alison grows up to bear many of her father’s traits, such as being queer. Unfortunately, her memories with her father are short-livedRead More`` Fun Home `` By Alison Bechdel847 Words   |  4 PagesAlison Bechdel’s comic book â€Å"Fun Home† is narrated by none other than herself who builds the narrative around her family and her life growing up. Then, years later, her father dies in a car accident, and despite not knowing if it was really an accident or a suicide, she occupies herself with finding a justification for his death. Now imprisoned with the task she put herself to, the narrator blames her father s shame and lack of happiness due to him being a homosexual, which she also discovered herselfRead MoreThe, Fun Home, By Alison Bechdel Essay2271 Words   |  10 Pagesof autobiography in Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home. Fun Home is a retelling of Alison Bechdel’s life through the lens of her relationship with her father. However, because of what she considers to have been his suicide, Alison is left with an incomplete picture of who he was in life. By calling Fun Home an autobiography, Bechdel enters an autobiographical pact with the reader that ensures that what Bechdel is telling us is the truth. However, elements out of her control leave Bechdel unable to provide certainRead MoreFun Home: A Family Tragicomic Analysis Essay2238 Words   |  9 PagesAlison Bechdels graphic memoir, Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic, documents the authors discovery of her own and her fathers homosexuality. The book touches upon many themes, including, but not limited to, the following: sexual orientation, family relationships, and suicide. Unlike most autobiographical works, Bechdel uses the comics graphic medium to tell her story. By close-reading or carefully analyzing pages fourteen through seventeen in Fun Home one can get a better understanding of how aRead MoreWhat Is Pain? What Happens When You Hurt Yourself? Essay1416 Words   |  6 Pagesidentity, or being excluded. The root of pain can come from these things listed and more, in this essay using pieces from the film â€Å"Her,† written and directed by Spike Jonze, excerpts from â€Å"Citizen† by Claudia Rankine, excerpts the book â€Å"Fun Home† by Alison Bechdel, along with sources from the media, I will discuss what pain is and discuss how it is represented in multiple contexts and treatments and the significance of pain. Pain is an uneasy and unpleasant feeling or experience. Pain givesRead MoreKate Bechdel s Fun Home Essay2365 Words   |  10 PagesOn the surface, Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home seems simply to be a memoir of her journey towards discovering her own identity, and in the process, uncovering her father’s. However, the novel is far more complex. The graphic novel is not linear in the least, and mimics memory as it moves backwards and forwards in time, or returns to specific situations repeatedly. This is layered with the numerous references to previous literary texts in an interesting manner; combined, it provides emotional and informative

A Mother/Daughter Conflict in Amy Tans Two Kinds and...

Amy Tans Two Kinds and Best Quality depict a struggling and often stressful relationship between a defiant daughter and an overbearing mother. June Mei and her mother Suyuan engage in a destructive battle between what is possible and what is realistic. June, although headstrong, seeks her mothers approval and adoration. Suyuan, although patronizing, yearns for her daughters obedience and best qualities. The relationship between mother and daughter falls victim to tension inherent in any mother/daughter struggle, especially between first-generation American daughters and their immigrant mothers (Yglesias 1). Their inability to understand one another largely stems from cultural differences; Suyuan is a Chinese woman who flees to†¦show more content†¦In Two Kinds, the conflict between Suyuan and June culminates after Junes piano fiasco when she decides she will no longer play. After Suyuans insistent struggle to get June to play the piano, the ultimate communicational barrier i s stressed. June shouts through belligerent sobs at her mother, You want me to be something that Im not! Ill never be the kind of daughter you want me to be! Suyuan shouts back in Chinese bellowing, Only two kinds of daughters ... obedient or follow own mind! ... Only one kind of daughter can live in this house. Obedient kind! (Tan 153). These two kinds of daughters suggest Suyuans cultural expectations and customs which contributes to the cultural net; her shouts in Chinese cause the communicational net, ending with the mother and daughter struggle. June responds with a devastating proclamation, leaving her mother, like her hopes, blowing away like a small brown leaf, thin, brittle, lifeless. As a result of Junes iron-will to assert her individuality, she fails her mother many times in the following years, including at a crab dinner twenty years later in Best Quality. At the beginning of the meal, everyone selects a crab until the last two are left for Suyuan and June. June, thinking it is the best and right thing to do, opts for the worst crab. However, Suyuan insists she take the better of the two crabs: I knew I could not refuse ... thats the way Chinese mothers show they love their children, not through hugs andShow MoreRelatedTwo Kinds Character Analysis Essay935 Words   |  4 Pages A mother’s belief in the American dream causes her to incessantly encourage her daughter to be an Americanized prodigy in Amy Tan’s Two Kinds. An immigrant from China, where she lost everyone and everything in her life, Jing-mei’s mother sets about training her daughter to achieve the best quality of life America can offer. At first excited, Jing-mei, tries everyt hing her mother sets before her. 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Jing-mei, on the other hand, was a confused child at first. She was led to believe that she can be someone. At first, she followed her mother, but when she felt that her mother was already forcing her and stealing her youth, she told herself that it was the end. The story is aRead MoreAnalysis Of Two Kinds By Amy Tan1185 Words   |  5 PagesAmy Tan’s short story â€Å"Two Kinds† describes a Chinese immigrant family who hope of finding success and an overall betterment of life in America. After losing everything in China, Jing-mei’s mother, Mrs. Woo, tries as a minority house maid in the 1960s to provide all the opportunities she can for her last daughter. This short story revolves around the interactions between the Jing-mei, who desires a ordinary life, and Mrs. Woo, who seeks only the best from her daughter. The values of these two charactersRead More Mother-Daughter Conflict in Amy Tans The Joy Luck Club Essay2944 Words   |  12 Pagessecond generation Chinese-Americans who resist and are ashamed of their heritage. Amy Tan in The Joy Luck Club dramatizes this conflict which arises between the first and the second generations through sixteen stories of four mothers and four American-born daughters. Tan succeeds in showing the strength of the mother-daughter bond from China to America despite the cultural and linguistic differences between Chinese mothers and Chinese-Americans daughther through the immigrant narrative. The ChineseRead MoreThe Joy Luck Club, The Bonesetter s Daughter, And The Kitchen God s Wife3745 Words   |  15 Pagesoffer for these new incoming families, this country also has cultural conflicts that clash between their natural traditions and modernity. 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China and Us Cultural Differences free essay sample

China and US Cultural Differences China and US Cultural Differences Introduction With more than six billion people in the world is not difficult to realize that there are many different cultures and belief systems around the world that differ from the one we live in here in the US. There are countries that are governed by kings; there are others that are governed by religion, and others that are governed by republics. There are many different ways in which to prove that the world is not the same, we all do things different, we think different. Part of these differences is what drives competition and misunderstandings between nations.Cultural differences are apparent from one group of people to another. Culture is based on many things that are passed on from one generation to the next. When it comes to the cultural differences of people there is no right or wrong. People should be aware of other cultures and respect the differences that exist between them. Just like two of the most successful countries on earth the United States and China. These are two very large countries that have cultures that are well known throughout the world but that are also very different from each other. But, how different is the Chinese culture from the American Culture?If some of the Ideas from the Chinese culture were to be applied here in the US, what impact would it have? I have learned through my research that the US and China share nothing but their economical success in the world, and even there they have differences. Looking at the cultural differences between these two countries I must say that China and the US are very different from each other and some of their social ideas would not work here in the US and would only create problems. The differences that these two countries share are more evident in their dating and marriage ideas, non-verbal/body language communication, and religion.Dating and Marriage One of the most obvious differences between China and the US has got to be their Marriage and Dating beliefs. Dating in China is often done in groups of young women and young men. It usually starts by going out together in groups for a meal, for a drink, or to a karaoke. If they go to a nightclub, men and women dance together in groups, everything must first be done in group before taking any further steps. Then potential boyfriend and girlfriend will break off from the group and go for walk somewhere where they will finally talk about themselves to start something more than a friendship.On the other hand, here in the United States dating is a little bit different, people also like to go out in groups but most of the time two couples don’t start a real date until they go out for several dates by themselves to get to know each other better. They spent a lot of time together going out to the movies, theaters, concerts, and dining out at restaurants. As far as marriage beliefs, in China Marriages hold a more spiritual value than here in the US. According to Liu; â€Å"In Chinese legends, couples destined to marry have invisible red strings, connecting them, tied around their ankles when they are young children.As they grow older the strings gets shorter and shorter until it is time for them to wed. Nothing can severe the strings not distance, changing circumstances, or love. Marriage is their destiny. But even though they think marriage is their destiny they still arrange their marriages, you cannot choose who to marry. Here in the US men and women can choose freely who to marry more of their destiny is more of a big decision. Here in the United States we chose who to marry, usually with the idea that is the love of their life.Further once marry Chinese women hold a bigger responsibility towards their husband and sons. On the contrary men are allowed more than one wife. Also if a husband dies the woman cannot remarry because it would be disloyal to the husband’s family. Thank fully here in the US women have the option of working and thus reduce the level of responsibility with their husbands and sons, here in the United States the family responsibility is said to be more shared. In addition in the US men that have more than one wife are sent to jail, they are not allowed to have more than one woman. Looking at these differences in marriage and dating culture we can see that China and the US are very different. We can also have an idea of how devastating it would be to practice today some of the ideas practice in China, for example the Idea of arranging marriages. If marriages here in the US were to be arranged and people could not chose who to marry people would automatically start protesting because here in the United States we hold a more liberal idea, we feel entitle to liberty, and we feel free to choose our path.Having ideas of oppression like the ones in China would definitely not work here in the United States. Nonverbal Communication and Body Language According to Liu, there is much difference in nonverbal communication and their meanings among China and the United States. In Chinese culture for example, direct eye contact and staring is uncommon and is considered disrespectful to stare into another persons eyes. Even in crowded situations Chinese people avoid eye contac t to give others and them privacy. But here in the US we consider eye contact to be a form of attentiveness, listening, honesty, and directness. When it comes to body language we usually see it as a way of expressing feeling, exchanging ideas, and conveying messages. Many people feel that with body language we express our true meaning or basic attitudes towards each other. Using body language in China is interpreted more different than here in the US. In China it’s quite common for girls and even young women to walk along hand in hand, which is simply a gesture of friendship.You’re advised to bear it in mind that there is no tendency towards homosexuality whatsoever in such contact. But in the US our point of view is so different that whenever we see two girls holding hands we think that they are lesbians or bisexual, when in reality is a form of showing affection. Additionally, there are other important gestures that have different meaning. Such as, in china is very uncommon to shake hands when introduced to someone, they often nod the head or slight bow is sufficient.In contrast shaking hands is very common here in the US. As an illustration, we shake hands when we meet somebody for the first time, when doing a business, when greeting someone, and every time we see our friends. As we see is evident than when it comes to body language and nonverbal communication China and the US hold different views of how it should be done. It is also evident than if the different views of nonverbal communication and body language where to be inverted in both countries the way each society lives would be totally different.For example if here in the US if we were to not shake hands when meeting someone instead of seeing it as a form of respect we would see it as if the other person does not want to have any thing to do with them because that body language is not present between them. Religion Religious beliefs tend to be viewed as personal matters that each individual works out on their own. When talking about the differences between China and the United States religion we find that they have many differences.For example in china there are four major religions and philosophies; Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, and folk religion. These four religious beliefs can be looked upon as single tradition or components of a broad, nebulous and variable belief system. Each of China’s religious traditions is completely independent of the others and their respective beliefs, it is not common for one tradition to reject or oppose the beliefs of the others. To me this is very interesting because here in the US and in many countries every religious group heavily criticize the others; they think that there way is the only way.If we were to think this way in the US and each region would respect each other then maybe les discrimination and separation would exist. Another interesting thing about China is that Chinese people don’t only practice one belief. According to Liu in Chinese have traditionally practice Confucianism for moral and political guidance; pray to Taoist gods and animist spirits for good fortune and to harmonize with nature and the universe; finally they looked to Buddhism for help answering questions of the afterlife.But if you think China is has a diverse religion community think again, they are not even close to being as diverse as the US. The Unites States is home to the most diverse spectrum of religions in the world. There are representations of nearly every religion in the world. But if we were to think of the most influential here in the n the US we would have to choose Christianity. Christianity has been the largest religion practice by the majority of the people, followed by Catholic, Mormons and various other Christian denominations. Here is where China differs from the US, while they believe in a combination of different beliefs here in the US each religion thinks that they are right, they rarely adopt ideas from other religions. This is also why Chinese religious beliefs wouldn’t work here in the US because religions here believe that God is the all-powerful, all-knowing creator of the universe who still rules it today, and they like to be in harmony with the cosmic world rather than seek one true, divine path just like the Chinese community.Conclusion In conclusion I think that as different as we are we should not judge each other because every society has the right to live by their own rules and social standards. Besides if we were to critic the Chinese society for their conservative ideas arguing that they are wrong we would also be wrong because who says we are right. What if they are doing things the way our creator wants us to do them, we never know.That is why I think that the optimal way to live is by having every society respect each other and live by what they think is right then wait for judgment day to see who was right. But we cannot ignore that China and the US are very different, evidence in this research tells us that we are no twins of society. We were also given the opportunity to think about the fact that some of the mostly conservative ideas executed by the Chinese community would not work in our radical liberal society.