While
reading Fun Home, I try to keep in
the back of my mind that the Bechdel family is supposed to be a practicing
Catholic family. This is very ironic because of the numerous sins that they
commit, especially Alison and her father. In chapter 6, Alison begins to
masturbate (170), which is yet another sin. I don’t get a very clear sense of
how Alison regards religion in the book. Although she clearly doesn’t practice
Catholicism, she has not really shown any ill feelings towards it either.
The
only main character that seems to be a devout Catholic is the mother, which has
helped to explain her character for me so far. We know that she does not agree
with Alison’s homosexuality due to religious beliefs, but she is not entirely cold
either. I’m actually unsure of exactly how to describe Alison’s relationship
with her mother.
When
Alison finally tells her mother about starting her period, the reaction she
receives is, “Oh” (185). You could take this as the mother being unsupportive
towards Alison. However, it could also be a form of respect that the mother is
showing towards Alison, because Alison is probably not the type of girl that
would want a big deal made out of her menstrual cycle. To Alison, this is one
step further away from being masculine like she desires, and it’s possible that
the mother reacts in the manner that she does because she understands this.
What do you guys think? -Amanda
Amanda, I definitely thought the same thing throughout this chapter. It seems that the idea of religion does not really cross Alison's mind. She is too busy trying to find her place to really consider what she believes. She is constantly being told the person she should be, and her beliefs are one thing she can control. As for her relationship with her mom, I agree that it is hard to define. It almost seems as if her mom is checked out of her family life.
ReplyDelete-Jordan
Im also in agreement with Jordan and you about religion being one of the last things on Allsion's mind. Unlike her father she is not trying to be something she is not. She knows she is a lesbian and rather than try and hide that from herself and family, like her father did, she instead lays it all out on the table. Her relationship with her mother is very tough to define like Jordan said. She is probably one of the least "motherly" mothers that I have ever been exposed too.
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ReplyDeleteAlison's mother is a very mysterious character to me. I honestly don't know what her views on Alison being a lesbian are because she seems dissapointed, yet she doesn't shut her out. I feel like she is just so discontented with the way her life is and that is why she is such a dull and mysterious character. She probably practices Catholicism but due to her husband being a homosexual pedophile and her daughter being a lesbian, there is not many things going for her in her life in terms of following Christianity. I believe she's just given up and does not know what to do so takes an extremely passive role.
ReplyDeleteNick
the lack of religious influence in Allison's life is actually very interesting to me. the reason for this is because in some churches being gay is frowned upon but that doe snot seem to affect her, also it makes sense because she seems to not be ashamed of it. i feel this also ties with how she acts sometime and also with how independent she is. i also wonder about her other family members. are they really religious or were Allison's parents raised very religious. she seems to have kept the church life out of her book i wonder if that was on purpose or not.
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