Could it have ended a different way? Similarities and differences between Alison and Bruce
I think that Alison and Bruce have similarities. Their gender identities don't sit right with them, and they feel corrupted by this feeling. Bruce had it more challenging than Alison, as he grew up in a world where he needed to suppress his true self in order to conform to society's expectations. Alison, in a way, feels the same as her father. Alison finds a picture of her dad in college in what appears to be a woman's bathing suit, with another man she perceives as Bruce's lover. This opened Alison's mind to the idea of her father being trapped in something that wasn't him. She deals with this uncomfortable state of uncertainty in the early years of her life. When she and Bruce are sitting at a restaurant, and he questions her about wanting to look like a masculine bus driver, she, out of fear, responds, "no." Bruce's tone suggests that he notices something in his daughter that he sees in himself and resents the idea of her feeling the same way he does. He has a history of wanting to control Alison's life. From a young age, he wanted his daughter to act and dress more femininely, perhaps projecting his closeted feelings onto her. He didn't get the chance to express himself how he wanted in his youth, and now he feels like he can with Alison. Years later, Alison gets the opportunity to express her true self to the world, and she feels like her father ended his life because he couldn't do the same. Because Bruce suppressed his identity for so long, his life was not as fulfilling as it could've been. Ultimately, Alison and Bruce are very similar, questioning who they are at an early age. What makes them so different at the same time is that Alison could show how she felt rather than withhold her identity. I question what would have happened if Bruce's life didn't come to a sudden end and what we could've learned from him. As the story and all accounts of Bruce are from Alison's memory and experience, we never truly know how Bruce felt. Perhaps Fun Home would have been entirely different.
I think that we can see many reasons why Bruce was so controlling over Alison from such a young age. In addition to him wanting to be able to express more feminine fashion through Alison, I think he becomes wary when he realizes that Alison liked to present herself as more masculine. Bruce could have been scared that she was gay and would have to go through the same struggles he did. Bruce, knowing how difficult it was to have to hide and suppress his sexuality, could have been hesitant to watch his daughter have those same difficulties.
ReplyDeleteI feel like this entire book is driven by this unanswerable but unavoidable question of how it could have been different, and in some ways, it makes sense that seeing Bruce's death as intentional at least makes for a meaningful and coherent STORY, whereas there's just something so unacceptably random and frustrating about a completely accidental death happening right when a character might be poised for a life-changing alteration or transformation. It's hard not to speculate that the divorce might not have been devastating to Bruce--inspired partly by Alison's example, he might have been thinking of a fresh start, a new future, a shot at the life he'd denined himself earlier. Who knows? Some of his vague and awkward comments might point in this direction.
ReplyDeleteBut we also know that life doesn't always function like a book. If an author were to "kill off" a fictional character at just this point in the story, with a completely unconnected and arbitrary accident, we might find it "cheap" or unconvincing, or even as ducking the really pressing questions of character development. A death in a book should "mean something," and by making a book out of her father's possibly meaningless death (just an accident, not at all related to his inner life or potential future course), she is able to impart meaning onto chaos and meaninglessness. Even if that "meaning" imposes suicidal intention on her father (on somewhat slim evidence). Because the absurd alternative is too much to try to digest.
For what it's worth, the musical culminates in a surprisingly moving song performed by Bruce, as he stares into the oncoming headlights of the truck with time sort of paused and considers his whole life, missed opportunities, and regrets. I found myself choking up during the performance at Krannert, and it really renders Bruce as the tragic and sad story of a person whose life is cut short too soon, or it teases the reader with the potential that could never be. I definitely recommend that any readers who enjoyed this book check out the musical if you ever have the chance--I don't usually like musicals, and this one really shook me, in a good way.
I think Fun Home would have been very different had Bruce lived. So much of the book is devoted to talking about Alison's anger, grief, or other emotions directed towards her father. In addition, knowing that Bruce is going to die makes his scenes (especially the later ones) even more impactful than they are, as he seems to be imparting his thoughts on Alison before he goes. If Bruce hadn't died, we might have seen Alison question him more about his secret identity, or we might have seen the two grow separate after Alison learns more about Bruce. I do believe the story is fitting as is, though.
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