The Desire of Being a Woman

When reading Fun Home there are many ideas that come to mind especially in terms of sexuality and the sexual identities of the main characters. The father likes to dress up in other woman’s clothing and can be viewed through a different lens because of this, as a cross dresser but never as woman. Alison is actual a woman and so she is obviously viewed differently than her father. One scene that shows the lens she is viewed through is when they are at the diner and they see the woman dressed  in a masculine manner, she is not seen as a traditional woman because of this. What this made me think of the entire time was how women are viewed throughout the world and where are they more respected. What lens are they viewed through in different parts? The video below shows some of the best and worst and places to be a woman in the world currently, taking into account things such as maternity leave. In Yemen it is very difficult for a woman to divorce her husband because of their laws, while clearly shows the lack of respect for woman. The lens they are viewed through is not positively. In Fun Home Alison is viewed through a positive lens in the eyes on her parents but how is she seen in the outside world?

 

 

 

What Are The Best & Worst Places To Be A Woman?

Scent of Sleep

She slid closer to the wall to let the little girl slip under the coverlet. The bed sheets and Pohpoh’s pillow held the odour of stale camphor, eucalyptus and turpentine. They clung to each other, inhaling the pleasantly sour blend of their rubbing oil and each other’s talcum-sweet scent of sleep, night sweat and stale breath. (p 79)

This quote when reading stuck me because of the language. The use of the letter s is extremely strong throughout the passage with similar words such as slid, slip, sheets, stale, sour, sweet, sleep, and sweat. All of these words can then be placed in their own individual groups. Slid and slip being one. Then sheets and sleep. Then stale, sour, sweet, and sweat are all words that can be used to describe the body. These groups help the reader to read between the lines and see the sensualness present here in the novel, without showing it. Another grouping that is odd however, are talcum, camphor, eucalyptus and turpentine-not a combination that one would normally put together. Perhaps this represents an unlikely alliance or creation. The passage also suggests the deep desire for closeness, a wanting to be loved by using words such as closer, held, and clung. Each of these words can be used to describe the need to breath and take it all in, even if it may be sour or stale because it is still a closeness at the end of the day. The characters want love wherever they can get it.

The passage also suggests the theme of age because of phrasing such as rubbing oil which is something that someone older would. However a child would use (or someone would use for them) talcum powder to lock in their moisture because their skin is sensitive. It is showing the parallels and different stages between the two but somehow they still come together, despite it being unnatural. The sentence is clearing trying to compare the two just as the sentence with eucalyptus and turpentine is; both have a very distinctive scent and use-making them an abnormal combination. Scent is the main theme here which makes sense because scent is the sense that is most associated with memories and can help people recall past events. All of these scents and descriptive words are being used together to create the moment to the reader. The author uses strong reactionary words such as inhale and ordour on purpose to place us within the scene. At the same time it leaves the reader with a stale taste after reading it because of the simplicity and innocence of two sisters cuddling in bed attempting to escape life, if only for a moment.

The Story

“This is where the story starts, in this threadbare room. The walls are exploding. The windows have turned into telescopes. Moon and stars are magnified in this room. The sun hangs over the mantelpiece. I stretch out my hand and reach the corners of the world. The world is bundled up in this room” (p 190)

I find this passage unusual because it starts out by saying this is where the story began but everything in the description is bleak and it does not remind the reader of the beginning of the story, hence why it is at the end of the story. The words used suggest positivity such as sun, stretch, world, moon and stars. All of these things are trapped though inside this room. The narrator can reach them all which means they are all within their grasp but for some reason he/she can not touch them. I found it very interesting the line, “the walls are exploding” because it truly depicts what the message is. Life is crumbling around and all of these important items are stuck here and can not be free, the narrator’s soul can not be free.

This passage shows the body as something that almost lacks power because the narrator seems to be stuck. He/she has everything here in this room but it is not enough. The word threadbare conveys the true message, that the things the narrator once had are wearing thin, the narrator is wearing thin because he/she has been worn down from this experience. To stretch your hand out and reach the world is different then saying touch. The narrator is using reach because it is within he/she grasp, but he/she does not actually have it. The feelings, the sensation, everything is gone and the room is a reminder of that. All of these thoughts and feelings are bouncing around the room and can not break free and now never will because the narrator has seen the corners of the world but does not have them. It is from these very windows that the narrator will look out and watch how others will find what he/she is now missing.

What is Love?

“Why is the measure of love loss?

It hasn’t rained for 3 months. The trees are prospecting underground, sending reserves of roots into the dry ground, roots like razors to open any artery water-fat. The grapes have withered on the vine. What should be plump and firm, resisting the touch to give itself in the mouth is spongy and blistered. Not this year the pleasure of rolling blue grapes between finger and thumb juicing my palm with music. Even the wasps avoid the thin brown dribble. Even the wasps this year. It was not always so.” (p 9)

This quote really struck me when reading because it starts with such a huge question and then uses the example of grapes  on the vine, a noun that does not exactly scream out love to the reader. However, after looking at this quotation more in detail there are several aspects that I became aware of. There are a strong usage of binary words throughout, such as firm, withered, blistered, and dry. Another selection of words used throughout are spongy, plump, juicy, and dribble. These are the exact opposite of the previous group of words, perhaps to show how something that was not perceived as good or was even viewed as ugly can turn into the something beautiful and to the human soul that is delicious. Time can truly change everything, especially in matters of the heart. This passage exposes the reader to the idea of time effecting our bodies and identities; the body can wither and the identity can evolve. The author is asking us to question what are our conceptions of love and not view it as we always do, it should be seen for its possibilities not for its endings. There is a lot of nature imagery here such as roots, wasps, grapes, trees, water, vine and underground. Nature represents pure and untouched, just as the body. This ties into the use of body imagery such as mouth, finger, thumb, and palm.  I think this because of the opening line primarily, it sets the reader up to view the upcoming passage as loss but begs not to at the same time, you should look outside the box in terms of love. The author wants you to see that the ground, trees etc are at a loss because they are having a dry spell but actually it is the possibility of rain we should be focusing on instead. The phrase ‘even the wasps avoid’ is used to represent that even a creature that no one likes will not come close, representing that sometimes even those who you view below you can reject you.

I especially loved the message behind the quotation. It represents that there can be love and it can change into something else overtime but why view that as a loss? The passage says ‘it was not always so’ meaning that once there was love so there can be love again. The language shows that there stages we go through as humans, at one moment we can be rolling in the pleasures and in the next there might only be a ‘thin brown dribble’ left that we cling to because we are afraid of being alone. The rain will come again but the ground has to be patient, which makes the waiting even more enjoyable once it does arrive.

My Two Natures

“My two natures had memory in common, but all other faculties were most unequally shared between them. Jekyll (who was composite) now with the most sensitive apprehensions, now with a greedy gusto, projected and shared in the pleasures and adventures of Hyde; but Hyde was indifferent to Jekyll, or but remembered him as the mountain bandit remembers the cavern in which he conceals himself from pursuit.” (p 48)

This passage, to me shows the intertwined important relationship between Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The author is talking about how he feels the pressure to choose between the two personalities, that in a way support the other. There is an internal and external struggle taking place; this in turn creates a lack of balance. The shapes and identities between the two are shown here fully in this passage. Hyde and Jekyll represent the mountain bandit and the cavern that protects and hides the true identity. He hides behind the cleaner persona, allowing only one side to be shown at a time. I really enjoyed this passage because it relates to the larger picture of the novel pertaining to how we as humans are always concealing one side of ourselves. It relates back to the class’s ideologies because in our image based world it is extremely difficult for some people to show their true selves. The language shows the hidden message behind the passage by using words such as unequally, sensitive, and indifferent; these are all ways we can use to describe someone. Perhaps we do not view them as equals, maybe we think they are sensitive, or we are completely indifferent to them all together. In this scenario Hyde is indifferent to Jekyll and does not view him on the same level. Many people do this everyday to the other and sometimes solely based on sexual orientation. This makes people hide or conceal aspects of themselves that society does not deem normal.